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Swedish envoy criticises Harare over assault of labour leaders
ZimOnline
September 20, 2006

http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=142

HARARE - Sweden's top diplomat in Harare, Sten Rylander, yesterday condemned last week's assault and severe injury of Zimbabwe labour leaders while in police custody, calling it a "flagrant violation of human rights."

Dozens of Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) leaders and opposition officials were severely assaulted by the police after they were arrested last Wednesday while attempting to stage street protests over worsening economic conditions in the country.

ZCTU secretary general Wellington Chibebe, who sustained the severest injuries during the attack, is still confined to his hospital bed in Harare.

In a statement to the media, Rylander said President Robert Mugabe's government should stop attacking labour and the political opposition and instead work towards dialogue to resolve contentious national issues.

"The brutal assault on Chibebe and other ZCTU leaders on 13 September 2006 is a flagrant violation of basic human rights. Furthermore, it is unfitting in an era when we are supposed to build bridges and find ways and means to bring back Zimbabwe to normal," Rylander said.

The Swedish ambassador, who later visited Chibebe in hospital, has in the past provoked the ire of the Zimbabwean government after sharply criticising some of its controversial policies.

"Like so many other international partners, we urge the government of Zimbabwe to pursue dialogue and sustainable reforms based on national consensus," Rylander said.

The United States, Britain and international human rights groups have also criticised the attacks which the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum has said present clear evidence of "both widespread and systematic" torture in the southern African country.

Torture is outlawed in Zimbabwe. But state security agents are accused of targeting government opponents for torture, a charge Harare denies.

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