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Zimbabwe police threaten woman activist with death
ZimOnline
May 17, 2006

http://www.zimonline.co.za/headdetail.asp?ID=12103

BULAWAYO - Police in Zimbabwe's second largest city of Bulawayo have threatened prominent woman rights activist, Jenni Williams, with death if she dares organise any more anti-government demonstrations by her Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) group, ZimOnline has learnt.

Bulawayo lawyer Kossam Ncube, whose law firm Job Sibanda and Associates acts for Williams and WOZA, told ZimOnline that they had reported the matter to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights which is expected to take up the issue with police authorities.

"These are serious allegations and they should be investigated because these are grave allegations and we are sending them to ZLHR so that they are documented," Ncube said.

The threat against Williams was allegedly made by one Assistant Inspector Ndlovu who is in charge of the police's law and order section in Bulawayo.

Ndlovu reportedly threatened Williams after she and 165 other WOZA activists were released last week from police cells where they had been locked up for days after being arrested for demonstrating against a hike in public school fees announced by the government a fortnight ago.

The WOZA women were only released after the Attorney General's office refused to prosecute them.

"Jenni Williams complained that the officer in charge of the law and order section Detective Assistant Inspector Ndlovu threatened her with death should she ever engage in similar conduct (leading demonstrations) in the future," the letter sent by Williams' lawyers to the ZLHR reads in part.

It was not possible yesterday to establish from the ZLHR what action they had taken so far or were considering taking over Williams' complaint against the police.

But an officer in the police's press and public relations office in Bulawayo said they had not yet received Williams' complaint against Ndlovu either from her lawyers or the ZLHR.

The officer said: "We have not seen the report they (Williams' lawyers) are talking about and the complainant has not approached the police about the matter, you can ask them to make a report to us."

Williams and her WOZA colleagues have been arrested many times in the past by the police for holding public demonstrations without approval from the law enforcement agency as required by state security laws that require Zimbabweans to first seek police permission before staging demonstrations or holding public political meetings.

But the women activists have always returned to the streets to voice their disapproval of government policies and decisions, much to the chagrin of the police.

The United States, African Commission on Human and People's Rights, ZLHR and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party have long accused the police and army for victimising perceived opponents of the government, a charge the security forces deny. - ZimOnline

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