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Union
leader in hiding after police raid
Amnesty
International
February 24, 2010
http://www.amnesty.ca/resource_centre/news/view.php?load=arcview&article=5186&c=Resource+Centre+News
Amnesty International
today called on the government of Zimbabwe to end harassment and
intimidation of a union activist who is in hiding after police raided
a union office in Harare on Wednesday. Gertrude Hambira, Secretary
General of the General
Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ),
fled after five men and one women who identified themselves as officers
from the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) raided the union's
head office at about 12:30pm, looking for her.
At the time of the raid Ms Hambira was out of the
office. She is now in hiding and in fear for her safety.
Staff at the GAPWUZ head office have since received
several phone calls asking for details of Ms Hambira's whereabouts.
"The Zimbabwean police must immediately stop the harassment
of human rights defenders including Gertrude Hambira," said
Veronique Aubert deputy director of Amnesty International's Africa
programme.
"There actions are the latest in a series
of persistent human rights violations that have continued despite
formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU) in February
2009."
On Friday 19
February, Gertrude Hambira was called to a meeting at Police Headquarters
in Harare with a panel of seventeen high ranking security officials
from the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Army, Air force and the Central
Intelligence Organisation. Ms Hambira attended with two colleagues
and a lawyer. She was subject to an interrogation about a recent
documentary and report
published by GAPWUZ which highlight the plight of farm workers in
Zimbabwe. During the interrogation the panel stated that the report
and documentary contained very serious allegations for which Ms
Hambira should be "behind bars". Ms Hambira and her
colleagues were eventually dismissed but the panel warned that they
would call on her again. Gertrude Hambira has previously been the
victim of harassment and intimidation as a result of her work to
defend human rights, most recently in November 2009 when armed men
forced their way into her home. At the time of the attack Ms Hambira
was not at home but members of her immediate family were left terrified.
Amnesty
International today again called on the GNU to halt on-going
harassment of human rights defenders.
Persecution
of human rights defenders for their legitimate activities is a contravention
of Article nine of the African
Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. Amnesty International
has documented consistent politicised and partisan policing by members
of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), in particular the Law and
Order section, aimed at silencing the voices of human rights defenders.
GAPWUZ support the rights of farm workers in Zimbabwe, raising their
plight at national and international levels. Since 2000 tens of
thousands of farm workers have suffered violent attacks and have
been displaced from commercial farms.
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