Hundreds of members of WOZA and MOZA took to the streets of Bulawayo at lunchtime today, 12th February, to mark WOZA’s sixth Valentine’s Campaign. No arrests have been reported as yet.

The aim of the peaceful protest was to encourage Zimbabweans to stand up for their children in these times of extreme hardship and as an election looms. WOZA was formed in 2003 amidst severe political violence to demonstrate love and courage to all Zimbabweans. In 2008 this motivation is still equally relevant.

800 men and women processed for four city blocks through central Bulawayo, singing and handing out red roses and Valentine cards to passers-by. The response from people was exceptional with huge groups forming on pavements and motorists hooting to encourage the procession. Many people stepped forward to receive the cards and roses.

As the procession stopped for slogans outside the police administrative headquarters, bicycle police attempted to stop the procession but were informed that they would cause a pandemonium and that they should stand aside and allow the procession to reach its final destination. Those holding the banner proceeded to raise it up and over the police and continued to march.

A block later a senior ranking police officer arrived at the front of the procession and consulted with WOZA leader, Jenni Williams, who informed him that the march was under control. Obviously wanting to be reasonable, the officer allowed the group to reach their final dispersing point. He and several other officers then escorted the jubilant group to the main taxi rank to ensure that they did disperse. Later a truck load of riot police equipped with baton sticks and shields, as well as two carloads of plain-clothed officers were later observed moving through the rank. No arrests or assaults have been reported to date.

All WOZA and MOZA leaders were able to evade being arrested as they dispersed. In WOZA’s experience, it is often individual officers who try to be ‘heroes’ and arrest leaders after a call for peaceful dispersal would have already been made.

Fifteen members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were arrested this afternoon in Africa Unity Square in Harare whilst waiting to check into their hotel accommodation for the People’s Convention.

The members from Bulawayo were booked into Meikles Hotel but due to processing delays, had not been able to check in and were waiting in the vicinity. Having been told to wait in Africa Unity Square by hotel security, the group was promptly approached by riot police and had their bags searched. Despite informing police that they were in Harare to attend the People’s Convention, which has police clearance, the group was arrested and taken to Harare Central Police Station. It is not clear on what grounds they were arrested.

WOZA members from all over the country are in Harare to attend the People’s Convention, the aim of which is to provide a platform for the people of Zimbabwe to discuss what they want and expect from a democratic dispensation and to provide guidelines and frameworks for all of the critical issues affecting Zimbabwe. 4,000 people are expected to attend the Convention on 8th and 9th February.

More information will be released as it becomes available.

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Providing solidarity to our activists is the best way you can help. We will keep you updated via this website when our members have been arrested and what help you can provide.

WOZA also has a solidarity group in the UK, which actively provides support and solidarity. If you are interested in finding out about what they do or in joining their mailing list, you can contact them at wozasolidarity2005@yahoo.com.

Whilst the three people arrested after the WOZA demonstration in Harare on Tuesday were released after paying a fine and without being harmed, it has emerged that riot police beat at least 10 WOZA members as they were dispersing near Angwa Street. One woman’s elbow was badly dislocated after being beaten with a baton stick across her arm. She is in severe pain and will be in plaster for at least a month.

It has also emerged that four members of MOZA were also arrested after the demonstration. They were driven around the streets of Harare for some time and asked to point out WOZA leaders. When no leaders were identified, the four men were asked if WOZA had plans to disrupt the Zanu PF congress, which was due to be held in Harare the following day. Upon hearing that the demonstration was to mark Human Rights Day and the end of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, the four men were released unharmed and without charge.

These injuries perpetrated against members directly contradicted what WOZA leaders were told by riot police when stopped near Parliament. When asking the group to disperse, members of the riot squad assured WOZA’s National Co-ordinator, Jenni Williams, that they would not beat the demonstrators but they could not allow them to progress to Parliament. It is obvious however that violence has become so ‘normal’ for the Zimbabwe Republic Police that it is the only response that they know when faced with citizens that peacefully exercise their freedoms of assembly and speech.

The three people arrested after the WOZA demonstration in Harare this afternoon were finally released at 5pm. They were accused of criminal nuisance and paid a fine of $40,000 under the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. Police had arrested them for allegedly taking photographs of the demonstration and have kept a camera in custody. The women have been asked to report at 10am tomorrow morning to collect the equipment.

Breaking news from WOZA

Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) conducted a peaceful protest to Parliament at 1pm today. Over 300 members took part.

The protest was blocked metres away from Parliament by riot police who refused to allow the group to pass and deliver the People’s Charter to parliamentarians. The group was then asked to disperse whereupon they turned around and continued to demonstrate along Nelson Mandela towards the Zanu PF offices. A police vehicle with riot police followed the protest arriving in Angwa Street as the protest dispersed.

Riot police surrounded a Crisis Coalition vehicle, searching it before arresting three women in the vicinity who had not been in the protest. The women are said to be in the Law and Order department, Office 93, of Harare Central and lawyers have not managed to get access to determine who the women are or what the charges might be.

Although WOZA leaders led the protests and National Coordinator of WOZA, Jenni Williams, spent two minutes negotiating with the riot police to allow the group to proceed to the door of Parliament, they were not arrested. Some members at the back of the protest were accosted by police as they dispersed and asked by police where Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu were. WOZA find it strange that bystanders were arrested instead of participants and wonder is it now a crime to watch a peaceful protest?

It has been confirmed that the two WOZA activists arrested yesterday at a meeting in Mutare will be kept at Sakubva Police Station over the weekend.

Having been denied food all day by the Officer-in-Charge, Rigomega, the women were finally allowed food this evening. Conditions are apparently appalling with the women complaining of lice and mosquitoes in cold, damp cells.

It is hoped that the two women will be taken to court on Monday.

During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence and whilst President Mugabe pretends to the world that all is well in Zimbabwe in Lisbon, WOZA salutes the courage of the two women activists who refused to bow to the pressure and threats of police officers and who are determined to defend their right to the freedoms of assembly and expression, whatever the cost.

Please continue to call Sakubva Police Station on +263 20 64212, 64717 or 63145 or the officer-in-charge directly on +263 20 60902 to protest the arrest and continued detention of the two women.

Two members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) spent last night in Sakubva Police Station in Mutare. They were arrested yesterday morning during a meeting in the Mutare suburb.

A group of approximately 90 people had gathered in a bush clearing to discuss responsible behaviour when they were approached by 12 police officers. 20 members, eight men, 12 women and three babies were arrested in total and made to walk over a kilometre to Sakubva Police Station. During the march to the police station, several of the members were handcuffed.

At the police station, the group was denied access to their lawyer and also denied food. Some members were beaten. Police informed the group that as most were not carrying their national identification cards, they had broken the law and should pay fines. Without access to legal counsel to advise that this was inaccurate, most members believed they had no other option than to pay the fines and were released at 7pm.

The two that remain in custody refused to pay fines. It is expected that they will be charged under the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and it is hoped that they will be taken to court this morning. There are fears that they may be kept in over the weekend however.

Sharing Love
In 2007, WOZA observes its fifth Valentine’s campaign. It was on Valentine’s Day 2003 that WOZA held its first peaceful demonstration and Tough Love as born. Valentine’s Day was chosen as a significant date in the WOZA calendar because of the association with love – love of self, of family, of community and of country.

A History of WOZA and Valentine’s Day
In 2003, WOZA marched against violence in Bulawayo and Harare, calling on Zimbabweans to ‘learn to love again’. In Bulawayo, 14 women and one man were arrested and held in appalling conditions for 24 hours. They were charged under the Public Order Security Act (POSA) and then released. The Harare protest was conducted outside the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office. Riot police arrested over 49 members, including a 65-year-old Dominican Nun. Only one member, Jennifer Williams, was charged and all members were released within hours of arrest.

2004 saw WOZA take to the streets again with the theme, ‘choose love over hate’. Whilst it had been originally planned to march in Bulawayo, Harare and Victoria Falls, the marches in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls had to be postponed. In Victoria Falls, police threatened organisers who decided to postpone. In Bulawayo, police refused to allow the protest to go ahead and a court application taken by WOZA was never heard in the High Court. In Harare, police told organisers that they would shoot to kill if the women marched. Despite these threats, WOZA marched in four suburban centres in Harare. In Chitungwiza, they marched into the police station and handed over Valentine cards. When police accepted the cards, the march was declared a success.

‘The power of love can conquer the love of power’ was the message WOZA marched with in 2005. Peaceful protests were successfully conducted in Bulawayo and Harare. In both protests police did not respond during the protest but arrested members as they disbursed. In Bulawayo, 72 women had a hard time in custody. Police tried every dirty trick – they hid members away in cupboards to avoid them having access to lawyers and harassed them into paying admission of guilt fines but lawyers finally managed to gain access and obtain their release. In Harare, the few members arrested were also released on admission of guilt deposit fines as they too lacked access to their lawyers. The campaign was a very important part of getting Zimbabweans out to vote for the March 2005 Parliamentary Election.

In 2006, WOZA called for ‘Bread and Roses’ on Valentine’s Day, bread signifying the need for affordable basic commodities and roses signifying the need for dignity and the better things in life. In Bulawayo, 181 men and women and 14 babies were arrested and held for one night before being released. In Harare, 242 women and five babies were arrested and held under terrible conditions for four days. Given the appalling nature of the conditions and the psychological pressure that the women were subjected to, several women paid admission of guilt fines. 63 defiant souls endured the harsh conditions to be taken to court on day four and be released on free bail. The Valentine 63 were charged under the Miscellaneous Offences Act with ‘conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace’. They were finally acquitted in August 2006 in a trial that lasted seven months with 13 courts appearances. In his judgement, the magistrate declared that the women had been illegally detained and had been held in inhumane and degrading conditions.

In 2007, WOZA will be commemorating the fifth Valentine’s campaign with the theme:
‘The People’s Charter: giving you a better life, a better Zimbabwe’.

The 98 members arrested during a protest at Parliament in Harare yesterday have been released without charged after being held for seven hours.

At noon yesterday, a deputation drawn from the membership began a protest to press for an end to violence and for a response from the Zimbabwe Republic Police. Members also wanted to express their commitment to a repealing of Public Order Security Act (POSA) and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).

As the procession was to arrive at Parliament, the Riot Squad based at Africa Unity Square intercepted and began to beat the peaceful activists. They did not directly order the activists to disperse but beat anyone trying to sit down. The procession then turned around the way they had come and the determined activists began to chant the slogan – “strike a woman and you strike a rock” and sing, “the road is full of thorns and the time has come to pray.” It seems this was too much for the police officers who had kept up their insults and beating with baton sticks (although they used minimum force). When the procession crossed Sam Nujoma Street, the order to sit down was issued by police and WOZA members complied.

While the group sat down, members who had not been arrested handed themselves in. A member of MOZA did this in style. With his placard saying ‘VOTE no to POSA’ held high and singing away, he did a solo march across the street into the arrested group.

After 30 minutes, a vehicle came and 17 members were taken to Harare Central Police station. An hour and a half passed with no progress before the Riot Squad guarding the arrested ordered three lines and walked the 81 members to Central creating quite a spectacle and much amusement from bystanders. It seems there was no fuel for the vehicles.

After uniformed polices officers and Law and Order officers took down everyone’s details, it became apparent no department wanted responsibility for processing WOZA. Eventually Law and Order officers with the Chief Superintendent Madzingo, the overall boss of Law and Order, in attendance asked for all the issues WOZA are unhappy about and after a 30 minute spelling out issues from police harassment, to skyrocketing school fees, to electricity blackouts and complaints about POSA, the Chief Superintendent said he was tired and asked WOZA lawyer Muchadehama to assist WOZA to notify for future protests.

All 98 members were released at 7:30 pm having been arrested just after noon. This is the third protest in a row that WOZA have been arrested but released without being detained. On 15 October, Chief Inspector Tenderere, Officer Commanding at Harare Central lectured the activists and released them after nine hours in custody. These protests have seen WOZA directly confront police about their brutality.

Meanwhile, a WOZA member, Maria Moyo, has died. She had been arrested approximately eight times and was one of the seven members abducted from their homes by Law and Order officers in Bulawayo on 24th August. She was taken from her sick bed at 4:30 am and threatened with being tied up with ropes and thrown into Khami Dam if she did not divulge the whereabouts of WOZA leaders. She was badly shaken by this experience and took a turn for the worse. Despite receiving medical treatment, she never recovered. WOZA leaders pass on their condolences to the family of Maria and to all her comrades. We ask for intensification in amplifying the voice of ordinary Zimbabweans demanding social justice so that Maria’s life is not sacrificed in vain.

98 members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) and Men of Zimbabwe Arise (MOZA) were arrested at noon today whilst protesting the continued harassment of and violence against human rights activists at the hands of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP).

The activists were arrested Parliament and were made to sit in Africa Unity Square for several hours before being moved to Harare Central Police Station. Human rights lawyers are in attendance. It is still unclear what charges are being brought against the group.

More than 250 activists took part in the protest march through central Harare. This action follows peaceful street demonstrations in Bulawayo, Harare and Mutare last month on the same theme.

WOZA recently launched a report on the political violence perpetrated against its members during the last few years. A copy of this report can be found below.

More information will be released as it becomes available.