NEWS FROM ZIMBABWE

Dear Friends

Our member organisations have released the following 5 statements and reports:

Approximately 300 members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) took to the streets of Bulawayo yesterday, 30.7.08 in a peaceful march. The march sought to draw politicians attention to people’s needs. It also aimed to test whether freedoms of expression and assembly have truly opened up following the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently signed by Zimbabwe’s politicians. WOZA’s report on the march can be read at http://www.wozazimbabwe.org/

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA Zimbabwe) issued several Alerts over the last days which we attach here:
- The first, of 30.07.08, concerns the conviction of two Kwekwe journalists convicted of publishing falsehoods under the repressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA)
- The second, also of 30.7.08, concerns the death in Zimbabwe of the Northern Irish photo-journalist Richard Mills and the request by the International Press Institute to President Mbeki to ensure an investigation into the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death.
- The third, of 28.7.08 is about the addition of two Zimbabwean editors onto the new EU sanctions list

The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) released a report on 25.7.08 on the ‘Run up to the 27 June 2008 Presidential Run off Election’. Analyzing politically motivated and food-related human rights violations in this period, the report notes an exponential increase in human rights violations with a ‘shocking total of 16 400 recorded cases’ from January to June 2008. This 38 page report can be found on-line via http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/hr/080725zpp.asp?sector=HR

Four other recent reports and statements from civil society organisations include:

The Youth Forum issued the attached communiqué ON 31.7.08 about a woman in Manicaland who is alleged to have committed suicide after being denied the right and permission to buy food groceries distributed through the Basic Commodities Supply Side Intervention (Bacossi) and showing clear politicisation of this new feeding program, according to the Youth Forum.

The Solidarity Peace Trust released a report on 29.7.08 entitled ‘Desperately Seeking Sanity: What Prospects for a New Beginning in Zimbabwe?’ This distressing report draws on 3320 formal interviews with victims of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe over the last three months. It notes that ‘the Presidential run-off election on the 27th June took place against the background of the worst state-led violence that Zimbabweans have experienced since the Gukurahundi massacres of the mid 1980’s, and in the context of a SADC mediation that had failed to ensure a generally acceptable election process’. The report can be read via the following link http://www.solidaritypeacetrust.org/index.php?page=reports&PHPSESSID=e4c51628487c50f49f548d3fcf3d03a3
The Crisis Coalition issued the attached Alert on 25.7.08 confirming the death of a police officer in Mudzi North following an alleged heavy assault by a group of 12 war veterans. The Alert also reports that our member organisation, the Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust (ZIMCET) was granted a court order barring police from interfering with the work of its Gweru offices.
The problem of post-election disputes and the role of civil society in resolving these was the theme of a conference hosted by EISA in Tanzania on 21-22.07.08 with participants from both Governmental and Non-Governmental bodies across Africa . Citing Zimbabwe , amongst other examples, the final Communiqué recommended that civil society be accorded more institutional recognition and space to resolve election related disputes. The full communiqué can be read at the following link http://www.eisa.org.za/PDF/comm200807.pdf

Finally, International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) have created an online competition called ‘Justice Makers’ for innovations that end torture, arbitrary detainment and abuse with an eye to moving one step closer to ending torture in the 21st Century. More information including a short film and innovative ideas for concrete way to realise this ambition by entering the competition before August 14th can be found at the IBJ website on www.ibj.org