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I received this alert from the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa via the AU-Monitor mailing list this morning. It seems that momentum against the Mugabe government is picking up, also with reports on the radio this morning that even the South African government is critical of the violence.

Dear Colleagues, Friends and Partners

With the escalation of repression in Zimbabwe, OSISA has released the following statement:

Please may we request you to disseminate as widely as possible to your networks, media and country contacts. We are presently in the process of drafting a statement which will appear in the regional press. This statement will be forwarded to you shortly and we would like you to sign up to either as an individual or as an organization demanding that the Zimbabwe government stop its atrocities against civil society.

We would also like to request that you lobby your government, the Zimbabwe Consulate/Embassy in country, other embassies, donors etc to make a statement on the situation in Zimbabwe. This can be done by holding public meetings etc.

We are also developing a strategy on engaging with SADC and will forward details in due course.

The situation is dire and needs urgent attention.

Yours in the struggle for democracy and human rights

The OSISA Team.

ZIMBABWE: Call for the Protection of Rights
Johannesburg, South Africa – Monday 12 March, 2007

It has come to our attention that on Sunday 11 March 2007, Mr. Gift Tandare, a Zimbabwean citizen was shot and killed by police in Highfields, a suburb in the capital city of Harare.

He was on his way to a prayer meeting.

Zimbabweans from different walks of life had agreed to spend their Sunday, the traditional day of Christian worship, in collective fellowship as comfort to each other. Their aim: to build some hope for their country, caught in a tangle of extreme political tension, economic hardship and spiritual distress.

The prayer meeting was organised by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, an alliance of individual Zimbabweans organized through their affiliations with their churches, their labour unions, students’ bodies, the media, youth groups, women’s organizations and a variety of political parties.

Eyewitness accounts say riot police officers at thescene, advanced on the crowd and fired multiple shots at the unarmed civilians. One of the bullets hit Mr. Gift Tandare, aged 30, in the chest. He died on the side of the road where others had dragged him before they fled the approaching police. The officer who fired the fatal shot has not come forward.

We extend our deepest condolences to Mr. Gift Tandare’s wife and three children, two daughters and a son, at this time of their loss. May you be comforted by the knowledge of our prayers and support for you at this tragic time.

Mr. Tandare was Youth Chairperson of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) for Glenview suburb in Harare. The NCA is a lawfully registered group that advocates for Zimbabwe to adopt a homegrown, people driven constitution.

We take this painful moment of Tandare’s death to bring to the world’s attention our concern over the arrests of other civic and political leaders, among them Dr Lovemore Madhuku, Lecturer at Law and Chairperson of the NCA. He was beaten in police custody and rushed to Parirenyatwa hospital. He was treated for a broken arm and has had five stitches but remains in the cells at Marlborough Police Station.

We are additionally concerned at the arrests of the leadership of political parties, particularly those in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), among them MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai, who was beaten to the point of collapsing and was taken to Parirenyatwa hospital in the early hours of this morning. He has since been taken to Borrowdale police station and is
unable to speak due to extensive injuries.

Other MDC members assaulted and in custody include:

Ms Grace Kwinjeh, beaten and held in custody at Braeside Police Station. Professor Arthur Mutambara, and 4 others, held at Avondale Police Station. Their condition could not be ascertained as visitors were denied access to the detainees. Mr. Tendai Biti, Honourable Member of Parliament for Harare East constituency, is in custody at Rhodesville Police Station. The Honourable Nelson Chamisa, Member of Parliament for Kuwadzana is in custody at Highlands Police Station. Mrs Sekai Holland and Mr Elton Mangoma, also of the MDC are in custody at unknown locations.

This horrific treatment of members of a legitimately registered political entity goes against the letter and the spirit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Guidelines and Principles on Free and Fair Elections and the regulations governing detainees as outlined in the African Charter for Human and People’s Rights.

We raise further concern that Mr. Harrison Nkomo, legal representative for the arrested parties was not only denied access to his clients but also was himself assaulted for seeking to protect the rights of his clients.

We are additionally concerned by the reluctance of the Courts to treat this matter with the urgency it deserves by delaying its response to the urgent application placed before the Judge President on Sunday night.

A total of 49 Zimbabweans are currently confirmed to be detained at as many as fifteen different police stations across the capital city. Further arrests have been reported in Mutare, where 125 activists of the opposition were picked up, and in Masvingo. The detainees have been denied access to legal representation and medical attention.

This is the latest assault on the human rights of citizens in Zimbabwe.

Recalling that Zimbabwe is signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many other instruments that promote and protect the rights and dignities of its citizens we urge immediate:

1. investigation of the death of Gift Tandare on March 11 following the police shooting in Highfield 2. release from further detention of all those citizens who are being held for having exercised their democratic right to peaceful protest through the prayer meeting 3. provision of quality medical attention to all those who have been tortured in police custody 4. access by lawyers to all those in custody.

Zimbabwe’s citizens should be enabled to enjoy their freedoms of peaceful protest and assembly without fear of death from a police force whose mandate is to protect them. We call upon the relevant government authorities to repeal the ban issued in February on public meetings and protest expression.

ISSUED BY: The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, OSISA. OSISA is a leading southern African human rights and advocacy foundation. Established in 1997 , OSISA is headquarted in Johanesburg and works in ten countries of the sub-region: Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

OSISA’s vision is to promote and sustain the ideals, values, institutions and practice of open society. OSISA’s vision is that of a vibrant Southern African society in which people, free from material and other deprivation, understand their rights and responsibilities and participate democratically in all spheres of life.
OSISA Angola Office
Telephone: + 244 2 22 325 989/ 22 326 916
Fax: + 244 2 22 325 015
Luanda
Angola

OSISA Johannesburg office
Telephone: +27 11 403-3414/ 5/ 6
Fax: +27 11 403-2708
PO Box 678
Wits 2050
Johannesburg

Attention Isabella Matambanadzo
Mobile Tel: + 27 82 610 6704
email: info@osisa.org, web@osisa.org

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