Litigants and Litigators: Women HRDs 21 Parliament and which had been disbanded by the police. When Hanzi insisted that they could not arrest him as he was innocent, she was initially ignored and then subsequently arrested, together with Zhuwarara and their clients who had been participating in the peaceful protest. With the complicity of Parliamentary staff, they were unlawfully detained in the Parliament Guard Room, until police details removed them to Harare Central Police Station. In contravention of constitutional protective provisions relating to detained persons, lawyers who attempted to get access to Hanzi at Harare Central Police Station were denied access by the police. Superintendent Chinhengo, the OfficerinCharge of Operations at Harare Central, ordered the lawyers out of the police station’s vicinity. Despite further attempts by ZLHR lawyers to have their colleagues released, the two were detained overnight at the police station without their lawyers being able to speak to them, or being told the charges against them. On 11 February 2009, ZLHR lawyers were finally able to access them. Despite members of the Law and Order Section acknowledging that the two were “caught in the crossfire”, Detective Inspector Elliot Muchada instructed Detective Assistant Inspector Phiri (a female) and DC Musademba to proceed to charge them, together with eight women who had also been arrested outside Parliament, with contravening section 37(1)(b) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. They spent a second night in custody. When the matter came before the court in May 2009, the lawyers and their clients were discharged at the end of the state case as the prosecutor had failed to prove his case beyond reasonable doubt. 19 April 2011: Police in Hwange obstructed and detained two women lawyers, Nosimilo Chanayiwa 32 and Nikiwe Ncube 33 , and their male colleague, Lizwe Jamela 34 , who were travelling to Hwange Magistrates’ Court in Matabeleland North province to represent the CoMinister of the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration, Hon Moses MzilaNdlovu and a Catholic priest, Father Marko Mabutho Mnkandla, who were due to appear in court on the morning of 19 April. The lawyers were eventually released after the court case had commenced and other lawyers had been forced to appear at short notice to represent the two clients. 20 May 2011: ZLHR lawyer, Irene Petras, was in the company of other civil society representatives at the SADC Extra-Ordinary Summit in Windhoek, Namibia. Some Zimbabwean state security agents, who refused to identify themselves, accompanied by some Namibian law enforcement agents, sought to interrogate them under unclear circumstances. The group of civic leaders had, the day before, shared their concerns about the road map to free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. This was done during a press conference organised by the Southern Africa Development Community Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (SADC-CNGO). Petras was interrogated by the state security agents for more than one hour, with the questions centring around her personal details, her mission in Namibia, place of residence in Namibia, and her residential addresses in Zimbabwe, while officials from the Zimbabwean embassy observed. Other civic leaders were subjected to the same type of interrogation. Petras was subsequently released without charge following the intervention of Namibian lawyer colleagues. The interrogations and detentions were intended to instil fear 32 Staff Member, ZLHR Bulawayo Office. 33 ZLHR Member and legal practitioner with Webb, Low & Barry Legal Practitioners. 34 Staff Member, ZLHR Bulawayo Office.