WOZA Women Mark International Human Rights Day with Six Street Actions

WOZA (Women of Zimbabwe Arise) have released the following press release following protests to mark International Human Rights Day (10 December 2005).

WOZA Press Statement 10 December 2005

WOZA Women Mark International Human Rights Day with Six Street Actions - five women arrested and assaulted in custody

HUNDREDS of members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) took to the streets of Harare and Bulawayo today in six separate protest marches to commemorate International Human Rights Day.

The women wore t-shirts calling on Zimbabweans to ‘Stop Violence against Women’ and also bearing the international symbol for this campaign - an open hand. Whilst marching, the women distributed WOZA’s newsletter which included an open letter to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to stop arbitrary arrests of WOZA women.

By noon five women from the Harare protest were in custody at Harare Central Police station. They were assaulted with open palms and baton sticks whilst in detention by officers, including one called Mhondoro. Due to a combination of this assault and refusal of access to lawyers, the women decided to negotiate the payment of ZD $25,000 admission of guilt fines. They were released on this basis at 16:45 pm. In Bulawayo no arrests were recorded although five simultaneous protests had been conducted.

The placard-waving women held aloft placards and banners bearing their messages, including “the strongest man is a woman” and an Eleanor Roosevelt quote, “Women are like teabags. We don’t know how strong we are until we are in hot water.”

In the spirit of “Tough Love”, WOZA’s brand of civil disobedience, the ‘mothers of the nation’ defied the Public Order Security Act (POSA) and conducted their protests without giving notification to the police.

In Harare, after a WOZA delegation participated in a ZimRights-organised march, they went on to gather on Fourth Street before proceeding along Nelson Mandela Avenue. The women were intercepted at Second Street by a police vehicle however and five women were promptly arrested. The five are Loise Grezia, Rosemary Mironga, Julia Chipehama, Noria Kadhari and Monica Chimbiro. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights have reacted and are attempting to gain access.

In Bulawayo, five community-based protests were conducted simultaneously. They were joined by male defenders and children who found the singing and evident enjoyment of the protestors irresistible.

Women started their protest at Mabutweni Shopping Centre and ended at Mabutweni Police Station where the women dispersed, leaving their placards and the open letter addressed to the ZRP. In Mpopoma, the protest started at Msitheli High School and ended at Matshobana Beer Garden, passing Traffic Police on the way. As the women dispersed, a police vehicle pursued some protestors but soon gave up chase. In Tshabalala, WOZA women gathered at the shopping centre and marched towards Sizinda Beer Garden, leaving their messages with the patrons present. In Magwegwe, Pumula, Emakhandeni and Luveve, protests also started and ended without incident as did the Nkulumane contingent. As the marches proceeded, children joined in helping to distribute the Woza Moya newsletter.

On International Human Rights Day and the final day of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, WOZA made the following demands to the ZRP in their open letter:

• ALL Zimbabweans respect the rights of women and girls and violence against women is stopped. NO MORE VIOLENCE!
• The police respect the rights of women human rights defenders and the women they represent.
• We call on the officers from all ranks to refuse to arrest WOZA women as they go about their peaceful business.
• ALL police officers read and uphold the 2001 Harare Resolution on the Southern African
  Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (SARPCCO) Code of Conduct for Police Officials.

The specific points that should be implemented to restore their dignity as professional police officers are, in particular, Articles 1- 5.
Article 1 - ‘In the performance of their duties, police officials shall respect and protect human dignity and maintain and uphold the human rights of all persons.’

Ends
10 December 2005

NOTE TO EDITORS:
For more information about WOZA and the protests conducted today, please contact Jenni Williams or Magodonga Mahlangu on + 263 91 300 456 or + 263 91 898 110/1/2/ or Ellah Hwenzira on + 263 91 377 800.

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE ZIMBABWE REPUBLIC POLICE
Joins us in saying ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, SOKWANELE, ZVAKWANA.

WOZA, the acronym of Women of Zimbabwe Arise, is an Ndebele word meaning ‘Come forward’. WOZA is a registered trust formed in 2003. Our objectives are to:

• Provide women from all walks of life with a united voice to speak out on issues affecting their day-to-day lives.
• Empower female leadership that will lead community involvement in finding solutions to the current crisis.
• Lobbying and advocacy on those issues affecting women.

We encourage women to speak out and hold their government accountable. Our mandate is to conduct peaceful protests in defiance of unjust laws that sanction our fundamental and god-given freedoms of assembly, expression and association. Through our actions, we create space to allow the general public to articulate issues they are too fearful to raise alone. WOZA has conducted over 30 protests in its three year existence. We recognize the sacrifice of over 800 women who have spent up to 48 hours in custody, some more than once. On 31 March this year, over 265 women and 20 babies spent a night in custody after conducting a prayer vigil on election night. These women, front-line human rights defenders, are willing to suffer beatings and unbearable conditions in prison cells to exercise their constitutional rights.

We have set out to prove that the power of love can conquer the love of power. ‘Tough Love’ is our weapon of mass mobilisation. ‘Tough Love’ is the disciplining love of a parent; we must practice it and bring dignity back to our families. Tough Love from the grassroots is the solution to the crisis of governance in Zimbabwe. Our rulers need some discipline; who better to dish it out than a mother! But what kind of mother would we be if we remained silent while our children cry from hunger? Do your children go to bed at night with full stomachs? Can you afford to send all your children to school and provide them with a promising future?

When WOZA was formed we adopted the highest risk option of demonstration when the most repressive laws were in effect. We had to find ways to speak out about our wellbeing rather that suffer in silence. We knew that police officers would support our struggle if they saw our love and determination. So when we march with love in our hearts, it helps us to bear the consequences. The consequences we suffer are arrest, assault and harassment by YOU - police officers. We know that you are our children, parents who are also trying to earn a living and feed your families.

Through our work we must break the chain of oppression. Rhodesia had an elite group of capitalists ruling over and oppressing people with unjust laws based on inequality. Little seems to have changed - we now have Zimbabwe and an elite group of black capitalists ruling over and oppressing people with unjust laws based on inequality. How many houses were some of you forced to destroy because of colonial housing laws? How may people did you make homeless and jobless through Operation Murambatsvina?

As the women of WOZA mark the 16 Days of Action Campaign with activities, we will be calling on Police officers to join us in saying ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, SOKWANELE, ZVAKWANA. During this time, and forevermore, WOZA demands that:

• ALL Zimbabweans respect the rights of women and girls and violence against women is stopped. NO MORE VIOLENCE!
• The police respect the rights of women human rights defenders and the women they represent.
• We call on the officers from all ranks to refuse to arrest WOZA women as they go about their peaceful business.
• ALL police officers read and uphold the 2001 Harare Resolution on the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (SARPCCO) Code of Conduct for Police Officials. The specific points that should be implemented to restore their dignity as professional police officers are, in particular, Articles 1- 5.
• Article 1 - ‘In the performance of their duties, police officials shall respect and protect human dignity and maintain and uphold the human rights of all persons.’

Signed by
Your mothers, sisters and grandmothers
Women Human Rights Defenders

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