Opposition activists arrested

As vote counting got underway across Zimbabwe on Monday after a referendum at the weekend on the country's new draft constitution, human rights observers said eight opposition activisits had been detained while campaigining against the proposed consitution. The eight, all members of the opposition National Constitutional Association (NCA), were detained on Sunday, Nick Ndebele, ZimRights National Chairperson on the draft, told IRIN. He said they included a promiment lawer, Tendai Biti. "The eight activists were arrested in Highfield township, Harare, by security police who accused them of inciting people to violence," Ndebele said. They were due to appear in court later on Monday. He added that as far as ZimRights was aware, they had been distributing leaflets encouraging people to vote against the draft constitution. The draft was prepared by a 400-member commission appointed by President Robert Mugabe. The NCA has been urging Zimbabweans to reject the draft document on the grounds that it did not reflect the wishes of the majority of people. The results are expected in coming days. Ndebele said the referendum went off smoothly and that Zimrights' monitors had reported no incidents of violence or intimidation. "The outcome is expected to be very closely contested. We expect a high "No" vote in urban areas, while in rural areas, where turnout was low, a "Yes" vote is expected," Ndebele added. He said the possibility of rigging was low because independent monitors had watched the two days of voting closely and were participating in the count. "We admit the draft is a singificant improvement on Lancaster House (the original consitution signed in London at independence in 1980), but in certain areas it did not go far enough," Ndebele said, citing the abolition of the death penalty, womens rights and presidential powers.