Zimbabwe: Crackdown on Opposition Condemned

(New York, November 22, 2001) Human Rights Watch today called on the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) to speak out strongly on
the need to ensure that the rule of law is respected in Zimbabwe.

“The situation in Zimbabwe seems to be deteriorating daily,” said Peter
Takirambudde, executive director of the Africa Division of Human Rights
Watch. “President Mugabe must take urgent steps to restore the rule of
law and end harassment of Zimbabweans who peacefully express their
opposition to his government.”
In a letter to the president of Malawi, which is currently the chair of
SADC, and the presidents of South Africa, Mozambique, and Botswana,
which are members of a SADC “troika” responsible for monitoring the
situation in Zimbabwe, Human Rights Watch urged the regional body to
call on the Zimbabwean government to bring its supporters under control
and ensure that the police act impartially to restore order.

At least eighteen members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
are currently in custody, charged with offenses including murder, in
connection with the abduction and murder of a leading veteran of
Zimbabwe’s liberation war and government party supporter, Cain Nkala.
The MDC has denied responsibility for the abduction and murder of Nkala,
who was linked by police to the murder last year of an MDC official,
Patrick Nabanyama.

“It seems this killing is being used as an excuse to crackdown on the
opposition,” said Takirambudde. “While the criminal law must take its
course, state structures should not be used for political purposes.”

Police stood by last week as supporters of the ruling party rioted in
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second city, beating bystanders and forcing the
closure of shops. The MDC headquarters in Harare were twice surrounded
by a mob of people supporting the government the previous weekend.

Political conflict has intensified in Zimbabwe since a referendum in
February 2000, when people voted against proposed government amendments
to the constitution. Violence increased in the run-up to Parliamentary
elections held later in 2000. Presidential elections are scheduled for
April 2002. MDC supporters and independent journalists have been
subjected to increasing harassment and violence. The government has also
undermined the independence of the judiciary, forcing the resignation of
the chief justice. Acquisitions of white-owned commercial farms have
been accompanied by significant violence against their owners and farm
workers and intimidation and threats against black Zimbabweans living on
surrounding communal land.

For more information on Zimbabwe, please see:

Zimbabwe: Crackdown on Opposition Condemned (HRW Letter, November 22,
2001) at http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/11/zimlet1122.htm

Powell: Focus on Human Rights in Africa (Human Rights Watch Letter, May
18, 2001) at http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/05/powell-ltr-0522.htm

New Crackdown on Zimbabwe's Independent Media (HRW Press Release,
February 9, 1999) at http://www.hrw.org/press/1999/feb/zim0209.htm

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