The acting director of Amani Trust Frances Lovemore was arrested on 29 August for violating a section of the Public Order and Security Act which prohibits publication of “falsehoods” prejudicial to the State.
Amani Trust was a human rights organisation.
Lovemore was questioned about international media reports quoting her as saying rape was being used by ZANU-PF youth militias as a political weapon.
The United States embassy in Harare said although Information Minister Jonathan Moyo and his propaganda machine had, in the past, levelled all sorts of venomous attacks against Amani Trust, this time the government had upped the ante.
“The outrageous treatment of Lovemore appears to be a shot across the bow for other human rights and civic organisations, and we suspect that a GOZ crackdown against other segments of civil society is not far off,” the embassy said.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 02HARARE2001, LEADING HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ARRESTED
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C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 002001
SIPDIS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JENDAYI FRAZER
LONDON FOR GURNEY
PARIS FOR NEARY
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2012
SUBJECT: LEADING HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ARRESTED
REF: HARARE 1984
Classified By: political section chief Matt Harrington. Reasons: 1.5 (
B) and (D).
¶1. (C) On August 29, police detained Frances Lovemore,
acting director of Zimbabwe’s leading human rights
organization, Amani Trust. She was charged with violating
the section of the repressive Public Order and Security Act
(POSA) which prohibits publication of “falsehoods”
prejudicial to the state. After questioning her at the
Harare Central Police Station in the company of a lawyer,
police bundled her into a vehicle and took her to an
undisclosed location. She was detained incommunicado
overnight, and her attorneys were not provided access to her
until late in the morning on August 30, after the
Attorney-General’s office intervened at the behest of her
lawyer.
¶2. (C) The saga began in the morning of August 29, when
police detectives appeared at the offices of Amani Trust with
a warrant authorizing a search for “subversive materials” in
Lovemore’s possession. Police searched her office and
confiscated a report from Amnesty International, a copy of
the UN Convention Against Torture, and a number of political
violence reports produced regularly by the UN Human Rights
NGO Forum. Lovemore was then taken to Harare Central Police
station, where she was questioned about international media
reports quoting Lovemore as saying rape was being used by
ZANU-PF youth militias as a political weapon. The group then
returned to conduct a wider search of Amani’s offices
(ignoring the restrictions in the search warrant), and
returned to the police station. Lovemore was asked to sign a
“warned and cautioned” statement, then was formally charged
under POSA.
¶3. (C) Lovemore is expected to appear in court for a bail
hearing on the morning of August 30, and the
Attorney-General’s office has told her attorney it will not
oppose the granting of bail. One of her attorneys told us
that Lovemore appeared physically okay after her overnight
detention, but was hungry because she had been provided no
food during the previous 24 hours. In addition, she had
spent a very cold night in the cell, as she had not been
given a blanket or the opportunity to obtain clothing warmer
than the light dress she was wearing at the time of her
arrest.
Comment
——-
¶4. (C) Lovemore’s arrest came only several hours after the
bombing of the office of an independent radio station
(reftel), so it was not a good day for freedom of speech in
Zimbabwe. Lovemore told us earlier in the week she was
alarmed by a significant increase in the numbers of
apparently politically-motivated rapes reported to her
office, and she has worked hard to publicize this troubling
development. The Government of Zimbabwe has grown
increasingly annoyed by the international media’s focus on
this issue, and it clearly blames Lovemore. Although
Jonathan Moyo and his propaganda machine have, in the past,
leveled all sorts of venomous attacks against Amani Trust,
this time the GOZ has upped the ante. The outrageous
treatment of Lovemore appears to be a shot across the bow for
other human rights and civic organizations, and we suspect
that a GOZ crackdown against other segments of civil society
is not far off.
SULLIVAN
(27 VIEWS)
