Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe

This was the second time ROHR activists demonstrated in the heart of the Capital City of Culture as they once again braved the cold with their little ones. Despite the COLD DRAFT from the Mersey River and the rain, people still stopped to sign our petitions.
 
All this was being done as they showed their symphathy for their unfortunate families back in Zimbabwe who still face the wrath of the undemocratic governance of Mugabe.
 
ROHR activists distributed hand outs which herald ROHR stance on human rights violation in Zimbabwe. Those who passed by our stall were shocked by the murder of Osborne Kachuru  Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR). Who was beaten to death at ZANU PF's offices in Fourth Street, Harare, after a peaceful demonstration during the SADC talks .  Zanu PF political commissar Eliot Manyika was responsible and ROHR swears to leave no stone unturned to make sure he eventually faces justice.
As we feared the SADC meeting yielded nothing even though Botswana, Zambia and Tanzania are likely to be less cowed by Mugabe.
 
We are pleased to inform the general public of the immense support we have got from the local authority especially our Mim Whifield who has managed to make this a success. We do hope to get press coverage from the local paper The Daily Post as Liza Williams has shown great interest in covering Human Rights for Asylum Seekers from Zimbabwe.
 
We have approached  BBC Radio Mersyside and still await to hear from them. As we symphathise with our fellow Congolese brothers and sisters through the hard time they are going through we hope to share the same platform in the High Street in the next coming demonstrations.  
Finally, we are pleased to announce that the new ROHR website.

FOR THE RECORD: 77 signed the PETITION.

Fresh from being launched, the Brighton branch of the Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) was excited to be invited to take part at the Brighton & Hove People's Day on 5 October 2008 . The branch was launched on 4 October 2008 by the ROHR Zimbabwe President, Mr Ephraim Tapa and his team that included his vice, Mr Stendrick Zvorwadza, and the UK Co-ordinator, Mr Paradzai Mapfumo.

A pat on the back goes to Sinikiwe Dube and her interim team which had already started reaching out to other communities well before the launch.

The theme of the event was “Bringing communities together”.

Participants were drawn from diverse communities across the city with different ethnic and faith communities, sexual orientation and youth organisations. The event ran from noon to 1700hrs.

Once there, we immediately embarked on raising awareness on the situation in Zimbabwe and educating participants on the role of ROHR Zimbabwe. This, we did through leafleting and face to face discussions. We were never short of energy as we were still excited by the successful day of the launch.

Our stand turned out to be very popular with groups including the Black Minority ethnic groups and other organisations.

We were heartened by the fact that the groups were all too willing to offered support. Two of the groups actually offered us platforms to address participants to raise awareness on ROHR Zimbabwe and situation in our country.

We found out that most people had a vague idea of the current Zimbabwe situation and the causes to the problem. Many were disgusted about the brutality of Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF cronies.

One lady,Mrs Angeline Paukner joined as membership and Hanan Mansi (Black Ethnic Minority Group) gave a £10 donation towards the cause.

Zimbabwe is in a state of decay and it must be saved! It is up to every Zimbabwean citizen and the organisation as a whole to stand up to the challenge to claim our rights, justice and real democracy which the ordinary people have been and are still being denied.

Jane Mugwagwa

ROHR ( Brighton Branch)