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Confiscation of passports belonging to government critics
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2005-47
Monday December 5^th – Sunday December 11^th 2005

THE authorities’ hatred of dissenting voices, which has resulted in the systematic erosion of the citizenry’s basic freedoms in the last five years through the promulgation of repressive laws, assumed unprecedented levels during the week under review with the confiscation of passports belonging to government critics.

SW Radio Africa (8/12), the Zimbabwe Independent and Studio 7 (9/12) reported that newspaper publisher Trevor Ncube had become the first victim of the controversial 17^th Constitutional amendment, which empowers government to withdraw the passports from individuals perceived to be working against the national "interests".

The Sunday Mail and The Standard (11/12) revealed that barely a day after the seizure of Ncube’s passport, the authorities confiscated MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi’s travel documents as well.

In fact, SW Radio Africa (7/12) and The Standard reported that the two were part of a list of 64 targeted individuals government perceives to be enemies of the country. These include civic society representatives, human rights activists, journalists and business people.

While the private media viewed this as part of government’s efforts to curtail Zimbabweans’ rights to freedom of movement and a blatant attempt to gag dissenting voices, the official media merely presented the clampdown as normal.

None of the media quoted officials explaining the reasons for confiscating the passports.

However, The Herald’s faceless columnist Nathaniel Manheru (10/12), whom former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo has claimed is Information Secretary George Charamba, hinted at the objective behind this cowardly act of repression.

Manheru stated that although Ncube would "most probably" get his passport back, he would feel "the chill, certainly on behalf of those of his ilk who may have to turn themselves into foreigners, suffer travel restriction they invited for others, or simply shut up".

Inexplicably, ZBH simply ignored the matter altogether.

It also emerged through The Daily Mirror and Studio 7 (9/12) that besides targeting individuals, ZANU PF’s Central Committee also wanted the authorities to silence outspoken NGOs. The Daily Mirror reported that the ruling party leadership had recommended "stern action" against civic groups perceived to be working with the MDC "to scuttle the revolutionary gains of the country". The paper named some of the targeted groups as the National Constitutional Assembly, Women of Zimbabwe Arise and Bulawayo Agenda.

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