Further, ZANU-PF officials in the new government of Zimbabwe have refused to drop politically motivated criminal charges (for banditry and trying to recruit people for training in banditry) against 15 human rights and MDC activists whom ZANU-PF loyalists in the government arbitrarily arrested from October through December 2008—after ZANU-PF and MDC factions signed the GPA on September 15, 2008.16 The 15 activists were unlawfully held in secret detention for periods ranging from two to eight weeks, before being brought to court. These delays are well outside the 48-hour deadline by which arrested persons must be arraigned, as mandated by Zimbabwean law.17 Seven other MDC activists who were abducted in October 2008, together with the 15 mentioned above, remain missing. They are: Gwenzi Kahiya, Ephraim Mabeka, Lovemore Machokoto, Charles Muza, Edmore Vangirayi, Graham Matehwa, and Peter Munyanyi.18 Politically Motivated Prosecution of MDC Legislators and Activists Since the formation of the power-sharing government, a pattern has developed in which MDC legislators and activists are targeted for arrest by the police and the Office of the Attorney General on apparently baseless charges.19 This pattern points to a drive by ZANU-PF to overturn MDC’s slender majority in Parliament. At the time of writing, at least 16 MDC legislators have been arrested by police on charges ranging from public violence to kidnapping and rape; seven of whom have already been tried and convicted in unfair trials in which the judges are known ZANU-PF loyalists.20 Of the seven already convicted, four have since been suspended from Parliament under laws that provide that members of parliament (MPs) sentenced to six or more months of imprisonment shall immediately cease to exercise their parliamentary functions.21 Other MDC legislators also face charges that carry potential prison sentences in excess of six months and they too are at risk of losing their seats in Parliament. Finance Minister Tendai 16 “Zimbabwe: Drop Politically Motivated Charges against Activists,” Human Rights Watch news release, May 6, 2009, http://www.hrw.org/node/82928. 17 Ibid. 18 Ibid. 19 Shari Eppel, Daniel Ndlela, Brian Rafotopoulos, and Martin Rupiya, Developing a Transition Agenda for Zimbabwe, (IDASA and Zimbabwe Institute: Cape Town, 2009), p. 9. 20 The MDC legislators who have been convicted and suspended from parliament are: Matthias Mlambo, Chipinge East, Manicaland, convicted of inciting public violence and sentenced to 10 months in prison; Meki Makuyana, Chipinge South, Manicaland, convicted of kidnapping a minor and sentenced to 12 months in prison; Shuah Mudiwa, Mutare West, Manicaland, convicted of kidnapping a minor and sentenced to seven years in prison; and Ernest Mudavanhu, Zaka North, Masvingo, convicted of abusing subsidized farming inputs from the government and sentenced to 12 months in prison. 21 Constitution of Zimbabwe, 1979, art. 42(1). 7 Human Rights Watch | August 2009