|
Back to Index
This article participates on the following special index pages:
Treason charges against Munyaradzi Gwisai & others - Index of articles
Inconsistency
of charges against activists highlight deteriorating human rights
situation
CIVICUS
July 21, 2011
Zimbabwean authorities
should immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against
six Zimbabwean rights activists who were arrested on 19 February
2011 and charged
with treason for allegedly watching videos of pro-democracy
rallies in Egypt and Tunisia, said CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen
Participation today.
On 18 July 2011, the
six were supposed to stand trial in the Harare Magistrates Court,
but the State suddenly altered the treason charge to a lesser one
of conspiring to commit public violence and the case was postponed
to 22 August.
"The subjection
of the activists to protracted, inconsistent and unclear legal processes
constitutes a flagrant violation of their basic rights as citizens
of Zimbabwe," said Netsanet Belay, Director of Policy and Research
at CIVICUS. "How can a government charge its citizens with
treason, subversion and now with conspiracy to promote public violence
for simply watching videos of uprisings in other countries?"
The six were
part of a group of 46 human rights activists, trade unionists and
student leaders initially charged with treason for the same offence.
The other 40 were released
on 7 March and their charges dropped.
Following the
postponement of their trial, the six activists, Eddson Chakuma,
Antonater Choto, Hopewell Cumbo, Munyaradzi Gwisai, Tatenda Mombeyarara
and Welcome Zimuto, were released under strict
bail conditions under which they were forced to surrender their
passports and were required to report to the Harare Police Station
three times a week. Bail conditions have since been relaxed to reporting
once a month and three of the accused have had their passports returned
to them. CIVICUS demands that the flimsy charges be dropped and
the passports of the remaining three activists be returned immediately.
Dewa Mavhinga,
Regional Coordinator for Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition, a coalition of local democracy and human
rights groups, concurs: "The spurious charges levelled against
the six activists are a gross form of abuse of the law; it is persecution
through prosecution which must cease forthwith."
Mavhinga strongly supported
the immediate and unconditional release of the activists and the
withdrawal of all charges against them.
This situation is the
latest incident in the ongoing deterioration of the human rights
situation in Zimbabwe. Over the last several months, CIVICUS and
other civil society organisations and human rights bodies in Zimbabwe
have reported on the deteriorating situation and breakdown in the
rule of law, the repeated attempts by the government to use the
courts to intimidate and harass citizens and the systematic abuse
and torture of those in detention.
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
