On the 3 June 2002, the President and Secretary of the Law Society were arrested and detained by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police. The offices of the Law Society, the Secretary’s law practice and the private residences of both the President and the Secretary were subjected to search and official law society documents were seized. The two were charged with contravening section 5(2)(b)(1) of the Public Order and Security Act.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) is particularly alarmed at the apparent attempts to compromise the independence, effectiveness and integrity of the Law Society of Zimbabwe, and the personal attacks on its Secretary and President. The arrest of the President and Secretary come as the latest in a campaign to silence criticism of the government. ZLHR fears that the arrests of the President and the Secretary may herald a plan to compromise our justice delivery system and the safety of human rights defenders.

Based on the charges and the submissions of the state representative at the hearing of an application for the release of Messrs Moyo and Mapombere, we consider that the charges were palpably false, unfounded and apparently malicious for the following reasons:

1. There is no section 5 (2)(b)(1) in the Public Order and Security Act;
2. It is alleged that the President of the Law Society of Zimbabwe organised a meeting on 4 March 2002 to plan “peaceful” “mass action” in support of the MDC and at which meeting it was agreed that the MDC ceases reconciliation talks with ZANU PF. It is an undisputable fact that on 4 of March 2002, Presidential elections had not yet been held and the MDC had not engaged ZANU PF in any reconciliation talks and there had been no talk of mass action;
3. In light of the accused persons’ denials; the highly questionable authenticity of the letters supposedly written by the accused and the impossibility of the facts of the offence alleged, no “reasonable suspicion” of an offence having been committed could remotely have arisen. In any event, the right to peacefully demonstrate, assuming the letters are authentic, is protected under Sections 20 and 21 of the Constitution which guarantee the right of freedom of expression and freedom of association and assembly;
4. Further, the whole of Section 5 of the Public Order and Security Act is arguably unconstitutional as it severely restricts the exercise of the right to freedom of expression.

The apparent persecution of the Law Society of Zimbabwe and its secretariat comes after vitriolic and unfounded attacks on the person of the President of the Law Society by the government through its Minister of Information and Publicity in the President’s Office, as reported in the Herald of 18 April 2002, for statements made in his official capacity.

Meanwhile it has come to the attention of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights that the government may have intentions to introduce legislation to give it control over the Law Society Council. We hope that the unjustified arrests of the President and Secretary of the Law Society will not be used as an excuse to pass such legislation.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is extremely concerned at the attempts to undermine the republican and democratic principles underpinning the Constitution of Zimbabwe. There seems to exist a systematic suppression of the plurality of opinion and the growth of democracy. The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act severely controls the activities of the print media and practitioners. The Broadcasting Services Act constructively prohibits the creation of competing private radio and television stations. The Public Order and Security Act severely limits every citizen’s freedom of expression, association, assembly and protection of the law. In 2001 the Executive caused the resignation of a number of judges, in an attempt to compromise the independence of the Judiciary. The executive had also systematically ignored court orders. Parliament continues to be compromised by the appointment, directly or indirectly, of thirty members by the President which gives the party of the President effective control over Parliament.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is outraged at the perverse use by the executive of the criminal justice system. We call upon every lawyer, and every patriotic Zimbabwean to denounce the treasonous intentions of subverting citizens’ rights. Every Zimbabwean should jealously guard our liberation values and the fruits of our hard won independence for which tens of thousands of our fellow countrymen perished.