Zimbabwe's disregard of basic human rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of association was again put to the fore on Friday when heavily armed anti riot police raided the Bulawayo Art Gallery and arrested Owen Maseko the organiser of the Gukurahundi exhibition which was going on.
Maseko a solo-artist had organized a two day event to exhibit pictures of the Gukurahundi massacres. The exhibition which kicked off on Thursday at the Bulawayo Art gallery showcased pictures of the victims, relatives and those of the disused mines where bodies of the victims were dumped by Five Brigade soldiers.
Maseko’s lawyer Kucaca Phulu of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said a group of armed police raided the Bulawayo Art Gallery along Main Street early morning, soon after opening and confiscated pictures before arresting his client.
“Police in riot gear arrived early in the morning at the gallery and told everybody present to disperse before they confiscated exhibition pictures and arrested Maseko”.
“He is still detained at Bulawayo Central police station and will go to court on Monday, but we are still trying to make an urgent High Court application for his release before that day and also for police to return the pictures,” said Phulu.
Phulu said this shows that “there is still no rule of law and no freedom expression in the country even after the formation of the inclusive government. Zanu PF is still sending police to terrorize citizens”.
The raid of Bulawayo Art Gallery and arrest of Maseko came just 24 hours after truckloads of police swooped down on Harare Art gallery and removed the pictures displayed by the Zimbabwe Human Rights (ZimRights).
The exhibition was part of a growing campaign by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC and human rights activists to publicize a history of violence against the MDC over the last decade.
In 1982, President Mugabe’s Zanu-PF in pursuit of a one party state sought help from North Korea to train the infamous Five Brigade soldiers. The brigade was deployed in the Midlands and Matabeleland regions in an operation code named Gukurahundi.
For about five years, the Five Brigade massacred innocent civilians using the propaganda excuse that there had been insurgency in the Zapu strongholds. Innocent civilians estimated at up to 20 000 were killed while thousands disappeared. They were buried in mass graves while some thrown in disused mines.
The move was designed to force Mugabe and his cohorts to acknowledge hundreds of murders and thousands of cases of torture, arson and looting of MDC supporters, ending the immunity the perpetrators have enjoyed.
Lawyers say only a handful of perpetrators of those crimes have been prosecuted, despite researchers having compiled detailed reports of thousands of incidents, and handing them to authorities. The MDC is demanding a truth and reconciliation commission, but Mugabe insists that bygones are bygones.
- Simbarashe Nembaware and RadioVop Zimbabwe
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Sanef concerned at Zim clampdown
THE SA National Editors’ Forum is concerned at a new clamp down on foreign and local media in Zimbabwe despite promises by the government that the country’s repressive media laws were under review and would be amended to restore media freedom, according to a media release.
Several incidents of repression and harassment of journalists and other association with the media have occurred since the beginning of the year.
A Mexican journalist, despite have been given appropriate accreditation by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, was arrested by state security agents on February 12 while attempting to film tourist attractions in the town of Masvingo. He was reportedly released after the Tourism Minister intervened.
On January 18, freelance journalist Andrison Manyere was reportedly arrested while covering a demonstration for better education by the organization Women and Men of Zimbabwe (WOZA) though he was released the same day.
On February 11, action was taken against the distributors in Zimbabwe of the independent Zimbabwean newspaper based in London. Two directors of the Zimbabwean’s new distribution company, Adquest, were arrested for publishing ``false statements’’ allegedly contained in an article in an edition of the paper published in January. They were charged under Section 31 (a) (iii) of the Criminal Law (Codification & Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23, with publishing falsehoods prejudicial to the State. Earlier they had been detained but after questioning and producing papers showing the paper had been legally imported were released. No date has been set for their appearance in court.
On February 16 Lovemore Manjonjo, a staff writer of the African Workers Organiser, a monthly produced by a communist activity group in South Africa, was arrested in Harare and copies of the publication he had in his possession were confiscated. He was released and warned to appear in court on February 22 on a charge of assaulting a policeman. He claimed he had been manhandled.
Another journalist, freelancer Stanley Kwenda, who received a death threat from a man claiming to be a police officer fled the country. The death threat, according to the Zimbabwean newspaper, was linked to an article published in that paper.
Sanef protests at these attempts by the Zimbabwean authorities to stifle reporting and the flow of information about the country both internally and for foreign consumption. It calls on the Zimbabwe government to respect the principles under which the unity government was formed – one of those being the removal of restrictions on the media and the restoration of Press Freedom – and to end the persistent harassment of the media.
-Journalism.co.za
Several incidents of repression and harassment of journalists and other association with the media have occurred since the beginning of the year.
A Mexican journalist, despite have been given appropriate accreditation by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, was arrested by state security agents on February 12 while attempting to film tourist attractions in the town of Masvingo. He was reportedly released after the Tourism Minister intervened.
On January 18, freelance journalist Andrison Manyere was reportedly arrested while covering a demonstration for better education by the organization Women and Men of Zimbabwe (WOZA) though he was released the same day.
On February 11, action was taken against the distributors in Zimbabwe of the independent Zimbabwean newspaper based in London. Two directors of the Zimbabwean’s new distribution company, Adquest, were arrested for publishing ``false statements’’ allegedly contained in an article in an edition of the paper published in January. They were charged under Section 31 (a) (iii) of the Criminal Law (Codification & Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23, with publishing falsehoods prejudicial to the State. Earlier they had been detained but after questioning and producing papers showing the paper had been legally imported were released. No date has been set for their appearance in court.
On February 16 Lovemore Manjonjo, a staff writer of the African Workers Organiser, a monthly produced by a communist activity group in South Africa, was arrested in Harare and copies of the publication he had in his possession were confiscated. He was released and warned to appear in court on February 22 on a charge of assaulting a policeman. He claimed he had been manhandled.
Another journalist, freelancer Stanley Kwenda, who received a death threat from a man claiming to be a police officer fled the country. The death threat, according to the Zimbabwean newspaper, was linked to an article published in that paper.
Sanef protests at these attempts by the Zimbabwean authorities to stifle reporting and the flow of information about the country both internally and for foreign consumption. It calls on the Zimbabwe government to respect the principles under which the unity government was formed – one of those being the removal of restrictions on the media and the restoration of Press Freedom – and to end the persistent harassment of the media.
-Journalism.co.za
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