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ITF condemns Mugabe raid on Zimbabwean trade union congress
22 March 2007
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| Demonstrators outside the Zimbabwean embassy in London, UK, protest against a similar clampdown on ZCTU last September | |
The ITF has joined the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in condemning a raid on the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) last week.
According to ITUC reports, Central Intelligence Organisation officials and police ransacked ZCTU premises, assaulted three staff members and detained the organisation’s financial administrator, Galileo Chirebvu. Although Chirebvu was later released, materials, reportedly containing names of organisers and supporters of a two-day stay-away planned for 3 and 4 April, were removed by police.
The ZCTU had been in discussion with the Labour Ministry in an attempt to find a solution to Zimbabwe’s spiralling economic crisis; a preliminary tripartite meeting took place on 12 March to arrange a full meeting for the following day. However, the attacks have now shattered hopes for constructive negotiations.
In a letter dated 21 March to President Robert Mugabe - recently in the media spotlight over allegations of assault against opposition activists following the Save Zimbabwe Campaign on 11 March - ITF General Secretary David Cockroft condemned the raid. He also denounced the detention and brutal treatment of Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, and other human rights activists, demanded that those detained on 11 and 13 March be released without charge and all confiscated ZCTU material returned immediately. Interference in trade union affairs had to stop, he said.
Joe Katende, ITF Regional Secretary for Africa commented: “Although President Mugabe’s government has adopted extremely repressive measures to deal with anybody holding alternative views, it is unlikely his government will achieve any sustainable success in suppressing genuine trade union programmes.
“Zimbabwe has proved wrong all those who thought that the democratic gains Africa had seen in the past decade were deep enough to sustain a truly free democratic society in Africa. International trade union pressure should therefore be intensified until the safety of free labour as a key component of a democratic society can be ensured.”
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