Human rights workers, journalists, farmers and ordinary people arbitrarily arrested in an increasingly repressive Zimbabwe can now rely on a simple network of support due to the Internet tactics of an innovative civic and human rights web site. Being arrested can be a frightening and disruptive experience for anyone, but in developing what they call The Friendship Tree, an organisation called Kubatana.net, in collaboration with civic activists, hopes to make sure that nobody is left alone. Using email and the telephone, Kubatana - with Kubatana being a Shona word meaning “working together” - have developed a web of at least 100 Zimbabweans who have agreed to be a part of The Friendship Tree. Once news is received of an arrest, The Friendship Tree is activated through email or the telephone to ensure that the court appearances of those detained are witnessed. “One of the most powerful things we can do in situations of chaos is to become a witness,” says Bev Clark, who along with Brenda Burrell, began Kubatana.

The Friendship Tree is one example of how Kubatana has developed a brand of e-activism that is attempting to keep information flowing in Zimbabwe. The Kubatana Trust of Zimbabwe emerged in 2002 out of the NGO Network Alliance Project, which was formed in March 2001. “The most noticeable difference,” says Clark about the use of e-activism, “isn't so much in influencing policy but rather giving Zimbabweans an opportunity to protest or speak out and to feel like they're actually doing something. This in itself, in a country where many people feel powerless, is a necessary initiative.”

And with more Zimbabweans going online, an increase in the opening of Internet cafes and a competitive Internet Service Provider environment, the potential for e-activism exists. One of Kubatana’s initiatives has been the facilitation of electronic activism training workshops. Kubatana hires internet cafes and discusses with participants the different ways in which email can be used to lobby, activate and mobilise, followed by some practical experience spent online going through the basics of email and the internet. Kubatana see themselves training a “diverse group of information activists” consisting mainly of young Zimbabweans who want to communicate messages of peace and non-violence. In 2003, the organisation intends to take their electronic activism workshops national and target tertiary education institutions. “In our current crisis in Zimbabwe we believe that it is important to train members of the general public to become information activists to counter the media blackout that we're experiencing. If we can instil a culture of information sharing through the use of email and the internet we believe that vital civic and human rights information will continue to flow despite deepening government restrictions,” says Clark.

Kubatana is encouraging the public to use the Kubatana web site to share their civic and human rights experiences. An example of this is the Prison Diary series published on the Kubatana site and made available by email following the increase in the number of illegal arrests and detentions in Zimbabwe. The series has made Zimbabweans aware of the prison conditions in their country, motivated people to become involved in prison reform or protest prison conditions and reminded authorities that their actions will be exposed.

When it began, Kubatana aimed to provide an online directory listing all NGOs and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Zimbabwe. The online directory now electronically networks over 200 NGOs, CSOs and social justice organisations. “We also believed that by creating a central information hub for the non-profit sector, NGOs would receive more interest and attention from regional and international development organisations,” Clark says.

Many Zimbabwean NGOs are either not in a financial position to develop a web site or lack the capacity for regular updates and maintenance. Recognising this, the Kubatana directory is based on "fact sheets" for each participant. These fact sheets list important information on the NGO concerned, including their contact details. NGOs that have a fact sheet in the Kubatana directory have a first level entry into the world wide web and can cite their fact sheet “web address” in their correspondence.

The Kubatana home page publishes press statements, articles, reports, appeals, surveys and other information from Zimbabwean NGOs, giving them an internet publishing outlet for their news. “In Zimbabwe we have an extremely polarised press and NGOs find it extremely difficult to integrate development news into the mainstream print media and often their message is manipulated and distorted. On Kubatana information from NGOs is not altered in any way,” says Clark. Identifying a need to encourage the sharing of information within the NGO sector and to bridge the divide between NGOs and the public, Kubatana used an advertising campaign to encourage members of the public to subscribe to their email address to receive civic and human rights information.

Zimbabwean NGOs function in an environment where inflation stands at 125 percent, where unemployment is at 60 percent and where 20 percent of the population are HIV positive. One of the “biggest challenges”, says Clark, is dealing with the fear and despondency that Zimbabweans are experiencing, with the March Presidential Elections leaving people feeling defeated, and a large number displaced, injured or financially ruined.

“We believe that it’s important to remind Zimbabweans that the individual matters. That even the smallest step is vital and that we cannot sink into apathy and inaction. This is what the government is relying on. Kubatana and the rest of civil society in Zimbabwe will do all we can to keep information channels open and hope alive,” says Clark.

* Visit - Zimbabwe's civic and human rights web site
incorporating an online directory for the non-profit sector and