Mr Patrick Chinamasa                                             Mr Augustine Chihuri
Minister of Justice                                                   Commissioner of Police
Ministry of Justice                                                   Zimbabwe Republic Police
Legal and Parliamentary Affairs                                Police Headquarters
P. Bag 7751                                                           PO Box 8807
Causeway                                                              Causeway
Harare                                                                    Harare
Zimbabwe                                                               Zimbabwe

10 May 2007

Dear Minister and Commissioner,

Call for immediate compliance with court orders demanding release of lawyers Alec Muchadehama and Andrew Makoni

We are writing on behalf of the Human Rights Institute (HRI) of the International Bar Association (IBA) in connection with reports that police in Zimbabwe have ignored court orders demanding the release of lawyers Alec Muchadehama and Andrew Makoni from custody.

In its role as a dual membership organisation, comprising 30,000 individual lawyers and over 195 Bar Associations and Law Societies, the IBA influences the development of international law reform and shapes the future of the legal profession. Its Member Organisations cover all continents. The HRI works across the association, helping to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession worldwide.

The IBA has received reports suggesting that lawyers Andrew Makoni and Alec Muchadehama were arrested outside the High Court on 4 May 2007 in the course of carrying out their professional duties. It is alleged that they were taken to Harare Central police station for ‘interrogation’ but were not provided with reasons for their arrest. Mr Makoni and Mr Muchadehama have reportedly been denied access to their lawyers and representatives from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) enquiring into the charges against them have allegedly been threatened with arrest.
 
Mr Muchadehama and Mr Makoni were this week due to appear in court in various cases against the Government in defence of the civil liberties of their clients. Efforts are being made by other lawyers to represent the clients in court however this is being made difficult by police interference.

It is apparent that a consent order securing the release of Mr Makoni and Mr Muchadehama, issued by Justice Tedius Karwi on 4 and 5 May, has been ignored and the two lawyers have were instead transported to two separate police stations in Harare. Matapi, the police station where Mr Muchadehama has allegedly been held, has been found inhuman and degrading as a place of detention by the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe. In what appears to be a stark violation of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, as well as in contravention of two court orders, the two lawyers remain in custody.
 
We are deeply concerned over subsequent reports that, on visiting Stodart police station in an attempt to secure the release of Mr Muchadehama, ZLHR lawyers found Mr Richard Chikosha, the legal representative of the two respondents, to have been assaulted by police and instructed to reverse the court order.
 
Information has been received to suggest that Mr Makoni and Mr Muchadehama are to be charged with obstructing the course of justice under section 184(e) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. No further information has been received despite an Urgent Application for Mr Makoni and Mr Muchadehama to appear before the High Court in order to confirm their safety and ensure immediate compliance with the two court orders.

The IBA would like to draw your attention to Article 11 of the Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe which provides that everyone is entitled to the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, namely, the right to life, liberty and security of person and the protection of the law; freedom of conscience, expression, assembly and association; and protection for the privacy of one’s home and property. Furthermore, Article 13 (3) states that any person who is arrested or detained shall be informed as soon as reasonably practicable of the reasons for his arrest or detention and shall be permitted at his own expense to obtain and instruct without delay a legal representative of his own choice and hold communication with him. Article 13 (4) also states that anyone who is arrested or detained shall be brought before a court without undue delay.

We should further like to refer your Government to Articles 6, 8, 9 and 10 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights which prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention and upholds the right to life, liberty and security of person; the right freedom of profession; the right to express and disseminate opinions within the law; and the right to free association, respectively. These rights and freedoms are also protected by Articles 9, 17, 19 and 22 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and Articles 3, 9, 12 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are principles which are widely accepted to have entered into customary international law.

Finally, we would like to bring your Government’s attention to the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, in particular Article 16 which provides that Governments shall ensure that lawyers are (a) able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; (b) able to travel and to consult with their clients freely both within their own country and abroad; and (c) shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognised professional duties, standards and ethics. Article 17 states that where the security of lawyers is threatened as a result of discharging their functions, they shall be adequately safeguarded by the authorities; and Article 23 provides that lawyers, like other citizens, are entitled to freedom of expression, belief, association and assembly.

The detention of Mr Muchadehama and Mr Makoni and the subsequent violation of two court orders by the Zimbabwean police represent a serious breach of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe’s obligations under international law. We urge the Government of Zimbabwe and the Chief of Police to take immediate steps to comply with the court orders and ensure the release of Mr Muchadehama and Mr Makoni. Furthermore, we request that an investigation into the conditions of their detention is immediately carried out and that lawyers in Zimbabwe are free to carry out their professional duties without intimidation.

We should be grateful to receive your assurances that our concerns will be addressed as a matter of urgency.

Yours sincerely,

     Ambassador Emilio Càrdenas                         Justice Richard J. Goldstone
Human Rights Institute Council Chair               Human Rights Institute Council Chair

CC: Ms. Hina Jilani, Special Representative of the Secretary General for Human Rights Defenders, Office of the High Commission for Human Rights