Don’t let Mugabe silence dissent

MARCH 21 is an international day of action to demand that the government of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe drop all charges against a group of socialists, unionists and other activists known as Group of 45. Six of them are scheduled to appear in court that day to face charges of treason, which could carry the death penalty.

The 45 were arrested on February 19 at a meeting organized to watch a videotape and discuss the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, and to honor the life of HIV activist Navigator Mungoni, who died recently. Police descended on the meeting and detained those in attendance.

Over the last few weeks, 39 of arrested have been released from prison, and on March 16, a judge ruled that the last six activists must be released on bail. They are Munyaradzi Gwisai, Antoinette Choto, Tatenda Mombeyarara, Edson Chakuma, Hopewell Gumbo and Welcome Zimuto.

High Court Judge Samuel Kudya criticized the police for using the testimony of an undercover police informer to bring about the charges and called the treason case against the six activists "weak." "There is no iota of evidence any Zimbabwean contemplated attempting to emulate the Egyptian revolt. These are bold and unsubstantiated allegations," Kudya said.

Bail was set at US$2,000 a piece--an outrageous sum for citizens of a country where unemployment is estimated to be at 85 percent. Nevertheless, friends, family and supporters around the world quickly came together and raised the necessary $12,000 so that the six could be released on the March 17. They had to hand over their passports and will have to check in at their local police station three times a week until their trial begins.

Their release is cause for celebration, but the fact remains that the charges against them have not been dropped, so organizations and individuals around the world invite others to join their numbers at protests and other events on March 21.

While in prison, the six activists endured solitary confinement and severe beatings. One of the meeting organizers, Munyaradzi Gwisai--a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe's law school, general coordinator of the International Socialist Organization (ISO) of Zimbabwe, and a former member of parliament--was tortured, with guards beating him with broom handles and metal rods.

Gwisai said that the object of the torture was to coerce the six into confessions that would implicate them in some form of treason, a charge they are facing in court. Gwisai said each of the six were forced to lie on their stomachs while they were whipped by police. He told The Zimbabwean that he received between 15 and 20 lashes as the police and his tormentors sought to obtain confessions from him and the other detainees.

None of the detainees had access to medical care, including those who are HIV positive.

THESE ARRESTS are part of Robert Mugabe's larger and often brutal campaign to silence dissent and preserve his 31-year rule. Elections are set to take place later this year–despite efforts by the opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to postpone them until reforms are made to the constitution.

Mugabe is likely rushing the elections before widespread dissatisfaction with his regime gains confidence from the revolts that are happening against regimes elsewhere. While Mugabe pretends to follow the rules, his regime and its supporters mete out terror and repression at any hint of political opposition.

This weekend, a court upheld a police order denying the MDC permission to hold a peace rally in the capital of Harare, claiming that it was too close to an event planned by Mugabe's ZANU-PF. A previous request to rally in Harare was also denied to the MDC, with police claiming that the area had been booked by the ZANU-PF for the rest of the year.

Last weekend, several MDC activists were also jailed, including the director of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, McDonald Lewanika, who was arrested for carrying 300 blank T-shirts and stencils on his way to a music concert. As Lewanika told SW Radio Africa:

The idea was to give people T-shirts and spray paint, and allow them to write their own messages. It was part of a creative exercise. The police did not believe that. They started accusing me of wanting to hijack a musical concert and turn it into a political gathering. They were alleging I was going to instruct the young people who were at the venue to write very political messages, possibly against the government.

Two others were arrested last week in Bulawayo for simply picking up a cartoon of Mugabe, his wife and Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono and laughing.

According to the Christian Science Monitor on March 2, "In the past month, more than 100 people, mostly activists from the opposition MDC, have been arrested. In addition, political violence, spearheaded by the ZANU-PF militia in Harare's slums, has forced more than 1,000 MDC supporters to go into hiding."

Mugabe has a long history of dealing ruthlessly with any attempt to challenge his power. But there is something different about this time, as workers and students in Tunisia, Egypt and across North Africa have shown that it is possible to stand up to dictators.

It is no coincidence that the Mugabe regime is trying to make an example of activists who attended a discussion of the important turning points in Tunisia and Egypt, where workers ousted decades-old oppressive regimes. Mugabe hopes that he can isolate and silence the deepening anger and spirit of rebellion that exists in the country.

Activists around the world should do what they can to take up the fight in Zimbabwe and make it our own--and demand that all charges against all the 45 be dropped immediately.

Actions large and small are being organized internationally on March 21--in Britain, South Africa and elsewhere. In the U.S., supporters have organized pickets in cities where there are Zimbabwean delegations, such as a New York protest at Zimbabwe's mission to the United Nations and a Washington, D.C., event outside the Zimbabwean Embassy.

Actions are being sponsored and endorsed by the International Socialist Organization, the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, EdgeOfSports.com, The Nation, New Politics and The Progressive and SocialistWorker.org. Supporters are also organizing petitioning that day on campuses and at bus and train stops to get out the word about this campaign.

The date March 21 has another significance--it was the day of the Sharpesville Massacre in 1960, when South African police opened fire on hundreds of nonviolent Black demonstrators demonstrating against the pass laws in the township of Sharpeville.

Some 180 people were injured and 69 killed protesting racist apartheid in South Africa. Some 13,000 people were jailed. It was a day that horrified the world. But it was also a day that exposed the brutal apartheid regime's oppressive rule and sparked outrage in South Africa and then organizing around the world.

It ultimately showed the determination of the South African people to stand up against all odds to a repressive and powerful regime. Today's fighters in Zimbabwe carry on that spirit. We support them.