Yale Human Rights and Development Journal, Vol. 7 [2004], Iss. 1, Art. 4 2004] Zimbabwean Human Rights Crisis Justice in contempt of court. Justice Blackie was charged with violating the Prevention of Corruption Act, although these charges were dropped in June 2003, due to lack of evidence. Lawyers in Zimbabwe who have sought to uphold basic constitutional and human rights have also been subjected to attack and persecution. Lawyers are routinely equated with their clients by police forces and are harassed, threatened, and obstructed, particularly in cases where their clients are MDC members. Many lawyers report incidents where they have been denied access to their clients or have been given false or misleading information by the police in an effort to prevent them from performing their tasks. Lawyers have also, on occasion, been themselves arrested and physically abused by police as they have sought to represent their clients.29 Independent trade union representatives working to promote and protect the basic rights of Zimbabwean workers have also been threatened, arrested, physically abused, and harassed. Even church leaders who denounce state-sponsored violence and the economic hardships faced by the Zimbabwean people are targeted by threats, intimidation, and abuse. V. INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR LOCAL ACTIVISTS In light of these repressive measures, designed to silence local activists and inhibit the exercise of basic rights, members of civil society groups inside Zimbabwe have looked abroad for support from their counterparts, both within the immediate region and more widely, as well as from the international community as a whole. Faced with a government adept in transforming any overseas criticism into another example of western manipulation, the challenge facing non-Zimbabwean and, particularly, non-African activists is to ensure that whatever approach is taken to the Zimbabwe crisis is not counter-productive. Indeed, external groups wishing to take action in support of their Zimbabwean colleagues have to contend not only with a hostile Zimbabwean government but sometimes also with dismissal by or hostility from other governments in the region. President Mugabe has had remarkable success in retaining the support of key African heads of state and government, despite the evidence of human rights abuses committed by his agents and the economic collapse of the country, which has had serious consequences for neighboring countries. Such support has been most evident in meetings of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and during the discussion of Zimbabwe's suspension from the commonwealth. 30 South African President Thabo Mbeki has gone 29 For example, Gabriel Shumba was tortured in January 2003. See DECEMBER REPORT, supra note 16. And Gugulethu Moyo was assaulted in March 2003. See Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, Advocacy Alerts (an. 17, 2003; Mar. 25, 2003) at http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/defenders/hrd-zimbabwe/hrdzimbabwe.htm. 30 Zimbabwe was suspended from the commonwealth in March 2002 following the presidential elections. The question of whether the suspension should be lifted was addressed by the commonwealth Heads of State and Government at a meeting in Abuja, Nigeria in http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/yhrdlj/vol7/iss1/4 12