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This article participates on the following special index pages:
2008 harmonised elections - Index of articles
Continued
arrests and harassment of election officers
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
April 25, 2008
Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights (ZLHR) wishes to express its serious concern about
the escalating arrests, detention and harassment of presiding and
polling officers from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), in
the context of the ongoing controversial recounts.
Since 29 March 2008,
many presiding and polling officers have been arrested and accused
of having been part of a plot to rig the elections in favour of
candidates from the Movement for Democratic Change. In this on-going
exercise, 34 Presiding Officers have been arrested in Masvingo province
alone during the recounting process which commenced on 19 April
2008. The presiding officers are currently detained at Masvingo
Central Police Station and are being represented by ZLHR lawyers.
Over and above the arrests,
non state actors such as ZANU-PF officers and war veterans have
attempted to extract 'confessions' from these hapless
presiding officers. Notable is the unlawful detention and assault
of one of these presiding officers in an attempt to make him write
a statement incriminating himself of having misled voters who required
assistance and having made them vote for the opposition when they
desired to vote for the ruling party.
The war veterans and
ZANU-PF officials have attempted to justify their unacceptable conduct
by saying that they were 'taking instructions from Harare'.
There is no lawful justification for non state actors to involve
themselves in relation to detainees and the investigation of alleged
criminal conduct. This is the role of the police, and non state
actor participation constitutes unacceptable interference in such
processes which must be condemned and must cease forthwith.
ZLHR reiterates its calls
for transparency and non-interference by state and quasi state functionaries
in an already heavily disputed electoral process. The involvement
of non state actors in interrogating presiding officers raises concerns
as to whether this is due process at work, justifiable prosecution
or merely persecution. The arrested presiding officers are public
servants who have served the nation devotedly under extreme hardships
for years on end under conditions which amount to a contemporary
form of slavery as defined under international law.
Involvement of this range
of actors must be seen and condemned for what it is - an intimidatory
tactic to compromise their ability to carry out their constitutional
duties without fear or favour. It will also have a residual impact
in the event that a run-off is held which will require these public
servants to once again provide their services in the electoral process.
ZLHR also takes note
of the extreme violence which has engulfed the nation, particularly
in rural areas, as is the place where the unlawful detentions and
assault noted above occurred. We thus demand that the undignified
attacks upon these long-suffering presiding officers ceases forthwith
and that police carry out their duties without interference from
other players and without fear or favour to ensure that all people
are safe and duly protected by law.
We also demand that the
various departments of the administration affected by the unlawful
threats and the arrests of members of staff take a stance against
the harassment of their members - the entire governance and
administrative system is at stake as teachers and other state employees
have been forced to flee their workstations for fear of victimisation.
The entire electoral process has been subverted.
Visit the ZLHR
fact
sheet
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