V. Arbitrary Arrest and Detention of Civil Society Activists An arrest or detention is arbitrary when not carried out in accordance with the law, or if the law allows for the arrest and detention of people for peacefully exercising their basic rights such as freedom of expression, association, and assembly.19 Zimbabwe is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees in article 9 that “Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.”20 Article 9 further mandates that persons be informed at the time of their arrest of the reasons for the arrest and the criminal charges, if any, against them. They must be brought “promptly” before a judge or other authorized judicial officer, and have the right to challenge the lawfulness of their detention before a court. In addition, victims of unlawful arrest or detention have “an enforceable right to compensation.”21 The purpose of this guarantee is to obligate the state “to define precisely the cases in which deprivation of liberty is permissible and the procedures to be applied” and to ensure that “the law itself must not be arbitrary” in this regard.22 The prohibition against arbitrary arrest and detention is also found in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.23 19 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), adopted December 16, 1966, G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force March 23, 1976, acceded to by Zimbabwe, May 13, 1991. Article 9(1) states: “Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.” According to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the deprivation of liberty is arbitrary when a case falls into three categories: when there is no legal basis to justify the deprivation of liberty, when the deprivation of liberty violates certain articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ICCPR, and when international norms relating to the right to fair trial are ignored or only partially observed. UN Commission on Human Rights, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, http://193.194.138.190/html/menu2/7/b/arb_det/ardintro.htm (accessed October 18, 2006). 20 ICCPR, article 9. 21 Ibid. 22 Manfred Nowak, CCPR Commentary (Kehl am Rhein, Strasbourg, and Arlington, VA: N.P. Engel Publisher, 1993), pp. 160, 172. 23 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), adopted June 27, 1981, OAU doc. CAB/LEG/67/3rev.5 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982), entered into force October 21, 1986, ratified by Zimbabwe in 1986, article 7. “you will be thoroughly beaten” 10