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Update
on matter involving Voice of the People trustees
Zimbabwe
Lawyers For Human Rights (ZLHR)
January 24, 2006
The trustees of the
Voice of the People presented themselves at the Law and Order section
of the Harare Central police station at 08h00 on Tuesday 24 January 2006.
The trustees are David Masunda, Arnold Tsunga, Lawrence Chibwe, Nhlanhla
Ngwenya, Millicent Phiri and Isabella Matambanadzo. This followed raids
carried out at the homes of two of the trustees (Arnold Tsunga and Nhlanhla
Ngwenya) on Saturday and the unlawful arrest and detention of two persons,
Emmanuel Kamba (an employee of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights) and
Charles Nyamufukudzwa (a caretaker at the residence of Arnold Tsunga),
who were present when the police unlawfully entered Tsunga's property.
The trustees signed
warned and cautioned statements in relation to an investigation of an
alleged contravention of section 7(1) as read with paragraph (4) and (5)
of the Broadcasting Services Act, which they denied. The relevant sections
read as follows:
7 Broadcasting
and signal carrier licences
(1) Subject to this Act, and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation Act
[Chapter 12:01], no person shall provide a broadcasting service or operate
as a signal carrier in Zimbabwe except in accordance with a broadcasting
licence or a signal carrier licence, as the case may be…
(4)1
Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence
and liable to -
(a) a fine not exceeding five million dollars or to imprisonment for
a period not exceeding two years, where the offence involves the unlicensed
provision of any broadcasting service referred to in paragraphs (a)
to (f) of subsection (2); or
(b) a fine not exceeding level ten or to imprisonment for a period not
exceeding three months, where the offence involves the unlicensed provision
of any broadcasting service referred to in paragraphs (g) to (j) of
subsection (2)
or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
(5) In addition to any punishment it may impose under subsection (4)
and without derogation from its powers under any enactment, a court
convicting a person of contravening subsection (1) shall declare forfeited
to the State any equipment or apparatus used for the purpose of or in
connection with the offence.
The trustees appeared
in court on the afternoon of 24 January 2006, where they were released
on bail of Z$ 4 million each. All, save for Matambanadzo (who is based
in South Africa but travelled to Zimbabwe to present herself to the authorities),
are required to report every Friday at CID Law and Order, and have been
warned not to interfere with investigations. The matter was remanded to
10 February 2006.
The trustees were
represented by Beatrice Mtetwa of Kantor & Immerman - a Law Society
Councillor and Board Member of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. Mtetwa
advised the court that at their next appearance the accused persons would
make an application to be taken off remand as the facts presented by the
authorities did not disclose an offence. Further, issue would be taken
with the unlawful arrest and detention of Kamba and Nyamufukudzwa, which
was carried out to secure the presence of Tsunga at the police station.
A further issue relating to malicious injury to property would be pursued
- police unlawfully entered Tsunga's home, broke a picture frame and unlawfully
removed his portrait.
Kamba and Nyamufukudzwa
were released without charge on Tuesday 24 January 2006. The authorities
indicated that they would proceed against them by way of summons. Legal
practitioners are already working on a claim against named police officers
for unlawful arrest and detention, as well as torture in custody.
ZLHR once again condemns
in the strongest of terms the actions of the law enforcement authorities
in these matters, and views such behaviour as a further indication of
the breakdown of the rule of law and the ever-growing culture of impunity.
The tactic of arresting and detaining individuals unrelated to the Voice
of the People as ransom for the production of persons at the police station
cannot be condoned and sets a worrying precedent for all human rights
defenders, as well as innocent bystanders. ZLHR intends to take immediate
action to ensure that such coercion does not become another phenomenon
in the continued repression of human rights defenders carrying out lawful
activities in Zimbabwe.
1. Subsection substituted
by s. 6 of Act 6/2003
Visit the ZLHR fact
sheet
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