By Tapiwa Svondo
Amnesty International has called on authorities to release Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) interim leader Jameson Timba and 76 CCC activists who have been detained for over a month.
The group was arrested on 16 June accused of holding an unsanctioned gathering and disorderly conduct.
The CCC activists had appealed to the High Court for a bail hearing after they were initially denied bail by Magistrate Ruth Moyo who ruled they were likely to re-offend.
The appeal was heard by Justice Munamato Mutevedzi who on Wednesday ruled there was no misdirection in the Magistrate’s decision; a minor among them was released into his father’s custody.
In a statement, Khanyo Farise the Amnesty International Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said, “Zimbabwean authorities must immediately and unconditionally release the CCC opposition party members and drop all the charges against them.
“Their arbitrary, month-long detention is an outrage which must end now”.
Farise condemned the detention as a “baseless” violation of Zimbabwe’s constitution and international human rights obligations.
“This lengthy, baseless detention violates Zimbabwe’s Constitution and its international human rights obligations.
“Authorities must end the crackdown on civic space and ensure everyone can freely speak and gather peacefully without fear of arrest or torture and other ill-treatment”.
Added Farise, “People face mounting restrictions to exercise their human rights including rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association ahead of the Southern African Development Community’s Heads of State and Government Summit in Harare scheduled for August.
“On 27 June, police broke up a peaceful protest demanding the release of the detained CCC members. The next day, Information Minister Jenfan Muswere threatened opposition members and civil society organizations that “their days are numbered” and that the government would “apprehend” anyone “causing chaos and mayhem.”
“On 29 June, police also arrested members of the National Democratic Working Group social justice movement at a private residence in Harare during a meeting to raise funds for impoverished families. Authorities deemed that gathering “unsanctioned.” Police arrested another 6 people with the Community Voices Zimbabwe media organization in Gokwe on 3 July”.