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An
overview of civilian arrests in Zimbabwe: February 2003 – January 2004
The Solidarity
Peace Trust
July 2004
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Summary
and conclusions
The last four years have seen a relentless clampdown on all those who
are perceived as opposing the ruling party, ZANU-PF. State repression
has relied on key new pieces of legislation that give the state almost
unlimited powers against its own people. It is two years since the most
draconian act in Zimbabwe’s 24-year history was passed into law - the
Public Order and Security Act (POSA). Since it was passed in January 2002,
POSA has been used weekly to silence democratic voices, and hundreds have
been arrested in terms of its clauses. With a general election constitutionally
bound to take place within the next year, it is essential to review the
state of democracy in Zimbabwe at this time, and to identify those aspects
that will rule out from the onset the possibility of any election being
free and fair. It is clear that the POSA is a powerful, anti-democratic
weapon that has been and will continue to be used against alternative
voices in Zimbabwe. POSA rules out almost every democratic activity, including
the rights to freedom of speech, opinion and association.
This report is the
first since the passing of POSA to attempt to pull together available
information on arrests of civilians over a one-year period, from February
2003 to January 2004, in order to draw out trends in arrests and the specific
use of POSA by the police.
Approximately 1,200
arrests from around Zimbabwe are analysed here in terms of: what charges
if any were laid; outcome, if any, of cases; abuses by authorities at
time of arrest. These arrests are by no means all those that took place
during the time in question; lawyers from 27 legal firms in five towns
have released general information on political arrests for the purposes
of this study. Not available to the authors are details of arrests in
which those arrested did not have legal representation, which is commonly
the case in Zimbabwe particularly in smaller centres, and arrests that
were processed via legal firms not involved in this study. Findings here
should therefore be considered to give a good indication rather than a
comprehensive overview of how the police power of arrest has been used
and abused in Zimbabwe within this twelve-month period.
After analysing 1,225
arrests in Zimbabwe during a 12 month period the following conclusions
can be drawn:
- Civilians in Zimbabwe
are systematically arrested when attempting to undertake activities
that are considered a normal part of democracy in most other nations,
such as the rights to boycott, to gather peacefully and to express opinions.
- The Public Order
and Security Act (POSA) is the most commonly cited Act on arrest of
civilians attempting to hold public meetings
- POSA would be considered
an unjust law in most other nations of the world, but having it on the
Statutes allows the Zimbabwean government to retain a façade
of lawfulness while suppressing its own people
- POSA is used in
a politically partisan way to effectively prohibit normal democratic
activities undertaken by civil society or opposition political parties,
while supporters of the ruling party can undertake the same activities
without interference.
- Torture, assault
and psychological harassment are systematically used by the police and
other law enforcement agents while arresting civilians and also in custody,
resulting on occasions in severe injury.
- The State has shown
little inclination to pursue cases against most of those accused and
detained, indicating their primary motive on arrest is to intimidate
and prevent activities that would be accepted in most societies, including
passive resistance and boycotts. Where the State has pursued cases related
to arrests during 2003, it has failed to achieve conviction.
- The introduction
from 13 February 2004, of 28 days detention without bail, evidence or
charge, applicable to arrests under sections 5-11 of POSA must be condemned
in the strongest terms. 16% of arrests in 2003 were in terms of these
7 sections, and included opposition party and civil society leadership.
- Bearing in mind
the failure of the State to successfully prosecute those accused under
POSA, and the prevalence of torture in custody, the 28 day detention
law should be seen for what it is – a tool with the capacity to imprison
opposition leadership without evidence for as long as it suits the State.
- POSA and the general
power of arrest are being used as tools by the ruling party to maintain
their power at the cost of their citizens’ rights.
As long as POSA remains
on the statutes in Zimbabwe, freedom of association, speech and movement
will be officially illegal. The existence of POSA alone, gives grounds
to conclude that any election in Zimbabwe at this time cannot be considered
free and fair, as this statute prohibits normal democratic activities.
Before any further elections are held in Zimbabwe, there is therefore
a need to repeal POSA and to re-educate the police on the responsibilities
of law enforcement agencies to respect the rights of all its citizens
in an impartial way.
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Peace Trust fact
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