Thursday, 6 September 2012
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
War Resisters' International Executive statement on the harassment of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ)
War Resisters' International Executive statement on the harassment of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ)
War Resisters' International (WRI), the international network of pacifist organisations with more than 80 affiliates in more than 40 countries, calls for an end to the harassment of our affiliate Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) and to the physical attacks on members of GALZ. Furthermore, WRI strongly condemns the violation of basic human rights of the members of GALZ, such as freedom of association, freedom from arbitrary arrest, and freedom from torture and degrading treatment.
On 11 August 2012, GALZ launched its report on violations of LGBTI rights in Zimbabwe with a press conference at the GALZ office in Harare. Following the press conference, GALZ members celebrated the successful launch with a party, which was then raided by police, who detained the 44 members of GALZ present - 31 men and 13 women. All were subjected to beatings and abuse while in detention, but released the following morning without charge.
A few days later, the police started a hunt for those detained on 11 August, detaining three who they encountered at home for questioning, and ordering those who they did not find to report to their local police station. While those detained have been released, this hunt again serves as intimidation - a clear attempt to make GALZ's work impossible. Subsequently, on 20 August, police raided the office of GALZ and seized computers and literature.
The present harassment of GALZ and its members follows earlier attempts at intimidation. In May 2010, police raided the office of GALZ and arrested two members of staff. A few days later the police also raided the home of the director of GALZ, who was not at home at the time. Both staff who had been arrested were released after a few days, and acquitted a few months later, but items seized during the raid have not yet been returned.
Established in 1990, GALZ has been affiliated with WRI since 2001, taking an active role in our activities and currently helping us prepare our 2014 international conference in South Africa provisionally titled "Resisting the continuums of violence". We are fully aware of the extent of Zimbabwe state violence against its own citizens. Whether fuelled by greed, the lust for power or homophobia, these forms of violence are connected. The violation of any human right weakens respect for human rights themselves. Above all, the harassment of human right defenders - such as GALZ, who have prepared a serious report on Zimbabwe's violations of lesbians, gays and trans-sexuals - is a warning to all those who oppose the abuse of state power.
War Resisters' International Executive, 28 August 2012
Howard Clark
on behalf of the Executive Committee
http://wri-irg.org/node/20291
-- Javier Garate at War Resisters' International Nonviolence Programme Worker 5 Caledonian Road - London N1 9DX - Britain tel +44-20-7278 4040 - fax +44-20-7278 0444 Skype warresisters Twitter: @warresistersint email javier@wri-irg.org http://wri-irg.org Use encryption! More information at http://wri-irg.org/node/11496 Support War Resisters' International! Donate today! Online: http://wri-irg.org/en/donate-en.htm
Friday, 24 August 2012
GALZ Alert, 24 August 2012
GALZ ALERT
24 August 2012
The Zimbabwe Republic Police on Thursday 23 August 2012 charged The Co Chairperson of the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) for running an "unregistered" organisation after a week of high drama in which State security agents twice raided the offices.
Detectives at the Law and Order Section at the Harare Central Police Station on Thursday 23 August 2012 charged GALZ that was represented by Martha Tholanah, the organisation's co-chairperson with running an "unregistered" organisation in contravention of Section 6 (iii) of the Private Voluntary Organisation (PVO) Act. Although the police indicated that they had not found anything pornorgraphic or insulting the Zimbabwean president in the documents, pamphlets and computers, as had been specified in the search warrant, they advised that they would not release the property until the case was over.
The police, who alleged that GALZ had commenced operations in Zimbabwe without registering its operations under the PVO Act, released Tholanah, who had since Tuesday been a regular guest at Harare Central Police Station in the company of GALZ Programme Manager, Samuel Matsikure, and her lawyers Dzimbabwe Chimbga, Tonderai Bhatasara, Marufu Mandevere and Jeremiah Bamu from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and advised the GALZ co-chairperson that they would proceed by way of summons. Tholanah and Matsikure were profiled, had fingerprints taken and mug shots taken for police records.
GALZ Security reported that, unidentified members of the Zimbabwe National Army on Tuesday 21 August 2012 raided the premises of the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ). A soldier, who was dressed in military attire and was in the company of two plain- clothed people visited the GALZ offices on Tuesday afternoon and patrolled the organisation's premises. After failing to find anything of interest to them they went through the caretaker's occurrence book and recorded details of people who had visited the GALZ premises in the past few months, presumably to trail them in future. One of them inadvertently left his mobile phone number, which was recorded by the caretaker.
Meanwhile, some of the members who were among the 44 arrested on the 11 th of August and released the following morning without charge report that the police in their localities continue to follow them up and questioning them. // Ends
24 August 2012
The Zimbabwe Republic Police on Thursday 23 August 2012 charged The Co Chairperson of the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) for running an "unregistered" organisation after a week of high drama in which State security agents twice raided the offices.
Detectives at the Law and Order Section at the Harare Central Police Station on Thursday 23 August 2012 charged GALZ that was represented by Martha Tholanah, the organisation's co-chairperson with running an "unregistered" organisation in contravention of Section 6 (iii) of the Private Voluntary Organisation (PVO) Act. Although the police indicated that they had not found anything pornorgraphic or insulting the Zimbabwean president in the documents, pamphlets and computers, as had been specified in the search warrant, they advised that they would not release the property until the case was over.
The police, who alleged that GALZ had commenced operations in Zimbabwe without registering its operations under the PVO Act, released Tholanah, who had since Tuesday been a regular guest at Harare Central Police Station in the company of GALZ Programme Manager, Samuel Matsikure, and her lawyers Dzimbabwe Chimbga, Tonderai Bhatasara, Marufu Mandevere and Jeremiah Bamu from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and advised the GALZ co-chairperson that they would proceed by way of summons. Tholanah and Matsikure were profiled, had fingerprints taken and mug shots taken for police records.
GALZ Security reported that, unidentified members of the Zimbabwe National Army on Tuesday 21 August 2012 raided the premises of the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ). A soldier, who was dressed in military attire and was in the company of two plain- clothed people visited the GALZ offices on Tuesday afternoon and patrolled the organisation's premises. After failing to find anything of interest to them they went through the caretaker's occurrence book and recorded details of people who had visited the GALZ premises in the past few months, presumably to trail them in future. One of them inadvertently left his mobile phone number, which was recorded by the caretaker.
Meanwhile, some of the members who were among the 44 arrested on the 11 th of August and released the following morning without charge report that the police in their localities continue to follow them up and questioning them. // Ends
-- Javier Garate at War Resisters' International Nonviolence Programme Worker 5 Caledonian Road - London N1 9DX - Britain tel +44-20-7278 4040 - fax +44-20-7278 0444 Skype warresisters Twitter: @warresistersint email javier@wri-irg.org http://wri-irg.org Use encryption! More information at http://wri-irg.org/node/11496 Support War Resisters' International! Donate today! Online: http://wri-irg.org/en/donate-en.htm
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
GALZ Statement on the raid of its offices on 20 August 2012
GALZ Statement on the raid of its offices on 20 August 2012
21 August 2012
GALZ is disturbed by the continued harrassment and the unjust Police raids that are severely compromising its efforts to reach out to it's lesbian,gay,bisexual and
transgender community.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police has carried out two raids in two weeks, arresting, harrassing and assaulting members of GALZ. The raid of the 20th of August is unjust and signifies the contnued, sustained attempts by the state to clampdown on organisations that are playing an important role of empowering citizens to be more informed to seek and demand justice.
The seizure of computers and GALZ publications is another attempt to derail GALZ efforts. It is ironic that some of the machines seized are the same machines that were recently returned to GALZ from the raid of the GALZ offices in May 2010.
State sponsored violence and homophobia sways public opinion in a negative way. It also exposes LGBTI people to public violence. State Sponsored Homophobia has the potential to escalate violence and vulnerability of LGBTI people in public and private spheres of their lives.
We reiterate our call to the Police to end the unjustified harrasment of GALZ and its community. Every Person in Zimbabwe is entitled to hold opinions and impart ideas without interference. Zimbabweans have a right to assemble freely associate with other persons and to belong to an association that protects their interests.
GALZ remains resolute in its quest to represent and protect the rights and interests of all LGBTI citizens despite such unprecedented challenges on its human rights defenders.We continue to work towards contributing to a just society that protects the human rights of all LGBTI people as equal citizens in Zimbabwe.// ENDS
21 August 2012
GALZ is disturbed by the continued harrassment and the unjust Police raids that are severely compromising its efforts to reach out to it's lesbian,gay,bisexual and
transgender community.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police has carried out two raids in two weeks, arresting, harrassing and assaulting members of GALZ. The raid of the 20th of August is unjust and signifies the contnued, sustained attempts by the state to clampdown on organisations that are playing an important role of empowering citizens to be more informed to seek and demand justice.
The seizure of computers and GALZ publications is another attempt to derail GALZ efforts. It is ironic that some of the machines seized are the same machines that were recently returned to GALZ from the raid of the GALZ offices in May 2010.
State sponsored violence and homophobia sways public opinion in a negative way. It also exposes LGBTI people to public violence. State Sponsored Homophobia has the potential to escalate violence and vulnerability of LGBTI people in public and private spheres of their lives.
We reiterate our call to the Police to end the unjustified harrasment of GALZ and its community. Every Person in Zimbabwe is entitled to hold opinions and impart ideas without interference. Zimbabweans have a right to assemble freely associate with other persons and to belong to an association that protects their interests.
GALZ remains resolute in its quest to represent and protect the rights and interests of all LGBTI citizens despite such unprecedented challenges on its human rights defenders.We continue to work towards contributing to a just society that protects the human rights of all LGBTI people as equal citizens in Zimbabwe.// ENDS
GALZ Statement on the raid of its offices on 20 August 2012
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wri-internal-en is War Resisters' International's English language discussion list, open to WRI affiliates and activists. All messages to this list are automatically translated into Spanish, French, and German.
wri-internal-en is War Resisters' International's English language discussion list, open to WRI affiliates and activists. All messages to this list are automatically translated into Spanish, French, and German.
Please do only post messages in English to this list. For posts in other languages please use:
* wri-internal-es for posts in Spanish
* wri-internal-fr for posts in French
* wri-internal-de for posts in German
For assistance, please contact the WRI office.
Important note
In order to be able to post messages to any of the lists of the wri-internal system, you need to be subscribed to all lists starting with wri-internal-. However, you only need to set your subscription to receive messages for the list of your preferred language - for all other lists you can set your subscription to no mail.
This procedure is necessary to make sure that your automatically translated messages are accepted for posting on the other lists.
GALZ Statement on the raid of its offices on 20 August 2012
21 August 2012
GALZ is disturbed by the continued harrassment and the unjust Police raids that are severely compromising its efforts to reach out to it's lesbian,gay,bisexual and
transgender community.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police has carried out two raids in two weeks, arresting, harrassing and assaulting members of GALZ. The raid of the 20th of August is unjust and signifies the contnued, sustained attempts by the state to clampdown on organisations that are playing an important role of empowering citizens to be more informed to seek and demand justice.
The seizure of computers and GALZ publications is another attempt to derail GALZ efforts. It is ironic that some of the machines seized are the same machines that were recently returned to GALZ from the raid of the GALZ offices in May 2010.
State sponsored violence and homophobia sways public opinion in a negative way. It also exposes LGBTI people to public violence. State Sponsored Homophobia has the potential to escalate violence and vulnerability of LGBTI people in public and private spheres of their lives.
We reiterate our call to the Police to end the unjustified harrasment of GALZ and its community. Every Person in Zimbabwe is entitled to hold opinions and impart ideas without interference. Zimbabweans have a right to assemble freely associate with other persons and to belong to an association that protects their interests.
GALZ remains resolute in its quest to represent and protect the rights and interests of all LGBTI citizens despite such unprecedented challenges on its human rights defenders.We continue to work towards contributing to a just society that protects the human rights of all LGBTI people as equal citizens in Zimbabwe.// ENDS
Monday, 20 August 2012
FW: [wri-internal-en] [wri-internal-es] HARARE POLICE LAUNCH MANHUNT FOR GALZ MEMBERS
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wri-internal-en is War Resisters' International's English language discussion list, open to WRI affiliates and activists. All messages to this list are automatically translated into Spanish, French, and German.
Please do only post messages in English to this list. For posts in other languages please use:
* wri-internal-es for posts in Spanish
* wri-internal-fr for posts in French
* wri-internal-de for posts in German
For assistance, please contact the WRI office.
Important note
In order to be able to post messages to any of the lists of the wri-internal system, you need to be subscribed to all lists starting with wri-internal-. However, you only need to set your subscription to receive messages for the list of your preferred language - for all other lists you can set your subscription to no mail.
This procedure is necessary to make sure that your automatically translated messages are accepted for posting on the other lists.
wri-internal-en is War Resisters' International's English language discussion list, open to WRI affiliates and activists. All messages to this list are automatically translated into Spanish, French, and German.
Please do only post messages in English to this list. For posts in other languages please use:
* wri-internal-es for posts in Spanish
* wri-internal-fr for posts in French
* wri-internal-de for posts in German
For assistance, please contact the WRI office.
Important note
In order to be able to post messages to any of the lists of the wri-internal system, you need to be subscribed to all lists starting with wri-internal-. However, you only need to set your subscription to receive messages for the list of your preferred language - for all other lists you can set your subscription to no mail.
This procedure is necessary to make sure that your automatically translated messages are accepted for posting on the other lists.
Force Blair to testify; withdraw invite
Dear All
Not sure what we can do about it but as you know Blair is expected to attend the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit 30 August. In attached article (forgive bad cutting and pasting but couldn’t find the article on the net) is asking the Seriti Commission to subpoena him to give evidence on Britain’s involvement.
In M&G Fatima Asmal-Motala “Anger grows over invite to Blair” says that SA Muslim Network has written to the discovery group urging that the invite to Blair be withdrawn saying they do not believe he is fit to lecture on leadership. They are also looking at the possibility of a citizens’ arrest (arrestblair.org gives more info apparently).
Should Ceasefire be doing something? Anyone want to write a letter to Discovery Invest Leadership? Rob perhaps people you are in touch with on the disinvestment campaign know more about possible protests?
Best wishes, Laura
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