Arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of several ZimRights members
URGENT APPEAL -THE OBSERVATORY
ZWE 001 / 0113 / OBS014
Arbitrary detention / Judicial harassment
Zimbabwe
January 24, 2013
TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme ofthe International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the followingsituation in Zimbabwe.
Description of the situation:
TheObservatory has been informed by Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) aboutthe arbitrary detention and judicial harassment faced by several of itsmembers, including Mr. Okay Machisa, National Executive Director, Mr. LeoChamahwinya, Education Programs Officer, and Ms. Dorcas Shereni,member and Highfields local chapter Chairperson.
According to the information received, on January 24, 2013, High Court Judge Justice Felistas Chatukuta postponed to January 25,2013, the bail hearing for Mr. Okay Machisa detained on charges of “forgery”,“fraud” and “publishing falsehoods”. On January 21, 2013, the Magistrate Courtfurther remanded Ms. Dorcas Shereni and Mr. Leo Chamahwinya until February 4,2013 in relation to similar charges.
Mr.Okay Machisa was arrested on January 14, 2013 at Harare police station alongwith ZimRights Secretary Faith Mamutseon charges of contravening Section 31, 136 and 137 of the Criminal Law(Codification and Reform) Act for allegedly attempting to defraud the RegistrarGeneral’s Office by forging and manufacturing counterfeit copies ofcertificates of voter registration. On the same day, two policemen accompaniedby Mr. Machisa, two lawyers Ms. Mtetwa and Mr. Gift Mtisi, came and searchedthe ZimRights' offices. They did not find anything in the offices. Noaccessories or materials linked to the Registrar General or Registrar Generalof Voters Offices were found at ZimRights. Ms. Mamutse was released aftersigning a warned and cautioned statement on the same day.
Ms.Dorcas Shereni and Mr. Leo Chamahwinya were arrested on December 13, 2012 (Seebackground information).
These arrests occurred just a few weeks afterZimRights denounced the trend of increasing police brutality across Zimbabweand called for urgent action by competent authorities to address these humanrights violations.
TheObservatory further recalls that this is not the first time Mr. Machisa hasbeen harassed by the Zimbabwean authorities. On March 23, 2010, Mr. Machisa wasarbitrarily arrested by a group of twenty officers of the Zimbabwe RepublicPolice (ZRP), before being released a few hours later. Similarly, Mr. LeoChamahwinya was arrested along with other ZimRights members on April 26, 2010 beforebeing released[1].
TheObservatory expresses its deep concern about the arbitrary detention of Messrs.Okay Machisa and Leo Chamahwinya and Ms. Dorcas Shereni, which seems to onlyaim at sanctioning their human rights activities, and calls upon theauthorities of Zimbabwe to release them immediately and unconditionally.
Background information:
OnDecember 13, 2012, members of the Law and Order section of the ZRP visited theZimRights offices with the intention of searching the premises. After beingdenied access to the building by lawyers representing the organization, thepolice left with Mr. Leo Chamahwinya under the guise of getting assistance inidentifying people supposedly defrauding ZimRights. Mr. Chamahwinya, togetherwith Ms. Dorcas Shereni, were arrested on that day for “forgery”, “conspiracyto commit fraud” and “publishing falsehoods” prejudicial to the State. Twoother individuals who are neither employees nor members of ZimRights, Messrs.Farai Bhani and Tatenda Chinaka, were also arrested.
Onthe same day, the police also called ZimRights' Bulawayo and Mutare regionalCoordinators to report for questioning. The Bulawayo Regional Coordinatorreported to the police on December 17, 2012 and the Bulawayo office was thensubjected to a search with police looking for material prejudicial to the State.Nothing was discovered or seized and the Regional Coordinator was released withno charge.
OnJanuary 4, 2013, while at the High Court for Mr. Chamahwinya’s bailapplication, Mr. Okay Machisa learnt that the Attorney General’s office wasalleging that he, together with Ms. Faith Mamutse, had fled the country toNorway and were therefore on the run. This was despite the fact that lawyersrepresenting Mr. Chamahwinya had indicated that Mr. Machisa was actuallypresent in court and had made several visits to Harare Remand Prison to see Mr.Chamahwinya. Ms. Beatrice Mtetwa representing ZimRights and Mr. Machisa sent aletter to the police disputing the allegations of Mr. Machisa and Ms. Mamutsebeing on the run. The police called Ms. Mtetwa and advised her to accompany herclients to the police station, of which this was agreed to be done on January14, 2013.
OnJanuary 16, the Rottenrow Magistrate Court remanded Mr. Okay Machisa in custodyuntil January 30. In opposing Mr. Machisa’s bail application, the State ProsecutorMr. Michael Reza claimed that Mr. Machisa intended to use the fake registrationslips to discredit the outcome of the next elections and that the subsequentinternational outcry would lead to Zimbabwe being declared a no-fly zone by theUnited Nations. ZimRights affirms that it has not been engaged in any criminalactivities or such other activities as alleged by the State.
Actions requested:
Pleasewrite to the authorities of Zimbabwe asking them to:
i. Guarantee in allcircumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Messrs. Okay Machisaand Leo Chamahwinya, Ms. Dorcas Shereni and Ms. Faith Mamutske, as well as allhuman rights defenders in the country;
ii. Put an end to anykind of harassment - including at the judicial level – against Messrs. OkayMachisa and Leo Chamahwinya and Ms. Dorcas Shereni, members of ZimRights aswell as against all human rights defenders in Zimbabwe;
iii. Conform with theprovisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the GeneralAssembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, and in particular:
- its Article 1, which states that “everyone hasthe right, individually and in association with others, to promote and tostrive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamentalfreedoms at the national and international levels”,
- its Article 6 (b) and (c), which states that“everyone has the right, individually and in association with others […] asprovided for in human rights and other applicable international instruments,freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information andknowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms and [...] to study,discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice,of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and otherappropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters”,
- and its Article 12.2, which provides that “theState shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by thecompetent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others,against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adversediscrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of hisor her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the presentDeclaration”;
iv. More generally,ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamentalfreedoms in accordance with in accordance with the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights and with international and regional human rights instrumentsratified by Zimbabwe.
Addresses:
· President ofZimbabwe, Mr. Robert G. Mugabe, Office of the President, Private Bag 7700,Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe, Fax: +263 4 708 211 / + 263.4.70.38.58;
· Mr. Khembo Mohadi,co-Minister of Home Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, 11th Floor MukwatiBuilding, Private Bag 7703, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe, Fax: +263 4 726 716;
· Ms. Terese Makone,co-Minister of Home Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, 11th Floor MukwatiBuilding, Private Bag 7703, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe, Fax: +263 4 726 716;
· Mr. PatrickChinamasa, Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Fax: + 263 4 77 29 99 / +2634 252 155;
· Mr. AugustineChihuri, Commissioner General, Police Headquarters, P.O. Box 8807, Causeway,Harare, Zimbabwe, Fax: +263 4 253 212 / 728 768 / 726 084;
· Mr. Johannes Tomana,Attorney-General, Office of the Attorney, PO Box 7714, Causeway, Harare,Zimbabwe, Fax: + 263 4 77 32 47;
· Ms. Chanetsa, Officeof the Public Protector, Fax: + 263 4 70 41 19;
· Ambassador Mr.Chitsaka Chipaziwa, Permanent Mission of Zimbabwe to the United Nations inGeneva, Chemin William Barbey 27, 1292 Chambésy, Switzerland, Fax: + 41 22 75830 44, Email: mission.zimbabwe@ties.itu.int;
· Embassy of Zimbabwein Brussels, 11 SQ Josephine Charlotte, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium,Fax: + 32 2 762 96 05 / + 32 2 775 65 10, Email: zimbrussels@skynet.be.
Please also write to the embassies of Zimbabwe in yourrespective country.
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Paris-Geneva, January 24, 2013
Kindly inform us of anyaction undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
To contact the Observatory,call the emergency line:
- E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 143 55 18 80
[1] See ObservatoryAnnual Report 2011.