Back to Index

SADC Tribunal unable to hear urgent contempt application against the government of Zimbabwe
SADC Tribunal Rights Watch
March 24, 2010

This statement has been released by:

• The legal team for the Commercial Farmers' Union - Zimbabwe, the Southern African Commercial Farmers' Alliance - Zimbabwe, and commercial farmers Louis Fick, Mike Campbell and Richard Etheredge
• SADC Tribunal Rights Watch - Ben Freeth
• Namibian lawyer - Norman Tjombe

We are extremely disappointed that the SADC Tribunal was unable to hear our urgent application against the Government of Zimbabwe today. The case was essentially another contempt application against the Zimbabwe Government and against the High Court of Zimbabwe which refused to register the SADC Tribunal Judgment on the basis that it was against public policy. We were also asking for an enforcement order from the Tribunal that would have urged the SADC leaders to take measures that might involve suspension or expulsion of Zimbabwe from SADC.

The application was an urgent application and the urgency had been set out clearly in the application, and should have been enrolled as such. The application was issued on 12 February 2010 by the Registry of the Tribunal and served on the Embassy of Zimbabwe by the Tribunal on the same date. The date on the issued papers was for the 24 March 2010. The application was then served on the Attorney General's Office and the Civil Division of the Zimbabwe Government on 15 February 2010.

The Applicants filed their Heads of Argument on 11 March 2010 at the Registrar's office with the 24 March 2010 hearing date, and again the Heads of Argument were served on the same date on the Embassy of Zimbabwe in Windhoek by the Tribunal. The application was therefore properly enrolled and should have been heard.

In spite of the fact that the application was not enrolled by the Registrar of the SADC Tribunal, we believe the application can still be heard by the Tribunal, which is sitting until Friday. This application will not be a protracted matter in light of the fact that the Government of Zimbabwe has repeatedly stated it will not continue to participate in further proceedings in the Tribunal.

We have instructed our lawyers to apply to the Registrar of the SADC Tribunal, and we trust that this application will be heard as a matter of urgency. The urgency is laid out in the papers regarding the severe danger to the lives, liberty and property of tens of thousands of people. It is imperative that the matter is heard very soon if the suffering of these people is to be addressed.

For Further Information

Ben Freeth - SADC Tribunal Rights Watch
Cell (temporary): +27 82 575 5759
E-mail: freeth@bsatt.com

Norman Tjombe
Lawyer, Windhoek, Namibia
Cell: +264 811 223356
E-mail: normantjombe@iway.na

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP