Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum: Report on violence against peaceful protestors in Harare No 7 - Statement by Mr Alfred Nhema Mr Alfred Nhema, chairman of the political science department at University of Zimbabwe said: "The political atmosphere is clearly inflamed. What happened [during the peace march] is a kind of confirmation that Zimbabwe is unfortunately moving towards chaos and that we are likely to see more and more cases of anarchy as we move towards elections." BBC report No 8 - Statement by Women’s Coalition The Women’s Coalition wishes to express regret and concern over the politically motivated violence that has been taking place in Zimbabwe and particularly over the incident that occurred in Harare on Saturday, 1 April 2000. The creation and preservation of a stable and peaceful democratic nation requires respect for certain fundamental human rights, including freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of conscience and the right to hold peaceful demonstrations. In particular, the Coalition wishes to highlight the failure of the police to provide protection for the marchers on Saturday. It is often the case that women are targets of violence during periods of political instability. The inertia exhibited by the police on Saturday is a cause for alarm to women and the entire population. Due to the seriousness of the event, we call for an impartial inquiry, the prosecution of the perpetrators of the violence and for immediate action to ensure that such freedoms are secured in the future. 3. Concluding remarks What happened in the Harare on 1 April 2000 was terrifying and was clearly intended to have this effect. Right in the middle of the city a peaceful demonstration was violently broken up by a large group of persons armed with dangerous weapons. The police failed in their duty to protect defenceless people against these aggressors. The government has not condemned this violent attack but instead government officials made remarks seeking to explain why the “war veterans” acted in the way they did. The failure to condemn this unlawful attack and the failure to arrest and prosecute any of the perpetrators of the assaults upon defenceless people points to a complete breakdown of the rule of law in Zimbabwe. It points to the fact that the protection of the law by the law enforcement agencies will no longer be extended to persons perceived to be demonstrating against government. The government has also withdrawn the protection of the law from white farmers whose farms have been invaded. The government and the police have refused to obey a court order ordering the removal of the illegal occupiers. The police have not offered protection to white farmers and farm labourers against violent attacks by the persons who have occupied their farms. The President, members of government and the police force have all abrogated their constitutional duty to uphold and enforce the law of Zimbabwe. Gross human rights violations are occurring and these are being instigated, encouraged or condoned by government. A lawless situation is being created in which the rule of law is being cast aside in favour of violent anarchy. Unless this situation is reversed and the rule of law is restored to its rightful place as a key component of a democratic state, Zimbabwe could descend into a state of chaos. The law must be respected and enforced. War veterans and other supporters of the ruling party must not be misled into believing that they can, with impunity, attack defenceless persons exercising their constitutional right to engage in a peaceful demonstration or unlawfully occupy farms and assault and intimidate the people who are lawfully on those farms. Endnotes 1 For an analysis of the biased displayed by the state media in relation to political violence see Africa Watch report no 9 March 2000 entitled “The 2000 Elections Making and Breaking the Rules.” In a covering letter to President - 29 -