Posted on 03/01/2003 2:16:06 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Edited on 07/12/2004 4:01:10 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Twenty church pastors marching to protest what they called state-orchestrated political violence were arrested yesterday and held for eight hours, witnesses and protest organizers said.
The pastors, who were wearing clerical garb, marched to police headquarters in Harare to submit a petition protesting the violence and Zimbabwe's strict security laws, which prohibit political protests.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
This is a church that would prefer to stay focused on its parishoners' spiritual - not political - education. But here in Zimbabwe, events on earth are not so easily ignored. President Robert Mugabe has tightened his grip on the country since winning reelection nearly a year ago. Zimbabwe is experiencing severe food shortages, skyrocketing unemployment, and heavy-handed repression of anyone who dares oppose the government. Now spiritual leaders here are doing some soul searching about what their role in the crisis should be. ***
People have been killed and those who killed are running scot free on the streets because they acted on behalf of the government."
All right, let the Christian leaders get into it, it worked in Eastern Europe. And no, this is not to advocate a theocracy put in place, it just means that decent people sometimes have to stand up and be counted. It's easy to say, though, from the sidelines.
The other posting indicated that the clergy were protesting harrassment of clergymen; apparently the protest was directed at the wider brutalization going on.
This is the proper role of the clergy; to stand in the gap, and speak the truth. They are the ones who should be modeling courage.
I am encouraged to read of this.
If this struggle for freedom is worth it, it must be worth some risks.
I've posted a LINK above happgrl. I don't know if that's the one you're talking about.
President Robert Mugabe's government, facing political and economic crisis, has cracked down on protests as the country falls under the international spotlight during the cricket World Cup, now being co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.
The churchmen, calling themselves the Zimbabwe National Pastors' Conference marched to police headquarters in central Harare carrying crosses and stood outside before police herded them into two trucks and drove them away.
A third truck packed with riot police armed with batons and singing what appeared to be a mock religious song followed.
A lawyer for the 19 said police detained the pastors at Harare's central police station where they were charged with contravening the public order and security act.
"The police took 'warned and cautioned' statements. The police are going to investigate and when they are ready with their case they will probably call them to court," the lawyer told Reuters.
A petition addressed to the home affairs minister, which the clergymen handed out to journalists before the march, accused police of disrupting a Harare church meeting on February 13 and briefly detaining a leading clergyman, Bishop Trevor Manhanga.
GROUP CONDEMNS HARASSMENT
A group of rights organizations, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, condemned Friday's arrests, saying they came a day after police harassed the congregation at a church service in Bulawayo where victims of political violence gave testimony.
It said officers of the national intelligence agency had questioned Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube, an outspoken critic of Mugabe's government, over the service.
"The continued harassment of church leaders signifies a further constraint of Zimbabwe's civic space and limits the capacity of Zimbabweans to freely discuss, debate and propose solutions to the nation's crises," the group said in a statement.
Mugabe signed tough security legislation into law just before he was re-elected in a controversial poll last March.
The Public Order and Security Act forbids public meetings without police clearance. Critics say it is aimed at suppressing opposition to the government, and that enforcement has been stepped up during this month's cricket tournament.
Earlier this month, police arrested 73 people, mainly women, after they handed out roses, sang songs and called for peace during Valentine's Day protests.
Those detained included seven journalists covering the protest and a clergyman whose camera was confiscated after he videotaped the demonstration.
Zimbabwe is grappling with its worst economic crisis, felled by soaring unemployment and food shortages, since Mugabe came to power after independence from Britain in 1980. [End]
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