James Duddridge MP
Minister for Africa
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH
The Lord Alton of Liverpool
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
20 May 2021
Dear Lord Alton
Thank you for your correspondence of 28 April regarding the plight of opposition figures in Zimbabwe.
I share the concern raised in the correspondence you forwarded about the treatment of Joana Mamombe MP and Cecilia Chimbiri as well as a third opposition figure, Netsai Marova. It is worrying that we have seen all three women subjected to multiple arrests since May 2020. I was particularly concerned that in March Ms Mamombe and Ms Chimbiri were both denied bail on appeal to the High Court. I was relieved to hear that they were subsequently granted bail by the High Court on 5 May and publically welcomed this development, making clear that it was unclear why their bail had earlier been denied.
I, along with the British Embassy, are closely following developments concerning Ms Mamombe, Ms Chimbiri and Ms Marova. The Embassy are in regular contact with their lawyers (whom we support through FCDO’s funding to ‘Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights’) to ensure we have a clear picture of the situation. Before she was granted bail, we were deeply concerned about Joana Mamombe’s health as it appeared she was being denied access to the treatment she needed.
We have been clear with the Government of Zimbabwe that it must ensure all prisoners are treated equally and that their rights are protected. The British Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Melanie Robinson, underlined this publicly in a tweet on 29 April. On 30 April senior officials in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) raised Ms Mamombe’s mistreatment with the Zimbabwean Ambassador to the UK, Ambassador Katsande. We will continue to maintain this pressure.
The UK also continues to hold the Government of Zimbabwe to account for their actions
in response to other human rights violations. On 1 February 2021, we announced the
designation of four individuals involved in brutal crackdowns by the Government of
Zimbabwe on public protests. This includes events that led to the deaths of six
demonstrators in August 2018 and of 17 demonstrators in January 2019. The sanctions
regime seeks to press the Government of Zimbabwe to respect democratic principles
and institutions and the rule of law in Zimbabwe; refrain from actions, policies or
activities that repress civil society in Zimbabwe and comply with international human
rights law and respect human rights. The sanctions are not targeted at the wider
economy or the people of Zimbabwe.
Please be assured we will continue to monitor developments on these arrests closely
and urge the Government of Zimbabwe to adhere to their international human rights
obligations and respect their constitution, which prohibits enforced disappearances and
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
.
James Duddridge MP
Minister for Africa
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Africa News report 2020:
The arrests came as a group of U.N experts spoke against a “reported pattern of disappearances and torture” by government agents in the country.
The three opposition women alleged that they were tortured and sexually abused by their abductors, whom they said took them from a police station in May, after they had been arrested for organizing an anti-government protest. Their abductors were unidentified, but because they took the women from police custody, it appears they were some kind of state agents
https://www.africanews.com/2020/06/11/zimbabwe-female-politicians-brutalized/
