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Arrest
of President and Secretary of the Law Society
Zimbawe Lawyers
for Human Rights (ZLHR)
June 06, 2002
On the 3rd of June
2002, the President and Secretary of the Law Society were arrested and
detained by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police. The offices of the
Law Society, the Secretary’s law practice and the private residences of
both the President and the Secretary were subjected to search and official
law society documents were seized. The two were charged with contravening
section 5(2)(b)(1) of the Public Order and Security Act.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights (ZLHR) is particularly alarmed at the apparent attempts to
compromise the independence, effectiveness and integrity of the Law Society
of Zimbabwe, and the personal attacks on its Secretary and President.
The arrest of the President and Secretary come as the latest in a campaign
to silence criticism of the government. ZLHR fears that the arrests of
the President and the Secretary may herald a plan to compromise our justice
delivery system and the safety of human rights defenders.
Based on the charges
and the submissions of the state representative at the hearing of an application
for the release of Messrs Moyo and Mapombere, we consider that the charges
were palpably false, unfounded and apparently malicious for the following
reasons:
- There is no section 5 (2)(b)(1) in the Public Order and Security Act;
- It is alleged that the President of the Law Society of Zimbabwe organised
a meeting on the 4th of March 2002 to plan "peaceful"
"mass action" in support of the MDC and at which meeting it
was agreed that the MDC ceases reconciliation talks with ZANU
PF. It is an undisputable fact that on the 4th of March 2002,
Presidential elections had not yet been held and the MDC had not engaged
ZANU PF in any reconciliation talks and there had been no talk
of mass action;
- In light of the accused persons’ denials; the highly questionable
authenticity of the letters supposedly written by the accused and the
impossibility of the facts of the offence alleged, no "reasonable
suspicion" of an offence having been committed could remotely have
arisen. In any event, the right to peacefully demonstrate, assuming
the letters are authentic, is protected under Sections 20 and 21 of
the Constitution which guarantee the right of freedom of expression
and freedom of association and assembly;
- Further, the whole of Section 5 of the Public Order and Security Act
is arguably unconstitutional as it severely restricts the exercise of
the right to freedom of expression.
The apparent persecution
of the Law Society of Zimbabwe and its secretariat comes after vitriolic
and unfounded attacks on the person of the President of the Law Society
by the government through its Minister of Information and Publicity in
the President’s Office, as reported in the Herald of 18 April 2002, for
statements made in his official capacity.
Meanwhile it has come
to the attention of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights that the government
may have intentions to introduce legislation to give it control over the
Law Society Council. We hope that the unjustified arrests of the President
and Secretary of the Law Society will not be used as an excuse to pass
such legislation.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights is extremely concerned at the attempts to undermine the republican
and democratic principles underpinning the Constitution of Zimbabwe. There
seems to exist a systematic suppression of the plurality of opinion and
the growth of democracy. The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy
Act severely controls the activities of the print media and practitioners.
The Broadcasting Services Act constructively prohibits the creation of
competing private radio and television stations. The Public Order and
Security Act severely limits every citizen’s freedom of expression, association,
assembly and protection of the law. In 2001 the Executive caused the resignation
of a number of judges, in an attempt to compromise the independence of
the Judiciary. The executive had also systematically ignored court orders.
Parliament continues to be compromised by the appointment, directly or
indirectly, of thirty members by the President which gives the party of
the President effective control over Parliament.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights is outraged at the perverse use by the executive of the criminal
justice system. We call upon every lawyer, and every patriotic Zimbabwean
to denounce the treasonous intentions of subverting citizens’ rights.
Every Zimbabwean should jealously guard our liberation values and the
fruits of our hard won independence for which tens of thousands of our
fellow countrymen perished.
Visit the ZLHR fact
sheet
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