Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) has announced the launch of its new website. In Zimbabwe where freedom of expression is seriously restricted through repressive legislation and other means and where an unofficial ban exists on lesbian and gay people speaking for themselves using the government-controlled media, the GALZ Information and Communications Department plays an important role in countering state-instigated propaganda.

On the 13th of February 2006 officers of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) in Bulawayo arrested and detained about 181 ladies peacefully marching during a demonstration organised by the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), a civic organisation in Zimbabwe. On the 14th of February 2006, members of the ZRP in Harare again arrested about 252 ladies marching during a peaceful demonstration also organised by WOZA. Outside the Anglican Church at the corner of 2nd Street and Nelson Mandela Avenue, Harare, members of the ZRP assaulted, harassed, and then proceeded to detain a legal practitioner, Tafadzwa Mugabe, for about six hours from about 1300hrs to 1930hrs at the Harare Central Police station. Tafadzwa Mugabe was later released without charge. Mr Tafadzwa Mugabe, a pro bono lawyer, had questioned the police officers why they had arrested the peacefully marching ladies on St. Valentine's Day.

One of the greatest challenges in the aftermath of any violent conflict is the issue of accountability for serious human rights violations, begins this report from the Zimbabwe NGO Human Rights Forum. "Although impunity continues to characterise many post-conflict situations, since the end of World War 2 there has been perceptible progress in efforts towards securing justice and accountability and in undertakings to build polities based on fundamental rights and freedoms and respect for the rule of law." The report says that "policies of amnesia and avoidance" are on the wane while the trend to do nothing is becoming increasingly unpopular. Write to [email protected] for a copy of the report.

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), already wracked by internal division, is finding itself more isolated in the region and at home. "I think opposition politics is going into a hiatus now, it will be a very dark and slow period in terms of opposition politics. I think civic movements are also in the process of reorganising right now, they are very much pushed on the defensive. On the whole, even though Mugabe has problems internationally, at home the opposition presents him with few difficulties," analyst Brian Raftopoulos concluded.

On 10 February 2006, a Harare magistrate relaxed the reporting conditions against Voice of the People (VOP) radio board members when they appeared in court for a remand hearing. David Masunda, VOP chairman, his deputy Arnold Tsunga, and board members Lawrence Chibwe, Nhlanhla Ngwenya, and Millie Phiri, all of whom are accused of operating a radio station without a licence in terms of the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA), are on Z$4 million (approx. US$40) bail each.

The Centre and the Network for Zimbabwe Positive Women (NZPW+) are two important AIDS Service Organisations run by people living with HIV and AIDS and providing practical support to people living with HIV and AIDS. The development worker will work with both organisations, which share the same building, to develop their organisational capacity. S/he will focus upon building skills in strategic planning, management, organisational systems and policies, fundraising, monitoring and evaluation and assist to develop individual staff competencies to meet organisational aims.

The Small Grants Program is calling for proposals from civil society organisations. The theme of the program is the empowerment of marginalised vulnerable groups. The activity should be completed within one year of the date the grant is awarded. Civil Society organisations working on issues of development may apply.

When Zimbabwean artist Josiah Bob Taundi grew up in the townships of Harare he saw bulldozers as emblems of construction - machines that came to clear land for building houses and roads. But last year all this changed. Bulldozers came back to the townships and razed the very same houses that they had constructed. The Zimbabwean government called this "clean up", Murambatsvina (Operation Restore Order). While the urban demolitions were in full swing across the country, Zimbabwean artist, Josiah Taundi could not help but see the agony and pain reflected in the eyes of those that had been affected by Murambatsvina. In an effort to depict their plight he began to vividly re-construct Harare’s urban destruction.

Construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam, one of the dams set to provide water to the drought prone Matabeleland region, has been stopped following floods that swept away the dam wall and access roads at the construction site. Large blocks of stones and gravel were washed away after the Gwayi River flooded following torrential rainfall received in most parts of Matabeleland North Province.

Rival Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) camps have started a cyber-war and ratcheted up their campaigns to demonise each other ahead of parallel congresses this month and in March. The camp led by MDC vice-president Gibson Sibanda has distributed a draft constitution reportedly crafted by Morgan Tsvangirai's group.

As quoted in January, Zimbabwe's security minister Didymus Mutasa warned that "the net will soon close" on critical journalists who threatened nation’s security. The statement came together with a new offensive against the remaining independent journalists in the country and just after the arrest of employees and directors of Voice of the People (VOP), a radio station that transmitted into Zimbabwe via a shortwave transmitter in Madagascar. The significance of the crackdown lies in the fact that VOP is one of the few alternatives to the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.

This Friday in Harare, six trustees of Voice of the People (VOP), a privately-owned radio station, are due to appear in court on criminal charges, according to a Human Rights Watch press release (http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/02/08/zimbab12632.htm). On January 24, the authorities brought charges of broadcasting without a license against six of the station’s trustees. VOP was one of the few alternatives to the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, the only broadcaster with a license to operate legally in the country.

“The Zimbabwean government is using criminal charges to muzzle independent reporting and criticism,” said Paul Simo, Africa advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “This crackdown targets media that criticize government institutions, officials and the ruling party.”

The VOP trustees could face up to two years in jail. The charges came after police raided the Harare home of one of the board members, Arthur Tsunga, and kidnapped two of his household staff. The two were detained without charge for four days in an effort to coerce the executive director of VOP, John Masuku to turn himself into the police. Masuku was charged with broadcasting without a license on December 23.

The board members? David Masunda, Isabella Matambanadzo, Millicent Phiri, Lawrence Chibwe, Nhlahla Ngwenya and Tsunga?are will be represented by Beatrice Mtetwa, a renowned Zimbabwean human rights lawyer.

VOP was not the only target, however. Independent journalist Sydney Saize was arrested for filing a Voice of America report saying that the ruling ZANU-PF party had beaten teachers in the city. Meanwhile, the Media and Information Commission (MIC) threatened in early January to cancel the license of the Financial Gazette, a privately-owned newspaper, and refused to renew the accreditation of fifteen journalists working for the Zimbabwe Independent, another privately-owned newspaper.

Three laws have tightened the screws on Zimbabwe’s media over the last five years. The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act of 2002 forces media ventures to register with a Media and Information Commission or face prison. It also makes it an offence for journalists to work without accreditation.

The Broadcasting Services Act of 2001 ensures that the government has control of the airwaves by giving the Minister of State for Information and Publicity the power to decide who can broadcast. Lastly, the Public Order and Security Act of 2002 has a number of aspects which potentially limit the right to freedom of expression and covers the publishing of false statements against the state, the organizing of public gatherings and grants extensive powers to the police.

Produced by Radio Dialogue, Taxi Tunes is a series of radio cassettes aimed at educating the people of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe on various issues that affect them, including health, sexuality, environmental responsibility, and governance issues. Through distribution to drivers of kombis (taxis), Taxi Tunes are designed to prompt changes in attitudes among Zimbabweans, particularly young people.

Zimbabwean NGOs said they were ‘disappointed’ that the African Union (AU) had failed to acknowledge a resolution passed by its rights body, criticising the Harare regime. The AU summit in Khartoum, Sudan, which concluded this week, declined to take up the resolution tabled by its African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), saying the Zimbabwe government had not had time to react. ‘We understand that the government has to be given time to respond, but at least the summit should have noted the report,’ said Tor-Hugne Olsen, international office coordinator of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum, a coalition of 17 Zimbabwean NGOs.

In an attempt to silence one of Zimbabwe’s last independent news outlets, six board members of the Harare-based Voice of the People radio station were charged last week with broadcasting without a license. They could face up to two years in jail. The charges came after police raided the Harare home of one of the board members, Arthur Tsunga, and kidnapped two of his household staff. The two were detained without charge for four days in an effort to coerce the executive director of VOP, John Masuku to turn himself into the police. Masuku was charged with broadcasting without a license on December 23. The board members - David Masunda, Isabella Matambanadzo, Millicent Phiri, Lawrence Chibwe, Nhlahla Ngwenya and Tsunga - are scheduled to appear in court in Harare on February 10. They will be represented by Beatrice Mtetwa, a renowned Zimbabwean human rights lawyer. The Voice of the People is one of a handful of independent news outlets in Zimbabwe, where the government exercises near-total control over the media. “Such a brazen assault on media freedom shows the bankruptcy of the Mugabe regime,” said Tawanda Mutasah, director of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, part of the Soros foundations network. One of the board members facing charges, Isabella Matambanadzo, is OSISA’s coordinator for Zimbabwe.

This full colour, densely illustrated publication is a celebration of popular urban music in Zimbabwe, traditional and new, by Joyce Jenye Makwenda. Tracing the evolution of township music from the 1930s, the author provides an overview of this always avant-garde urban musical phenomenon, which today finds its place in the mainstream culture. She considers the traditional, contemporary and western influences which have moulded the township music of today, typified by such variants as kwela, tsabatsaba, marabi and afro-jazz.

Amnesty International has recently issued a public declaration inviting African heads of states to do something regarding the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.

All things considered, I do think that it is high time African political leaders pulled their fingers out to help the victimized populations in that country. I find it objectionable and criminal that citizens should be evicted from their lands for mere political interests. The victims are left to starve with no potable water, suitable shelters and medical care. Even churches, and other humanitarian organizations are prevented from launching their humanitarian actions for those suffering people.

The African heads of state and the African Union are called upon to bring Mr Robert Mugabe to reason. Human rights defenders would really appreciate it if the situation in Zimbabwe was one of the main preoccupations of the African presidents and the AU. 

Zimbabwe might be at risk of being thrown out of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whose officials are in the country assessing its economic policies, a state-run weekly newspaper warned yesterday. Harare won itself a six-month reprieve in September 2005 by making an unexpected payment of US$120 million (R730 million) to the IMF to relieve some of its outstanding debt. But the Sunday Mail quoted "impeccable sources" as saying the IMF had now shifted its focus away from Zimbabwe's debt arrears of $136.7 million and on to its domestic financial policies.

Zimbabwe's security minister was quoted Friday in a government-controlled newspaper as saying that "the net will soon close" on those remaining journalists whose criticism of the government threatens the nation's security. The warning from the official, Didymus Mutasa, followed the arrest this month of employees and directors of Voice of the People, a news organization based in the capital, Harare, that had broadcast uncensored reports into Zimbabwe via a shortwave transmitter in Madagascar operated by the Dutch government.

Five directors of an independent radio station in Zimbabwe were charged on Tuesday with breaching the country's controversial broadcasting laws, a media watchdog told Agence France-Presse. "Members of the board of directors for the Voice of the People (VOP) radio station appeared in court today on charges of contravening the Broadcasting Services Act," said Nyasha Nyakunu, spokesperson for the Media Institute of Southern Africa.

In the wake of a worsening orphan crisis and accusations against a headmaster who allegedly raped six primary school pupils, the United Nations Children’s Fund has repeated its call for communities to speak out against all forms of child abuse. UNICEF said it was horrified at the continued sexual abuse of children, most of them primary school pupils, and by those in trusted positions. Anecdotal evidence from local NGOs and clinics around Harare show child sexual abuse is rampant.