The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum shares this statement about the charges against Zimbabwean human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa being dropped today:

In a week that shall always be remembered as consequential for the vindication of  Zimbabwean human rights defenders and civil society organisations, on 26 November,  Harare Magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa delivered a verdict of not guilty in the Beatrice Mtetwa  trial where charges of contravening Section 184 (1) (g) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

The Prosecution had alleged that Mtetwa, a fiery and prominent human rights lawyer, had defeated or obstructed the course of justice. She was arrested on 17 March 2013 and had been defending the matter  in court since  10 June 2013.

According to the Forum’s Court Report, The Magistrate gave reasons for her judgment saying that  Mtetwa had done nothing to interfere with the investigations the police were conducting. She cited that the police testimony was contradictory and it did nothing to put the Mtetwa to her defence.

The inspection in loco conducted at the premises where the arrest was effected also served to cast the State’s case in doubt and bad light as it was established that there was no way Mtetwa could have interfered with what was going on in an area of the house where she could not see what was happening; whilst guarded and  in handcuffs  in a vehicle outside the premises.

The Magistrate castigated the police for presenting contradictory testaments when they are professionals whose work relies on observation. She also made it clear that it is not an offence to take photographs and in any case after forensic examination, Mtetwa’s phone was found without any evidence that photographs of the scene had been taken. The Magistrate found that there is no evidence that  Mtetwa stopped or interfered with the search and returned a verdict of not guilty.

In addition to the Mtetwa case, on 22 November the same Magistrates Court acquitted Abel Chikomo, the Forum’s Director on charges of running an ‘illegal’ organisation. The details of the case and our analysis can be accessed here.

Both the Mtetwa and Chikomo cases  are reminiscent of the infamous Glen View 29 case, in which Justice Bhunu chided police officers for their unprofessional conduct in arresting human rights campaigner Cynthia Manjoro and MDC-T youth assembly president Solomon Madzore and other activists as they did not have credible evidence linking them to the commission of the offence. In that case the judge said the police had arrested Manjoro as an inducement for her boyfriend to surrender himself to the police in connection with the commission of the offence. The Judge made these remarks  on 19 September when he passed a not guilty verdict on 21 of the Glen View 29 activists who include Cynthia Manjoro, Solomon Madzore, Stanford Maengahama, and others.

Given this pattern where the police arrest human rights defenders and the judiciary takes a different stance, albeit, very late, could this be the beginning of a new era in the Zimbabwean Judiciary? The jury is still out on this. There is more to be said about Zimbabwe’s justice delivery system.

In the office block where we work, there are about 30 offices, each with maybe 4 employees. So that’s about 120 workers, plus their various visitors, clients and passers through at the café and hair salon downstairs.

For the past ten days, there has not been municipal water. The borehole which the owners sunk for the building last year is dry. For a few days, the pump to the water tanks was broken. The building manager ordered a water delivery which lasted for about three days. Meanwhile, he’s struggling to get another delivery, and the water companies he phones tells him there is a backlog. No one has municipal water, and everyone is trying to order some.

Where does the bulk water we order come from? Some comes from legitimate sources, but some is pumped out of residential boreholes and city water recharge sources, further compromising the city’s water supply.

Like the recent Human Rights Watch video and report say – Never mind the quality of Harare’s water, even the supply is in crisis. Signs like this one at the toilet in our office block are the order of the day. We know there isn’t any water. We know to use it sparingly. But what we don’t know is when that’s going to change, and how.

Notice from the Environmental Management Agency (EMA)

Dear All

The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) invited Marlborough Residents and all Stakeholders to a consultative meeting on Local Environmental Planning (LEAP) for the restoration and conservation of Marlborough Vlei.

Marlborough Vlei is a Protected Wetland which provies many wetland and water provisioning services and functions to the people of Harare. The meeting seeks to raise awareness on the importance and value of wetlands. Together residents and local authorities, as well as all stakeholders, have an opportunity to decide the best way forward for the restoration and conservation of Marlborough Vlei.

Place: Marlborough Vlei, Newstead Road, Marlborough
Time: 8am – 1pm
Date: Saturday 23 November 2013

For further information please contact
EMA: 0773 609289 or 0773 404779
Marlborough District Office: 0774325882
Email: ema@ema.co.zw

Ever wondered what an embassy does?

British Embassy Harare Deputy Head of Mission Chris Brown will be hosting a Twitter Question and Answer session on Thursday 21 November at 3pm Zimbabwe time. Follow him on @DHMChrisBrown and ask those burning questions.

For British Embassy Harare information updates including events, scholarships, and UK policy updates follow Ambassador Deborah Bronnert on Twitter @DeborahBronnert.

Recent talk of demolitions of “illegal structures” being planned by government prompted a subscriber in Hatfield to send us these thoughts:

Greetings. I’m am a very bitter resident of Hatfield and I stay in Harare Drive. From the onset of farm invasions there was a group of people that came and began to settle in a bush that existed surrounding Dunstan transport company. This bush is right next to the international airport. Don’t get me wrong I do think every citizen deserves a piece of land to build a house and live but it’s the location and state of these houses and how it has affected the proper houses along Harare Drive.

In 2005 if I’m not mistaken during the Operation Murambatsvina phase the houses that were destroyed then were far better than the ones they have now. I don’t know when these settlements became legal because during election campaign phase, makeshift roads were opened up and by end of polls there was no sign of even a grading machine. The roads were left unfinished till today I will send pictures later.

These are the bad effects of these settlements: property along Harare Drive has devalued. Our roads are even neglected by council, even service delivery like refuse collection and water have ceased to exist from the onset of these events. Their settlement meant cutting down of trees and because of this our area now receives little or no rain at all. Be that as it may, it just brings out a really bad picture of what Zimbabwe is really on arrival of all visitors.

I have failed to really understand the whole situation. My suggestion is if parties want their supporters to have such benefits they must also assist them in building descent houses and at least service the stands in advance because they have no power, no sanitation and no water and it’s been a decade since they settled there. Before we also heard rumors of that land being developed with a shopping mall and new runways and a new airport hotel and a school also I guess that will never happen. Someone must do something.

- Disgruntled Youth

Yesterday, demonstrators gathered outside the US Embassy to protest sanctions. They got a bit of attention on Twitter, and an article in The Herald, but it doesn’t sound like anyone was arrested. Never mind that actually, according to the US Embassy in Harare, the US “does not maintain sanctions against the people of Zimbabwe or the country of Zimbabwe.”

Meanwhile, last weekend students at Eveline Girls High School in Bulawayo held a peaceful demonstration to protest the lack of electricity at their boarding hostels.  Eight students were taken to Bulawayo Central Police Station and detained for around four hours.

Moral of the story? Demonstrate against non-existent sanctions and you won’t get arrested. But demonstrate against all-too-real failures at the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) and you will.