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Judges shocked by Zim abuses
11/06/2007 17:51 - (SA)
Johannesburg - A group of international judges says beatings and other abuses inflicted on lawyers are damaging the legal system in Zimbabwe.
Following a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe last week, the
Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists said it
was "shocked" by the extent of government abuse of the legal and judicial system.
The head of the mission, Judge Claire L'Heureux-Dube said: "We were shocked. The beatings of lawyers, beatings of
people and in particular the refusal by the police to carry out
court orders, was shocking."
The group was in Zimbabwe on a five-day mission to investigate
recent arrests, detention and beatings of lawyers, which it said
were "clearly an escalation in the harassment and intimidation
of the legal profession.
"The mission is disturbed that the unjustifiable harassment,
detention and beatings of lawyers has only increased the tension
between the Law Society and the Government.
"Such treatment is interfering with the proper functioning
of the administration of justice, the role of lawyers and their
independence and is making it difficult for lawyers to act for
clients viewed by government as dissidents."
President Robert Mugabe's government has come under
increasing criticism in recent months following a renewed
crackdown against the main opposition Movement for Democratic
Change, which rights activists say has since spread to
other sectors of society.
Police last month arrested Zimbabwean human rights lawyers
Alec Muchadehama and Andrew Makoni, who were on a legal team
that represented MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and several other
MDC officials after they were arrested and assaulted for defying
an official ban on rallies in March.
Police detained the lawyers after they attempted to take
part in a march in Harare. They have since been released.
International human rights bodies and Western governments
have criticised Mugabe's government for Zimbabwe's worsening
human rights record, characterised by repression and beatings of
opposition members and journalists.
- Reuters
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Zimbabwe Special Report
