Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe

IMPORTANT GENERAL NOTICE FROM ROHR UK

As part of the ongoing branch audit exercise, a request was made calling upon all branches to submit their activity reports by the specified deadline. Regrettably, some branches did not heed the instruction and as a consequence, action is now afoot to declare such branches dead or self-serving if nothing is heard from them by 31 May 2010. The National Executive takes a very serious view on self-serving branch officials/members and therefore, intends to name and shame them where this is proven.

As aforesaid, action will be taken if we do not hear from the following branches by 31/05/2010; Bournemouth, Swansea, Reading, Coventry, Stevenage and Stoke-On-Trent.

Also please note, all members are reminded to maintain an update account of their membership subscriptions. According to ROHR Zimbabwe constitution (Article 8.5), membership will be lost 'upon failure to renew annual membership or when falls two months in arrears'. When that becomes the case, please note that ROHR Zimbabwe will do everything in its power to protect its image by distancing itself from the actions of such former members.

By Order of the UK National Executive

ROHR Liverpool Vigil. Saturday 31st July from 2 – 5 pm. Venue: Church Street (Outside Primark), Liverpool City Centre. For details please contact: Anywhere Mungoyo 07939913688, Trywell Migeri 07956083758, Panyika Karimanzira 07551062161. Future demonstrations: 7^th and 21^st August, 4^th September. Same time and venue.

ROHR Bournemouth get-together and executive election. Saturday 31st July from 2 – 10 pm. Venue: East Cliff United Reformed Church opposite ASDA Store, Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth, BH8 8AW. Contact: Abi Nzimba 07780831455 or Sekai Mujeyi 07772211220 or P Mapfumo 07915926323 / 07932216070. Food, drink, music, Everyone welcome.

ROHR Hayes general meeting. Saturday 31^st July from 1 – 5 pm. Venue: Brookside Community Centre, Hayes, UB4 0PE. The raffle for the Computer, DVD player, Printer and Samsung mobile phone will be drawn andtickets are still on sale. ROHR Executive present. Contact Roda Kulhengisa 07958205544, Snodia Chihowa 07852921523, Charity Nyamuzuwe 07898765091 or P Mapfumo 0791592623 / 07932216070

ROHR West Bromwich general meeting.  Saturday 31^st July 2010 from 1 – 5 pm. Venue: St Peters Church Hall, Whitehall Road, West  Bromwich  B70 0HF. Contact: Pamela Dunduru 07958386718, Peter Nkomo 07817096594, Diana Mtendereki 07837682108, P Chibanguza 07908406069 or P Mapfumo 07915926323.

ROHR Stoke-On-Trent general meeting. Saturday 7th August from 2 – 5 pm.  Venue YMCA Edinburgh House. Harding Road  Stoke-On-Trent ST1 3AE. Substantive commitee to be  elected. Executive members present on the day. Contact: Pauline Mutema on 07850462301, David Mugwira 07866873493, Maxwell Dube 07533349840, P Chibanguza 07908406069 or P Mapfumo 07915926323/07932216070

ROHR Woking general meeting. Saturday 7^th August. Venue: 61 Sunbury Lane, Walton-on-Thames, KT12 2JA, Surrey. Come let's share ideas – things getting worse back home. Contact: Isacc Mudzamiri 07774044873, Sithokozile Hlokana 07886203113 or P Mapfumo on 07915926323/07932216070. 

ROHR London South-East Branch general meeting. Saturday 14^th August at 1 pm. Venue: 16 Sydenham Road, London SE26 5QW. We call upon all Zimbabweans, members and non-members of ROHR to assemble with us.  We value you, hence this invitation.  Together we can achieve more. Contact: Wellington Rupere 07799702750, Priscilla Chitsinde 07804696328, Courage Chiromo 07894586005 or P Mapfumo 07915926323 / 07932216070. 

A member of the MDC party was ambushed and assaulted during the first week of July 2010 by a mob of ZANU PF youth militia in Muzarabani.

Mr. Kagura was heavily assaulted by a gang of more than eleven men armed with logs. He sustained life threatening head injuries, twisted wrist joints and limbs. Kagura told ROHR Zimbabwe that he only managed to flee when he fired a gun shot from his firearm forcing the marauding mob to disperse.

The   MDC activist, had visited Keba Madya,a member of the ZANU PF party at his home to inquire about a debt owed to him. Madya is said to have insisted on getting witnesses from his political party members since he was under pressure from his party structures for allegedly mixing with pro MDC people.

After spending the entire night in the bush wounded, Kagura was arrested by Muzarabani police. He spent five days and nights in police custody. Despite the fact that he had lost so much blood from a gushing wound on the head, he was denied medical attention by the police.

Kagura told ROHR Zimbabwe that his attempts to demand treatment ended in him being told that his was a special case and that they needed to get permission from their superiors on how he should be treated.

Kagura is agitated by the police behavior which he described as discriminating against those deemed enemies of certain political parties. He further claims that the judiciary procedure presided by judge Chakanyuka was fast-tracked to a predetermined outcome in favor of the aggressors. The judge did not bother to check for a medical report to establish the nature of the injuries sustained by Kagura. Ironically the assailants were vindicated for their act and the victim was slapped with a harsher penalty of imprisonment.

As ROHR Zimbabwe we remain concerned by the role being played by some members of the police force and judiciary in failing to execute their duties professionally to maintain objectivity, fairness, transparency and independence. It is regrettable that institutions of the state remain unreformed and biased at the backdrop of the critical time of transformation to a democratic society. The Global Political Agreement stresses that there should be equal treatment of all people regardless of political affiliation. It is incumbent upon the law enforcement agents to uphold the provisions of the GPA to ensure that human rights are not violated at the whim of political extremism.

Articles 9 and 10 of the Universal declaration of Human Rights (1948) states that ‘no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile” ‘’everyone charged with a crime is entitled equally to fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal.”

For Peace, Justice and Freedom

From ROHR Zimbabwe Information Department

Events preceding the formation of the coalition government between the three principals to the GPA have seen a relentless continued stranglehold of influence on the security forces by one political party arguably at the expense of national interest. Despite the fact that the coalition government was negotiated in the spirit of inclusivity that has not been the case characterizing the order of the day. Each party is caught up in a dog eat dog survival of the fittest encounter.

The security forces and the judiciary are the key components on which the success of the transition agenda weighs. Independence of the two arms of the state has been a subject of contests as ZANU Pf continues to signal its intent of not entertaining any overtures of laying off their control of the uniformed forces: the army, the police, state intelligence, ministries of defence, home affairs and communications at the centre of rampant accusations of undermining of the rule of law by these institutions. Unmistakable the resolve by ZANU to pursue a ravenous unrepentant stance means they have put their cards splashed on the deck – their partisan interest to defend the regime supersedes national interest.

Over the years ZANU has built an ideology unfortunately an entire oppressive system of resistance against change. Broadened into a root structure system, it has grown into a powerful demonic force and one dare not underestimate its impact. A system that is designed to foil any attempt against its values, culture and time span and that is against the winds of change. The secret of undoing this demonic force lies in replacing the very mindset that it represents with the one that should replace it rather than ultimately getting wrapped up in addressing its impact.

Having been subjected to a violent system that it fought to overthrow, it assumed the same mechanism then and throughout its life span everything then has to do with militancy, violence, monopoly, resistance, selfishness, aggression, authoritarian. The mindset has refused renewal and slowly become redundant.

ZANU understands that without the control of security forces, the core partners to the coalition government are toothless bull dogs. Despite any efforts to push for democratic reforms and account for the past legacy of corruption and violence, it’s met with the system and structures.

The politicization of national events further divides the nation with the backdrop of the much needed unity of purpose to stir the country on a path of a stabilized transformation mode. Persistent contravention of the GPA by the dominant forces in the coalition government is a clear revelation of sheer lack of political will towards the wave of democratization in the transition. For too long ZANU Pf has hidden behind the adage of coercively posing as the sole liberator and legitimate patron of the Zimbabwean people to whom people remain indebted, through the manipulation of the media and the police in political campaigns.

The issue of transitional justice was deliberately down-played by the GPA at the height of moves to protect dominant parties implicated in gross post independence human rights abuses. It is unequivocal that attempts on blanket amnesty on the past wrongs will not bring sustainable peace evidenced by the spiraling impunity which has become institutionalized to haunt and terrorize innocent citizens.

For the people of Zimbabwe, the transition will be cynical process with a pre-determined outcome dashing the hopes of many who placed hope of a new dawn from this historic political dispensation. The lack of equality of all citizens before the law remains a cause of concern. Allegations of selective application of the law are still besieging the coalition government. Human rights defenders, students, lawyers, journalist, political activists and all those deemed critical of the government continue to be harassed with impunity, arbitrarily arrested and subjected to degrading inhuman treatment in deliberate efforts to snuff any attempts on demands for transparency and accountability.

Dogged by the identity crisis of what is the dominant force among the three political parties to the GPA, the coalition government has been operating way below capacity due to the division of priorities, efforts, commitment and energies towards national developments. The constitution making process and the national healing exercises are two key indicators to measure the success of the ongoing efforts of the coalition government. Regrettably enough, national events have been heavily politicized. Predictably and shocking as it may be, the security forces are alleged to be part of the sabotaging efforts with reports that uniformed forces were reported to be deployed to intimidate people from participating freely in the ongoing constitutional outreach.

Organized state sponsored intimidation fed from political intolerance is still widespread in politically charged communities around the country.

Emerging from a decade of conflict and a painful legacy of violence, the coalition government should place the respect of human rights, people’s freedom and justice at the centre of developmental issues at all times.

For Peace, Justice and Freedom

This article is by Tichanzii Gandanga, ROHR Secretary General who survived a brutal attempted  murder in the run up to the June 2008 elections.

Under the Global Political Agreement (GPA) article 7, the coalition government agreed to promote equality, national healing, cohesion and unity through ensuring equal treatment, creation of an environment of tolerance and respect among Zimbabweans. This was to ensure that all citizens are treated with dignity and decency irrespective of age, gender, race, and ethnicity, place of origin or political affiliation.

Two years down the line, national healing and reconciliation remains but an article, a piece of paper. Two years after, it is difficult to reconcile the mandate bestowed upon the organ of national healing and the actual unfolding events in most communities particularly in the rural areas.

The roadmap to the carrying out of a credible and effective national healing process has remained in oblivion since the coming into existence of the coalition government despite the agreement between the parties that they shall stir, ‘’the setting up of a mechanism to properly advise on what measures might be necessary and practicable to achieve national healing.’’

Unfortunately, the events that have shaped the vital issues to do with national healing, integration and cohesion during the life span of the coalition government have equated to a ship that is in the middle of nowhere, driven by tides with no captain. The stewards to the ministry have been suffering from hysterical amnesia and they have not reached a point of clarity in what is expected from them in delivering products to the nation.

The most characteristic role that they have played is relegating themselves to public relations officers deployed by the principals to manage the general public and watering down the demanding voices of victims of political violence calling for restorative and retributive justice and readdress.

Instead of serving the general populace, the organ has been devoted to serving the principals of the coalition government who are their bosses – where their bread is buttered. No wonder that people in the grassroots are frustrated by the organ. Those who bear the brunt of scars from the reign of anarchy of the bloody elections of 2008 have no kind words on how the taxpayer’s money is being spent on the comfort of ministers of the organ.

Being part of the government, the organ has not done anything to inspire public recognition towards campaigning on behalf of the electorate in vital issues like acknowledging the many victims of political violence born out of the 2008 elections. Millions of innocent people have been either forcibly turned into Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) or driven outside the borders due to the harsh economic and political terrain over the last decade.

The coalition government is in denial. Any information about evidence incriminating perpetrators of violence and human rights crimes is treated with the most severe secrecy to the measure of being state secrets. The classification of information to bar the public from access has stifled the debate around a credible transparent national healing, built upon accounting for the past wrongs through transitional justice and truth telling. Even the arms of the state and government like the judiciary and law enforcement have been coerced and are complicit in concealing information incriminating people.

Our environment continues to be sour, plugged by highly charged political tension and mistrust splitting communities along partisan lines attributable to the lack of renewal of institutions and most important state structures. All this is happening with the backdrop of the organ and the coalition government failing to create a conducive environment for tolerance and national healing. The organ has been a bystander to the accusations of a partisan police force that has been slammed for undermining efforts to bring perpetrators of past wrongs to justice. Worse still, impunity is still rampant and persistent.

In the absence of a clear action plan to stir the nation towards a process of healing, it is perplexing to note that one of the ministers to the organ has publicly announced that the healing process should be completed before the next elections. Healing is a deliberate effort that will take sincere commitment not window dressing and will need resources, purpose and political will. Attempts by those who committed heinous crimes against humanity, to slip under the carpet what happened in the past, has exposed their lack of intent to account for the past knowing well that their hands are stained by blood of innocent souls. Predictably they have resorted to playing a defensive role to hide the skeletons in their closets.

The most antagonizing reality is not only the treacherous act of covering up for what is known publicly to have been done by known individuals, groups of people, institutions but the relentless attempt to feed the circle of violence and anarchy. The infrastructure of intimidation, violence and torture is still intact and oiled up to be unleashed for selfish ends that benefit small elite. 

The crisis of visionary leadership besieging the organ of national healing needs to be resolved as a pre-requisite for the body to start posting measurable results to justify its existence. A clear mandate should be shared by the principals to the ministry and it has to sink in that they are accountable to the electorate. 

The people of Zimbabwe are progressive and willing to play their role and to actively participate in working towards national healing, peace building supported by credible structures and supportive mechanisms. They yearn for a leadership broader than political affiliation, ethnicity, and individual interest – to embrace the demands of the entire nation. Prevailing politics of our day shames our conscience – national events like the ongoing consultation outreach under the constitution making process have been heavily politicized by hungry power grabbing leaders who are too blinkered to see beyond the horizon. Politics of manipulation will not stand the test of time. The news that the CIO is involved in manipulating the views of the people should be investigated!

We strongly condemn the act of persistent man made manufacture of calamities resulting in more casualties piling on the suspended cases of victims of political violence and other human rights abuses that are awaiting justice. 

For Peace, Justice and Freedom