SADC meetings under way in Harare – but what about jailed activists and critics?

Zimbabwe’s foreign affairs minister, Frederick Shava. (Albin Lohr-Jones/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Zimbabwe’s foreign affairs minister called for peace, security and good governance in the SADC.Two tourists applied to the high court for bail after they were arrested.South Africa says Zimbabwe’s problems require a political dialogue.

Ahead of the 44th ordinary summit of heads of state scheduled for 17 and 18 August in Harare, Zimbabwe, Southern African Development Community (SADC) engagements proceeded without incident, despite growing international calls for the release of opposition and civil society members detained nationwide.

Zimbabwe’s foreign affairs minister, Frederick Shava, on Wednesday assumed the chairpersonship of the SADC Council of Ministers and called for member states to honour “the foundation of peace, security and good governance, which are fundamental ingredients for the SADC’s regional transformative agenda”.

But, while he called for peace, security and good governance, Harare continued to jail its critics and perceived enemies.

There are suspicions that demonstrations have been planned as President Emmerson Mnangagwa takes up the rotational chairpersonship of the regional bloc for the next 12 months.

With more than a hundred critics behind bars, the United Nations on Wednesday called for the “immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained and the protection of civic space”.

Crossfire

Caught in the chaos are two tourists – Lucas Slavik, a Czech national, and Ugandan Tom Ssekamwa – who have spent two weeks in remand custody.

Slavik faces a charge of spreading falsehoods through a recorded video, in which he narrated Zimbabwe’s poor economic state, as well as the long power and water cuts in Masvingo.

His friend, Ssekamwa, faces a criminal nuisance charge. 

They were denied bail because the Masvingo provincial magistrate, Franklin Mkwananzi, said the two were a flight risk.

In an interview with News24, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said they had applied to have the bail hearing of the two tourists in the high court.

The hearing has been set for Thursday.

Torture and violence

ZLHR said one of the last locals to be detained, trade unionist Robson Chere, was on Friday denied access to his doctor after having suffered injuries allegedly due to torture in remand custody.

The lawyers have since reached out to the high court on Chere’s behalf.

“We have filed an urgent application in the high court, seeking an order to compel Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services to grant Chere access to his doctors of choice within 24 hours,” the lawyers said in a statement.

READ | SA has no authority to dictate that SADC Summit be moved from Zimbabwe – Dirco

Chere was arrested alongside activists Namatai Kwekeza, Samuel Gwenzi, Promise Munkuli and Vusimuzi Moyo.

They were ejected from a domestic flight set to leave Harare for Victoria Falls, and detained by state security officials two weeks ago.

They were taken in on allegations of criminal nuisance outside the magistrate’s court, where 77 activists were due to appear. 

Going into the SADC summit, the Zimbabwe Peace Project said: “Human rights defenders and pro-democracy activists were placed in the centre of surveillance and deliberately targeted for arbitrary and illegal arrests, torture and police brutality.”

Regional pressure

The Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network called on SADC leaders to exert pressure on Harare.

They said in a statement:

We call on SADC member states to pressure the Zimbabwean government to release all those detained and drop the charges against them. We urge respect for human rights, including freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.

Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s international relations and cooperation minister, is in Harare to attend the Council of Ministers.

In a press conference before leaving for Harare on Monday, he said Zimbabwe’s problems needed dialogue and South Africa would be glad to play a part in the talks.

“SA maintains that political challenges can be resolved by peaceful dialogue. All the issues that are being raised by activists and political organisations can be resolved by sitting around the table with the government of the day. SA will have no problem playing a facilitating role,” he said.

Civil society, however, has called for the SADC summit to be moved from Zimbabwe because of the wanton arrests. 

However, according to ANC spokesperson Zuko Godlimpi, if there are any concerns in Zimbabwe that require attention, it should be discussed at the summit rather than elsewhere.

The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.

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