NGO's under threat, EU on Mbeki's role

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (Human Rights Forum) claims its members are under a mounting threat from the authorities, which perceive them as anti-government. Human Rights Forum co-coordinator Tor-Hugne Olsen told IRIN that "we fear at the moment that while the main targets in the past have been members or alleged/perceived supporters of [opposition Movement for Democratic Change] MDC [now the targets] are other parts of civil society". He said: "The NGO that seems to be most under attack at the moment is Amani Trust." The trust, which focuses on highlighting incidents of torture, had been attacked in government-controlled media and its offices were recently visited by police. Olsen said: "Strong rumours about legislation in preparation, designed to hamper activities of NGOs, are of special concern to the Human Rights Forum at the moment." On Thursday last week, the same day the European Parliament adopted a resolution strengthening their position on Zimbabwe and smart sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and his associates, a programme officer for Transparency International was called in for questioning by police in Bulawayo under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA). Transparency International's Andrew Nangogo said: "The programme officer was not arrested, he was just called in by the police to give them information on a meeting we had held. [The police] wanted information regarding statements that were made at that meeting. He still has to give his report to them. But the remarks that were made [at the meeting], as far as we are concerned, were not in violation of the Public Order and Security Act." The Amani Trust's Tony Reeler told IRIN: "It's a multiple level problem. At the top level there have been repeated threats from the state, that NGOs are politically undesirable. [State controlled] press recently carried a story in which a minister made fairly threatening statements that NGOs were anti-government etc." The Amani Trust had received "some fairly unwelcome attention in the last two weeks from the Police Internal Security Unit". Reeler said: "We have not been able to get any explanation from them as to why. They have been requesting that members of my staff go to them for meetings, they've paid a visit to our offices in search of one of the members of our staff who was away on leave. The next day we got a request for three members of staff to visit the police at their offices, again with no cause, and a few staff have been visited by these people at their homes. Fortunately they were not there." None of the trust's staff have yet met with police. "We are attempting to get an explanation from police management to find out what the problem is. The political statements made by ministers regarding NGOs are threatening, we've heard there's pending legislation to deal with NGOs. Given what's happened to the journalists it may be an indication of how they will move against human rights organisations." Political opponents and journalists have run afoul of the POSA and Access to Information and Privacy Act. Eleven journalists have been arrested in the past month. The European Parliament meanwhile has singled out South African President Thabo Mbeki's role in dealing with Zimbabwe and the consequences for the New Programme for African Development (NEPAD)in a resolution adopted last week. It stated: "The European Parliament calls on President Mbeki to show wholehearted and consistent support for the principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and accordingly to demonstrate the quality of leadership that befits the powerful and crucial regional position of South Africa." The parliamentarians also called "on African leaders, particularly in the SADC region, not to resume normal diplomatic relations with the Mugabe regime and thereby jeopardise ... NEPAD and the prospects for the launch of an 'African renaissance' by the G8 summit in Canada this July". In intensifying actions against Mugabe, the parliament resolved that the European Union (EU) member states and the council take measures to extend the EU's proscribed list of banned Mugabe associates to include other key figures. These included: "The vice-presidents, all ministers, senior military, police and secret service commanders and leading businessmen who have helped to bankroll ZANU-PF or benefited from its corrupt activities, and who play a role in sustaining the regime and its campaign of violence, and also include their respective spouses and children, as they also spend illegally acquired money abroad." The parliament also called for the publication of details pertaining to assets already identified and frozen as a result of the policy of targeted sanctions and the examination of Zimbabwe's debt situation and drawing rights in international financial institutions.