Please circulate widely Dictators must go! DROP THE TREASON CHARGES AGAINST 46 ZIMBABWEANS. RELEASE THEM NOW.
Demonstrate outside the Zimbabwe Consulate, 20 Anderson street (CCMA building) Johannesburg Wednesday 2 March 12 noon to 1.30pm Bring banners, placards and letters of protest The 'crime' - watching footage of the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings. 46 Zimbabweans have been held for six days and were charged with treason and 'attempting to subvert a constitutional government' because they attended a meeting, called by the International Socialist Organisation, to discuss the revolutions in North Africa. Those jailed include trade unionists, a former MDC MP, student leaders, and several HIV-positive woman. The HIV positive people have been denied access to their medication. At least seven of the 46 were tortured in custody, beaten with broomsticks and the like. This is bigger than the ill-treatment of 46 human rights activists. It seems the Zimbabwe regime wants to make an example of these activists as part of a growing crackdown. Part of the evidence presented in court was a leaflet advertising the meeting which stated one of the meetings aims was to express solidarity with the peoples struggle for liberation in Tunisia and Egypt. Enthusiasm about the power of ordinary people to topple the despots running these countries in their economic interests has now become a crime in Zimbabwe. We appeal that South African government adds its voice to the pressure for their release. The Zimbabwean government has to be spoken to loudly about its frequent and constant return to repression and intimidation. Our government needs to get straight to the point and criticise the naked abuse of state power, and the human rights violations taking place daily in Zimbabwe by Mugabe. We know Mugabe is returning to his old strategy of using the might of the state to grind down all opposition. The massacres in Matabeleland in the early 1980s weakened ZAPU to the extent where it ended up joining the government on Mugabe's terms. Today he wants to grind down anyone likely to oppose his continued rule. He is the same as Gadhafi who has brought in mercenaries in a bid to stay in power at all costs. For this reason he has attacked anything that moved, this being our friends and comrades who dared to show a film about the uprisings in the Middle East. Enough Is Enough Put an end to Mugabe's Dictatorship - Stand in solidarity with the Zimbabwe 46 Fax letters of protest to Zimbabwe embassy and copy them to [email protected], [email protected] [email protected] -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
