Police Brutality At Harare Protest

Zimbabwe: Free Expression Groups Condemn Police Brutality At Harare Protest

Free expression groups have deplored the use of brute force in stifling free expression and protest, seen in the beating and torture of the country's main opposition leader and others at a recent Harare protest.

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was arrested and one of his supporters was shot dead while attempting to attend a "Save Zimbabwe" prayer meeting in Harare on 11 March. Tsvangirai was seriously injured in custody and needed medical attention at an intensive care unit.

Tsvangirai was arrested along with more than 50 other opposition leaders, activists and journalists, including photojournalist Tsvangirai Mukwazhi and television producer Tendai Musiyu, both employed with Associated Press (AP). One protester was shot dead. Gun shots, water cannons and tear gas were used to disperse the crowds.

Police then defied High Court orders allowing lawyers and medical practitioners access to the brutally assaulted detainees. They were eventually released after two nights in police custody.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)-Zimbabwe condemned "the heavy-handed manner with which the police continue to abuse, harass and assault Zimbabweans who have the right to their constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression."

The demonstration was organised against President Robert Mugabe, despite a three-month ban on all political gatherings in Harare effective 21 February. On the same day, Mugabe was quoted in the "Southern Times", a regional newspaper published jointly by the Zimbabwean and Namibian state media, as saying that he would run for re-election in 2008. He has been in power since independence in 1980.

Zimbabwe is one of the world's most repressive states, and crackdowns against independent media, civil society and political opponents are common. In a 2007 Freedom House survey, the country earned the lowest possible scores for political rights and civil liberties.

Meanwhile, a renowned Zimbabwean journalist was suspended over an article on corruption implicating top ruling politicians, reports MISA-Windhoek. On 12 March, the weekly "Financial Gazette" suspended editor Sunsley Chamunorwa, known for his hard-hitting editorials, over a story linking top officials from Mugabe's party, Zanu-PF, to lucrative security contracts at Harare International Airport.

ENDS

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