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Disruption
by the police of the peaceful demonstrations conducted by the ZCTU
Civic Alliance
for Social & Economic Progress (CASEP)
October 2003
CASEP, the Civic
Alliance for Social & Economic Progress, is an alliance of civil
society organisations in Zimbabwe working for the promotion of social
and economic rights.
CASEP wishes
to express its dismay with disruption by the police of the peaceful
demonstrations conducted by one of CASEP's member organisations
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and the subsequent
arrest of demonstrators Wednesday 8 October 2003.
The ZCTU was
protesting over the high levels of taxation, high costs of living,
shortage and high costs of transport, shortage of cash and gross
violations of human and trade union rights.
CASEP is concerned
with the impact of these same issues as they seriously affect the
social and economic rights of ordinary Zimbabweans.
Transport operator
prices have made the cost of transport unaffordable to all working
people. These costs add to the already severe burden of current
economic decline.
The cost of
communications, clothing, schoolbooks and uniforms and household
goods have all soared. These problems indicate that there is a deeper
problem: Labour who bear the burden of economic policies, are neither
being properly consulted nor respected by government.
Working people
cannot continue to bear the brunt of economic decline while government
disregards the basic conditions of trust, mutual respect and dialogue
necessary for national economic management.
CASEP strongly
believes that peaceful demonstrations to express one's concern over
the situation in the country is a basic human right. We therefore
express our solidarity with the arrested ZCTU members and strongly
condemn the actions of the law enforcement agencies as a gross violation
of the human rights of ordinary Zimbabweans.
ZCTU we are
behind you.
Visit the CASEP
fact sheet
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
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