Back to Index

Human rights defenders under attack
Zimbabwe Lawyers For Human Rights (ZLHR)
January 22, 2006

On Saturday 21st January 2006, police officers from the Law and Order Section led by one Detective Inspector Mukwaira visited the home of ARNOLD TSUNGA, with a view of arresting him as one of the trustees of the closed Voice of the People (VOP). Arnold Tsunga is also the Executive Director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and the Acting Secretary of the Law Society of Zimbabwe, which is the regulating body of the country's legal profession.

Background
On 15 December 2005 at around 16h00 members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) led by DETECTIVE ASSISTANT MUKWAIRA and DETECTIVE INSPECTOR MANGWIRO, acting on the instructions of a SUPERINTENDENT TAVAZIVA, and accompanied by around nine unidentified police details, descended upon the offices of VOP armed with a search warrant for the search and seizure of "radio broadcasting communication equipment and its associated accessories to include: computer hardware, software and any documents related to the activities of the radio station. Three women MARIA NYANYIWA, NYASHA BOSHA and KUNDAI MUGWANDA were arrested and detained for four days; they were released without charge after the office of the Attorney General declined to prosecute them. They had been taken in as ransom, in order to persuade the Director of VOP, JOHN MASUKU, to turn himself in. On the 19th of December 2005, John Masuku and David Masunda, the Chairperson of the VOP reported to the police station in the company of their lawyers TAFADZWA MUGABE and RANGU NYAMURUNDIRA. Masunda was not detained, however Masuku was then detained for four days only to appear in court on the 23rd of December 2005, to answer to charges of contravening Section 27 of the Broadcasting Services Act. Masuku is currently out of custody on a ZW$ 4 million bail and reports every Friday to the Law and Order Section at Harare Central Police Station. During that same period the DETECTIVE INSPECTOR MAVUNDA indicated the intention of the police to interrogate the Board of Trustees of VOP.

18 January 2006
A joint pre dawn raid by members of the army, central intelligence organisation and the police at Arnold Tsunga's Mutare home in the early hours of the morning, apparently looking for him. After being informed of his absence they then requested that his workers accompany them to the police station. They were released after the intervention of lawyers without any charges being preferred against them.

21 Saturday 2006
After visiting his house previously, the police from the Law and Order Section, members of the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) attended Arnold Tsunga's residence in Harare where they arrested ANESU KAMBA, a driver at ZLHR, and CHARLES NYAMUFUKUDZWA, a caretaker, for allegedly obstructing investigations when the two professed ignorance about the whereabouts of Arnold. A search was then conducted and the police details left with nothing save for a portrait of Arnold, which they unlawfully removed without explanation. Another set of police officers had visited the house of NHANHLA NGWENYA, another trustee of VOP and had threatened to take away some of his properties as ransom. Lawyers immediately attended to Nhanhla's house where two uniformed police details were stationed. They indicated their intention to interrogate Nhanhla on some allegations related to his position as a trustee of VOP. The entire board of VOP consists of Arnold Tsunga, Lawrence Chibwe (a senior legal practitioner in private practice), Nhanhla Ngwenya (a journalist), Isabella Matambanadzo (a journalist and women's rights activist), David Masunda (a journalist), and Mathew Takaona (President of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists).

The police under the supervision of the INSPECTOR MUKWAIRA have also indicated their intention to arrest TAFADZWA MUGABE, a lawyer in ZLHR's Public Interest Litigation Unit, for allegedly obstructing the course of justice by failing to report to the police station with the trustees of VOP. Tafadzwa has been representing VOP in this matter and had previously indicated that if the police wanted these individuals they could proceed by way of summons, as the Law and Order section is notorious for holding and detaining individuals for unduly long periods without just cause. The lawyer reminded the police of the manner in which they dealt with John Masuku on similar allegations, as justification of their bad faith in the matter, and in order to protect the interests and personal safety of his clients.

It is clear that this entire matter has been pursued in a manner which is unprocedural, unlawful and unconstitutional. The state has shown an intentional desire to violate the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals as protected under international law and in contravention of its obligations under various international instruments to which Zimbabwe is a state party.

All persons connected with VOP have been and continue to be continuously unnecessarily harassed by state authorities and their rights have been blatantly violated in total disregard of their rights to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. The police now seem intent on continuing to pursue a disturbing new modus operandi in which innocent individuals are being detained in order to unlawfully secure the presence of human rights defenders who have been continuously harassed by state authorities and/or individuals acting on their instructions. Such a trend of arresting individuals who are not even related to the operations of VOP on trumped up charges, in order to coerce the trustees of VOP to report to the police, instead of investigating any alleged illegalities and then acting to arrest the suspects and advise them of the charges being preferred against them, is to be condemned in the strongest of terms.

ZLHR calls upon the Minister of Information and Publicity, the Minister of Home Affairs, the Minister of Information and Publicity and the Commissioner of Police to immediately and publicly call for an end to such unlawful actions and express their commitment to protecting all human rights defenders adhering to their obligations under national and international law in order to put an immediate end to this blatant harassment of human rights defenders in Zimbabwe.

Visit the ZLHR fact sheet

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