Zimbabwe Coalition officials MacDonald Lewanika, Pedzisayi Ruhanya and Dewa Mavhinga and other representatives of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network who were distributing statements with civil society demands to the summit. They were taken away from the hotel by the Namibian police under the watchful eye of the Zimbabwean state security agents”. The statement further indicated that “The SADC Lawyers’ Association Executive Secretary Makanatsa Makonese, Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights Irene Petras, Lloyd Kuvheya of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre and Joy Mabhenge of the Institute for a Democratic Alternative in Zimbabwe were also targeted whilst holding a meeting at the Safari Court Hotel. They were taken from the hotel into the parking area by armed police officers and interrogated by aggressive Zimbabwe state security agents for more than an hour. The security agents asked personal questions about the CSO representatives’ addresses in Zimbabwe, villages of origin, who had paid for their tickets to Namibia and where they were staying in Namibia. They also demanded the four’s passports to record their national identity numbers and other identity information”10. VIII. Conclusions and Recommendations In the views of most of the interlocutors met during the mission, the signing of the GPA and the subsequent coming in office of the Inclusive Government (GNU) in February 2009 had raised expectations and hopes for a drastic change of mindset and actions by the political leaders. Human rights defenders and organisations that had been marginalized, harassed and victimized in the past had expected to be treated as equals with ZANU-PF members and supporters, and that violations, threats and intimidation would come to an end. However their hopes did not materialise. On the contrary, the Zimbabwean authorities have continued to resort to pieces of legislation to selectively and systematically restrict the space for the enjoyment of freedoms of expression, association and assembly of human rights defenders, and to encourage and condone serious violations of their rights, including arbitrary arrests and detentions or acts of torture. So far, most perpetrators of human rights violations against human rights defenders have not been charged and remain free. The authorities have also ignored and abused with impunity several court orders and judgements issued by the judiciary in favour of petitioners regarding a number of human rights practices and abuses carried out by the Government. A climate of impunity still prevails within the society, and civil servants associated with ZANU-PF still operate with a sense of impunity. The serious and widespread violations that took place in the context of the 2008 elections and before 2008 have gone unpunished even though the perpetrators are known and in some cases live in the midst of the victims. The GPA has not been fully implemented, notably in critical areas that would guarantee security of all citizens, justice for the victims of human rights violations and accountability for their perpetrators or agents. The reform of the security sector that aims to place the security forces under effective civilian oversight, and to exclude them from the electoral processes, has not been carried out. The judiciary is generally still weak, and in need of reform and strategic support to strengthen its ability to deal efficiently with procedural justice. The election management body, including the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, remains largely unreformed and underfunded to make it effective in running Zimbabwe’s elections in a free and fair manner that would allow the country to have a leadership which is both legitimate and pro-human rights and freedoms. The political leadership seems more bent on retaining power than on fully implementing the GPA. The SADC mediation process has run out of steam, with no meaningful pressure being brought to bear on the GNU to fully implement the GPA in order to improve the human rights situation before the next election. The current constitutional making process has yet to be completed. While the draft constitution indicates some reasonable efforts at incorporating a more progressive human rights bill, it is important that this process be concluded as soon as possible and that law reforms be undertaken to bring them into conformity with the new Constitution. In general terms, the situation of human rights defenders in Zimbabwe remains grim as their operating space can be further shrunk at any time, especially in pre-electoral period. Recommendations: 10. SADC Lawyers Association Statement, SADC Lawyers Association Condemns the Harassment of Civil Society Representatives by Zimbabwean State Security Agents at the SADC Extraordinary Summit In Windhoek, May 23, 2011. 26 The Observatory ZIMBABWE: Ongoing risks for human rights defenders in the context of political deadlock and pre-electoral period The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders reiterates its 2008 recommendations to the Zimbabwean authorities. In particular, the Observatory calls on them: v To guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders in Zimbabwe; v To put an immediate end to any act of harassment – including at the judicial level - against all human rights defenders in Zimbabwe; v To guarantee, at all times, in law and in practice, the freedoms of opinion and expression as well as the right to peaceful assembly, in compliance with the Zimbabwean Constitution and the international and regional instruments ratified by Zimbabwe, notably the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR); The Observatory ZIMBABWE: Ongoing risks for human rights defenders in the context of political deadlock and pre-electoral period 27