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Zimbabwe civic leaders and labour activists arrested
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
November 18, 2003

More than 52 activists, among them civil society leaders were arrested in Harare City Centre this afternoon. Among these were the chairperson of Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Brian Raftopoulos, Crisis Coalition Coordinator John Makumbe, the chairperson of NCA, Lovemore Madhuku, head of Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe, Andrew Moyse, chairperson of Combined Harare Residence Association, Mike Davies, well known NCA activist Tabitha Khumalo as well as Chairperson of Women's Coalition, Janah Ncube.

The police also arrested Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union ZCTU, activists and leaders including Wellington Chibebe, Lovemore Matombo and Ray Majongwe.

The majority of these protestors were arrested during a demonstration organised by the ZCTU to protest High levels of Taxation, ever increasing cost of living and the violation of human and trade human rights and through this protest it was only urging the government to urgently address the economic melt down.

The 52 are detained at the holding cells at the Harare Central Police Station. At the close business police were still not clear what the charges were. Efforts by human rights lawyers to determine what these people were being charged with were fruitless. However the police made it clear that all of them would be detained overnight. It is not certain whether they will be released tomorrow or whether they will have to appear before a court.

"They will most probably come up with trumped up charges by tomorrow morning" said one of the human rights lawyers working on the case.

Meanwhile many of them were complaining of having been assaulted by the riot police when they were picked up.

Members of the police descended on the marching crowd a few minutes after it took off at the State Lottery House in the city centre. Some of those arrested were picked while walking towards the gathering while others where picked from a nearby hotel.

This is the second time in six weeks that ZCTU has organised a protest. On October 8, more than 165 Trade Unionists were arrested by Police country wide and some were severely assaulted after the union called the nation wide protest.

Meanwhile reports reaching the coalition indicate that 19 arrests were made in Bulawayo following a similar march. One Bulawayo protestor was reportedly run over by a car while trying to run away from the riot police. He was hospitalized and is reported to be in a stable condition. Simultaneous arrest was made in the cities of Mutare and Gweru.

The Crisis Coalition demands the unconditional immediate release of all the protesters. It applauds the conviction demonstrated by the protestors in risking arrest for the sake of their cause. The Coalition however denounces the paranoid and heavy handed policing employed by the regime in preventing even these peaceful demonstrations from going ahead.

It further demands the immediate repeal of unjust laws such as POSA and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) that restrict people's Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. It instead urges government to uphold and respect citizens' rights to peacefully express their position on issues that affect their daily lives.

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