New wave of arrests of civic groups

Jun 10, 2008, 13:46 GMT

Harare - Zimbabwe police have carried out a string of arrests of civic organisations since Sunday, widening a crackdown against opponents of President Robert Mugabe's regime ahead of presidential elections later this month.

The move follows a ban announced by the government last week on field operations by aid agencies and charities, effectively strangling supplies of food, medical care and an enormous range of services desperately needed by millions of poverty- and violence- wracked Zimbabweans.

Fourteen members of 'public information groups' organized by the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, a non-governmental organization pressing for media freedom, were finally given access to lawyers Tuesday after being arrested on Sunday in the remote northern town of Binga, MMPZ coordinator Andrew Moyse said.

Police had not stated why they had been arrested, but none had been assaulted, he said.

In Harare, police on Monday raided the offices of the Ecumenical Support Services, a Christian welfare organisation, and the Christian Alliance, a body pressing for political reform.

'They claimed they were chasing criminals who had run into the building,' said CA coordinator Useni Sibanda. 'Then they arrested 15 of our people.'

Among those arrested was outspoken critic and commentator, Pius Wakatama.

'As of now they are still detained in Harare central police station,' Sibanda said. 'There are no charges. This is a non-partisan Christian organisation. I am shocked they are doing this to us. They are clamping down on all civil society groups. It's impossible to have free and fair elections.'

Also Tuesday, lawyers said police were ignoring high court orders issued Sunday for the immediate release of senior advocate and just- elected MP Eric Matinenga.

He was first arrested on May 31 on allegations of 'inciting violence,' only days after he won a court ruling to stop members of the army from assaulting people in his constituency in south-east Zimbabwe, following a wave of violence against MDC supporters.

Last week a magistrate dismissed the charges against him and ordered him released, only for police to arrest him at dawn at his Harare home on Saturday.

A second round run-off presidential election is due on June 27 after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change won more votes than 84-year-old Mugabe in elections on March 29, but - according to results issued by the state electoral commission after it sat on the vote count for five weeks without explanation - failed to get more than 50 per cent of ballots that he needed for outright victory.

Since the March 29 election, human rights and church groups have confirmed MDC reports of a campaign of violent assaults against MDC supporters and independent election observers around much of the country. The MDC says that more than 65 have been killed while a group of doctors says nearly 3,000 have had to be treated in hospital for injuries.

Also Tuesday, Mugabe's Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, said he was planning an amnesty of convicted criminals in the country's jails to make space for people convicted of political violence.

'We recognise that incidents of political violence are on the increase and we want to take measures to stamp them out,' he said in the state-controlled daily Herald newspaper. However, human rights lawyers say that police routinely take no action against ruling party perpetrators of violence.