FURTHER ASSAULTS ON THE RIGHTS TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION.
THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION: A FRESH CASUALTY
Further to our preliminary statement issues on 13 September 2003 on developments relating to the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) and the forced closure of the Daily News, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has been monitoring the legal and human right s aspects of the crisis over the past two days and is in a position to comment on various issues.
Seizure o ANZ equipment
On the 16 September 2003 around 30 members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and other non-uniformed law enforcement agents under the command of Chief Superintendent Madzinga entered the premises of ANZ without a warrant and forcibly searched the offices and Daily News newsroom for undisclosed material. They continued baring ANZ employees and executives from entering their offices. At the same time the premises containing a printing press belonging t a separate company were sealed off by police details.
The police proceeded to arbitrarily seize equipment from the premises without the consent of the owners. This process of seizure or confiscation of property without warrant took a number of hours and remains ongoing at the time of this statement.
Vociferous suggestions from lawyers acting on behalf of the ANZ and members of ZLHR that the police conduct was unlawful and a violation of constitutional and universally recognised human rights and fundamental freedoms regrettably made no impact on the law enforcement agents.
Amongst other things, ZLHR observed with great alarm the following aspects of the conduct on the part of police:
? The search of the premises was effected without a warrant;
? The seizure of equipment and property was effected without a warrant and included material unrelated to the preferred criminal charges;
? The police did not fully cooperate with the team of lawyers who had attended the scene on the instructions of the ANZ. They in fact denied that ANZ had a constitutional right to engage as many lawyers to handle their matter as they felt were necessary, and argued that there was no need for “a battalion of lawyers” when one would suffice. This was despite the fact that the police were combing every office in different areas of the building. Eventually they were prevailed upon to allow two lawyers to remain and observe the proceedings.
? Despite undertakings to lawyers that the property would remain locked in the premises overnight, police returned to the offices after 2000 hours and unlawfully removed property without the presence of representatives from the ANZ and their legal counsel.
Delays in the haring of the urgent court application by ANZ
ZLHR notes with alarm that despite being served with an urgent court application to prevent the removal of equipment, the police have recklessly continued with their conduct, unconcerned as to the outcome of the court proceedings. In view of the intransigence of the police, ZLHR is concerned that the case for the interdict has not been dealt with as urgently as the circumstances dictate. The urgent application was filed on 16 September 2003, and has not been dealt with at the time of this statement. It is regrettable that this seems to have become the modus operandi of the courts when dealing with matters involving universally recognised human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Arbitrary arrests and detentions of journalists
ZLHR has also learnt with deep concern that two journalists, Tsvangirai Mukwazhi and Paul Cadenhead, who were attempting to photograph the police action outside the ANZ offices and report on the unfolding events, were summarily arrested at around 10.00hours on 16 Sept 2003 and taken to Harare Central police station. Despite the deployment of a legal practitioner the two were only released after being detained and questioned for seven hours.
Arbitrary arrests and detentions on NCA leaderships and members
We have also received complaints that around 120 members of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) including the chairman, Dr Lovemore Madhuku, were arrested by the police for exercising their right to freedom of expression and assembly in protest against the government action of summarily closing the Daily News and confiscating the equipment without an order of court. The attending legal practitioner has been denied access by the police to his clients. Sadly, such conduct by the police has become endemic when it comes to cases involving human rights defenders.
Recommendations
We call upon the government to comply with its obligations in terms of both domestic and international law to allow the citizens of Zimbabwe to enjoy their right to freedom of expression without undue interference. In particular we demand that the government act:
? To immediately ensure that the property of ANZ is restored to their possession until such time as the urgent court application has been finalised; ? To ensure that the police cease their conduct of arbitrary search and seizure without warrants or court orders in matters where there is no evidence that an offence is being committed; ? To allow citizens to freely express themselves without harassment in their quest for alternative sources of news and other information. Further, we reiterate that the police must allow lawyers unimpeded access to their clients and desist from arbitrary arrest and detention of citizens of Zimbabwe, in particular human rights defenders. ZLHR is afraid that if the government fails to address the above concerns as a matter of urgency, then there is a real danger of the country sliding into complete anarchy and lawlessness, which would in turn worsen the political and humanitarian crisis that Zimbabwe currently faces. 17 Sept 2003 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN ZIMBABWE UNDER SIEGE Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) is gravely concerned at the impact on the right to freedom of expression of the forced closure of the privately owned Daily News following the recent Supreme Court ruling in the matter involving the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) and the Minister of Information & Publicity and the Media and Information Commission. The ANZ are the publishers of the Daily News, which is the only independent daily newspaper in Zimbabwe. This is not the first time that the employees and the newspaper itself have come under attack for their efforts to disseminate information to the public abut affairs affecting their day-to-day lives. ZLHR has always maintained that the Access to Information and protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) is a repressive piece of legislation that was enacted primarily to undermine the right to freedom of expression and stifle the exchange of ideas and information by the people of Zimbabwe. AIPPA, together with the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), the Broadcasting Services act, the Miscellaneous Offences Act (MOA) and the Labour Relations Act (LRA), amongst others, form an axis of repression in Zimbabwe, assaulting the epicentre of the freedom of expression. The latest attempt to utilise AIPPA to effectively shut down the private media should leave no person in doubt as to the intentions of those who crafted the legislation and their desire to suppress freedom of expression in the country. The Supreme Court Ruling Whilst reservations have been previously expressed about the independence of the Judiciary in Zimbabwe, ZLHR has remained fairly confident for some time that the bench would remain the final protector of universally recognised human rights and fundamental freedoms. In addition to the Constitution, Zimbabwe is bound by a number of international instruments that oblige it to conform with minimum standards in terms of promoting and protecting the right to freedom of expression which includes the right to impart and receive information. We have no doubt that the Supreme Court is aware of the obligations that Zimbabwe has in terms of such international instruments as The African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which guarantee the right to freedom of expression. Even though ZLHR has not yet been able to obtain a copy of the Supreme Court’s judgement in the ANZ matter in order to express a technical opinion, we are able to comment on the impact of the ruling on the right to freedom of expression as a fundamental human rights issue. ZLHR notes with grave concern that the Supreme Court ruling effectively resulted in the biggest assault on the right of freedom of expression in the history of our Independence. It is indeed regrettable that the ambitious thrust by the Minister of Information and Information and Publicity to enact, by any means, unconstitutional legislation designed to arrest expression, has now been given judicial approval by a court entrusted with the protection of fundamental freedoms and universally recognised human rights to ensure justice and freedom in Zimbabwe. Repression may therefore have sadly fond itself an ally against human rights defenders, in the form of the Judiciary. The forced closure of the Daily News. It came as no surprise to ZLHR that the police acted with apparent hast and enthusiasm to close down the Daily News on 12 Sept 2003 once the Supreme Court had made its pronouncements. This effectively put the final nail in the coffin of the right of expression. ZLHR is also deeply concerned about the impact of the police conduct consequent to the Supreme Court ruling on the investment climate in Zimbabwe at a time when our economy is in serious disarray. It is time for the Ministry of Information and Publicity to cease utilising repressive and unconstitutional pieces of legislation to stem the free-flow of information and ideas in Zimbabwe. We continue to call for the immediate repeal of AIPPA and POSA and the drafting of appropriate and lawful legislation after considered debate and input from all stakeholders. 13 Sept. 2003