record a “ warned and cautioned statement”9 there, before she was taken back to her house, allegedly to search for “arms of war”. Ms. Mukoko appeared before Court for the first time on December 24, and was remanded into the custody of Chikurubi Maximum security prison, where she was kept for about 68 days despite the fact that her detention was clearly illegal and violated the most basic principles of the right to a fair trial. Although she made two applications to the court to receive urgent medical attention, her applications were turned down. She was eventually taken to the hospital, but despite her urgent need for medical treatment, the prison officials refused to leave her in hospital and took her back to prison, with the intravenous tubes dangling from her body, and no medical personnel to take care of her. It was only after she became hypertensive that a doctor was called. On a later occasion, while doctors recommended that she should be admitted to hospital, the prison officials refused to comply with their orders. The doctors requested the prison guards to sign a waiver stating that they had returned Ms. Mukoko to prison against their firm orders. She was eventually allowed to request release on bail on March 6, 2009, but she was again remanded back to custody and was kept in prison for a further 24 days. After she challenged in Court the legality of her abduction and torture, the matter was brought before the Constitutional Court on September 28, 2009. The Court upheld that her constitutional rights had been violated by State agents and ordered a permanent stay of prosecution. The Court also held that her fundamental right to be free from torture had been violated by “the State, through its agents”. It also declared that State agents had violated her constitutional right to personal liberty and had denied her protection of the law, and that the violations committed had been to such an extent as to warrant a permanent stay of criminal prosecution against her. All charges pending against her in the criminal case were therefore withdrawn. Ms. Mukoko is still running ZPP and was awarded the Legion d’honneur by the French Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr. François Ponge, on March 22, 2011, for her ongoing fight for freedom and equality in her country. 2. Reprisals for exercising the right to freedom of peaceful assembly As of October 2012, the criminal charges against these two activists had not yet been dropped, and the outcome of the judicial process remained uncertain. Moreover, in the afternoon of February 7, 2012, ten WOZA members, including Ms. Jennifer Williams, Ms. Sikhangezile Ndlovu, Ms. Silibaziso Nzima, Ms. Wendy Moyo, Ms. Nothando Tshembe, Ms. Priscilla Ncube, Ms. Thabitha (Thalitha) Ndlovu, Ms. Sitshiyiwe Ngwenya, Ms. Faina Maphosa and Mr. Kholwani Ndlovu were arrested by the police in Bulawayo while they were participating in a peaceful procession that converged in front of the Joint Operations, Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) offices, while commemorating the 10th anniversary of WOZA. WOZA had also arranged a meeting with JOMIC in order to request them to act urgently according to their mandate to ensure the implementation of the GPA and to call for an end to the rights abuses by the police. As she was emerging from the meeting, Ms. Williams was arrested by riot police who were assaulting demonstrators as well as bystanders. This incident was witnessed by members of the JOMIC delegation, who had asked during the meeting to be provided with concrete evidence of the activities of the police. Nine other WOZA members and four bystanders were also arrested on different parts of the city. Moreover, four WOZA members who had been arrested reported that they had been beaten upon arrest, handcuffed and dragged to the central police station. They alleged to have been ill-treated in detention, had to stay out in the cold during the night in a open fenced area of the police station, and in the sun for long hours during daytime. In addition, several demonstrators who were not arrested were beaten up and had to be treated for bruises at their homes as the riot police were waiting for them in front of the private clinic where injuries are usually treated. As regards the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, the notorious Public Order and Security Act (POSA) is still widely used to ban public meetings or rallies of opponents to President Mugabe and his party, including meetings organised by human rights defenders. The scope of some of the public order laws (i.e POSA and the Criminal Law Act (Codification and Reform)) is now being unilaterally extended by the police beyond the clear and express mandate of Parliament. On February 9, 2012, the ten WOZA members arrested on February 7 were presented to the Tredgold Magistrates Court of Bulawayo and formally charged for “criminal nuisance” under Section 46 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [chapter 9:23]. They were initially detained for “failing to notify the police of a demonstration” under Section 25 of the POSA. Case of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) All ten activists were then released pending trial. The court provisionally scheduled their trial date to February 13, 2012. The four bystanders who had also been arrested on the same day were released without charges. Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) and its members have been subjected to constant harassment, including at the judicial level, aiming at sanctioning their human rights activities. Dozens of its members have been regularly subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention, ill-treated and tortured in custody, and judicially harassed. WOZA leadership has been often particularly targeted and subjected to spurious charges. For instance, Ms. Jennifer Williams, WOZA National Coordinator, and Ms. Magodonga Mahlangu, member of WOZA, have been prosecuted on fabricated charges of “theft” and “kidnapping”, following their arrest on September 21, 2011 together with ten other persons, after they held a peaceful march in Bulawayo to commemorate the International Day of Peace. The demonstration was violently dispersed by the authorities. The two women human rights defenders were then detained at Mlondozi female prison, Khami prison complex, Bulawayo, without access to the necessary medication they requested. They were eventually granted bail on October 4, 2011. On October 6, 2011, 9. A statement that police officially record after arresting someone for possible use in court. This procedure is known in common law. 20 the Two Tredgold Magistrates Court remanded the judicial case pending against Ms. Jenni Williams and Ms. Magodonga Mahlangu to December 12, 2011. In March 2012, a review process was brought before the High Court after Ms. Williams was denied her request to be released on bail. The High Court finally ruled that the trial proceedings had to be stopped and that Ms. Williams and Ms. Mahlangu should be granted bail. Not only was she arbitrarily detained, but she was not provided with a medical assistance either while in custody, although she was not even able to walk on her own as a result of the beatings sustained during the repression of the protest. The Observatory ZIMBABWE: Ongoing risks for human rights defenders in the context of political deadlock and pre-electoral period On February 13, 2012, ten WOZA members appeared before the Tredgold Magistrates Court in Bulawayo, before Magistrate Vivian Ndlovu. However, no documents had been delivered beforehand to the defence team by the state, thus making it impossible for the defence to adequately prepare for the trial. The defence lawyer summarised the activists’ complaints against the police, and informed the state that at the next hearing set on February 21, 2012, they would submit a written application for refusal of further remand. On February 14, 2012, a peaceful march organised in Harare by WOZA to commemorate its 10th anniversary was violently repressed. Two processions marched to the Parliament building where they were planning to hand over a newsletter that documented the harsh beatings and arrests they had been victims of. They were stopped 50 metres away from the Parliament door by riot control police officers who dispersed the crowds and started beating up people indiscriminately. The Observatory ZIMBABWE: Ongoing risks for human rights defenders in the context of political deadlock and pre-electoral period 21