This statement from the Counselling Services Unit (CSU) draws attention to and requests solidarity to protest police abuse of power and harassment:

Fidelis Mudimu, Zachariah Godi and Tafadzwa Geza have just spent their third night in the police cells, two in Harare Central and last night in Bulawayo Central Police Station, after an unwarranted transfer to Bulawayo. They were transported on the back of an open pick up truck, registration ACD 6377, with no protection from the sun, despite the temperature reaching 33 degrees in Harare. They were then moved to Bulawayo from Kwekwe in a twin cab ABI 3608 and arrived at 18h00. They were not interviewed by the police, but immediately detained in the police cells on a detention order which had been prepared in Harare.

The following facts of the arbitrary raid and arrest and detention need highlighting.

Counselling Services Unit is a lawfully registered medical clinic providing non-partisan counselling and referral to all victims of trauma.

On Monday 5 November, the clinic was threatened with violence and normal services were disrupted by the invasion of the clinic by 12 uniformed and non-uniformed police officers, including members of the Bomb Disposal Squad and an Information Technology expert. The clinic was surrounded by armed riot police who threatened to fire tear gas into the building, which is also occupied by other tenants. Patients awaiting services were left unattended for 4 hours while the police demanded and forcibly accessed confidential medical records. They removed a computer which contains confidential client information and client records. No further booked patients were able to enter the building to receive treatment.

Counselling Services Unit adheres to the Environmental Compliance requirements for health facilities, following the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health. The guidelines require separation of cleaning materials for areas of ablution and areas of food storage and preparation. The cleaning utensils are clearly marked using spray paint, and the paint is stored on the premises in the work area of the janitor. It is not hidden or stored secretively and was purchased in July 2012. CSU have handed the receipts of purchase of three 250ml cans of spray paint from the local hardware store to the police. The police fixated on the finding of this paint and refused to listen to any explanation. With no further investigations, 5 staff members were arbitrarily arrested and transported to Harare Central Police station for further questioning. 2 staff members were released 2 hours later, and 3 have been detained since then with no warned and cautioned statement and no indication of charges. The removal of the 3 staff to Bulawayo after the required time for a court appearance and the further detention order with no defined charges or substantive evidence of illegal activities constitutes serious and illegal harassment.

Counselling Services Unit is deeply concerned about the protracted course of this situation and the non-adherence to the law by the arresting officers. CSU is concerned about the safety of Fidelis Mudimu, Zachariah Godi and Tafadzwa Geza.

We would request solidarity and protest on the following fundamental issues of this series of events:

1. Disruption of medical services to victims of trauma, and the unwarranted terrorisation of patients awaiting services
2. The illegal access to confidential patient medical records
3. The unwarranted deployment of armed riot police to the offices creating alarm and fear to the other tenants of the building and surrounds
4. The illegal removal of a computer, which is not covered in the search warrant which stated a “search for material likely to deface any house, building, wall, fence, lamp post, gate or elevator without the consent of the owner or occupier thereof”.
5. The removal of confidential medical and legal records without permission of the patients to whom they pertain.
6. The arbitrary selection of staff for arrest with no concrete evidence of any crime having been committed, particularly in Bulawayo where CSU has no clinic.
7. The illegal detention and transfer of senior staff to Bulawayo without formal charges, and exceeding the time limit for appearance before a magistrate with formal charges.

Zanu PF has helped Tsvangirai gorge on the perks of power to get him fat like a pimple ready to be squeezed. Motorcades, mansions, women, trips abroad. The Savoy Hotel, one of the most prestigious hotels in London is his most recent accommodation of choice. Tsvangirai may well, at this time, be a better choice than Mugabe. But he’s showing some serious signs that he’s learning some really bad habits, really quickly.

{Note to customs at Harare International Airport: please search Morgan and Elizabeth like you do all of us ordinary folk and make sure to charge them duty on their UK shopping}

From a Kubatana subscriber:

Believe it or not, the challenge of mind-set change is  still a facade and far out cry in the post-independence Zimbabwe! Grotesque levels of corruption, poor health service delivery, hatred, policy shelving, duplicity of politicians, violence, citizens apathy and absence of rule of law continue to spell a bleak future for our country.

An alert from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights:

HIV/AIDS ACTIVIST ARRESTED AT COPAC CONFERENCE

POLICE on Monday 22 October arrested Douglas Muzanenhamo, a Zimbabwean Aids activist for distributing constitutional material at the ongoing Constitution Select Committee (COPAC)’s Second All Stakeholders conference.

The arrest took place after some delegates at the conference asked Muzanenhamo for copies of the Working Peoples Red Amendments to the COPAC Draft Constitution prepared by trade unionists, constitutional reform activists, women’s organisations, students and HIV/AIDS activists in October 2012 under the Working People’s Constitutional Convention.

Muzanenhamo was immediately taken into custody and the police intend to charge him with Inciting Public Violence.

In September 2012, Muzanenhamo filed a landmark case in the Supreme Court challenging the denial of anti-retroviral drugs to suspects in police cells. His case was based on the horrendous treatment he received when he was arrested in February 2011 and charged with treason together with 45 other human rights activists including University of Zimbabwe lecturer and ISO leader Munyaradzi Gwisai, where he was denied his medication.

Tawanda Zhuwarara, a senior lawyer with Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, who is representing Muzanenhamo, is working towards his release and making contingency arrangements to ensure that he is not denied his medication once again as happened in 2011.

Some excellent suggestions from Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA):

1. The government of Zimbabwe should take the responsibility and acknowledge the incapacitation inspired by the underfunding of local authorities and declare the water issue as a national crisis. This will definitely bring on board international partners who will assist the government of Zimbabwe to mobilize funds for water infrastructure, rehabilitation and provision. The government of Zimbabwe released only 18 million for the rehabilitation of water pipes in Harare but the figures coming in from council shows us that the local authority is in need of more than USD 200 million to deal with water alone.

2. Collaboration with residents Associations in forming community water groups responsible for water conservation initiatives and education will go a long way in saving the water we have in its small quantities.

3. Construction and funding of the Kunzvi Dam water project (the Zambezi river water project for Matabeleland) will go a long way in easing pressure on the current water sources we have.

An eight-track poetry album entitled All Protocols Observed was unpacked yesterday by Zimbabwe Poetry for Human Rights at a Food for Thought session hosted by US Embassy Public Affairs section.

Though you can dance to it the tracks on the album address some of the serious challenges affecting our country. From the accumulating dirty debt, to ravaging HIV/AIDS as well as politicians abusing their mandate to represent the people. The messages on the album are straight to the point as no one can dispute the fact that every problem in the country so far has been addressed with an “Operation” or a “Commission” of some sort as highlighted in track 5 of the album “Ma Opareshoni nema Komishoni”. Since Independence a lot commissions and operations have been set up to respond to something or other. From Operation Murambatsvina that demolished people’s houses because they were deemed illegal structures to Operation Zuva Rabuda/Sunrise, which resulted in the slashing of many zeroes on our local currency.

The album can be accessed from Zimbabwe Poetry for Human Rights free of charge and the group is encouraging people to share it so that it reaches a wide audience. Poetry is a powerful tool to provoke thought.

Many artists have been silenced in Zimbabwe for speaking out too loudly about the injustices faced by ordinary people. The work of Zimbabwe Poetry for Human Rights has not been easy as their recent performance in Kadoma was met with resistance when youths from ZANU-PF shut down the event and accused the group of spreading regime change messages.