Zimbabwean security officers used brutal methods to disperse a peaceful march by approximately 100 members of the Law Society, including it’s president, Index on Censorship award winner Beatrice Mtetwa, outside the High Court in the capital Harare last Tuesday (May 8). The lawyers were protesting the refusal of the state to comply with two High Court orders requiring the release of the lawyers Andrew Makoni and Alec Muchadehama, who had been arrested the week before.

Mtetwa was taken away by the police, along with three of her colleagues who were also participating in the march. After being driven to the outskirts of Harare, the lawyers were forced to lie face-down on the ground before being beaten with rubber clubs. Mtetwa, a prominent Zimbabwean human rights lawyer who won the Index on Censorship Law Award in 2006, was treated in hospital following the beating.

Public demonstrations have been banned in Zimbabwe since February of this year. However, Mtetwa defended the legality of the protest, explaining the Law Society had served the police with notice of the demonstration a day in advance, as required by Zimbabwean law. Beatrice Mtetwa also stated that there is no law that requires police to approve a protest.

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Agnes Callamard, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19, commented: “Beatrice Mtetwa is a close friend and advisor to ARTICLE 19 she continued and we fully support the Committee to Protect Journalists’ call for a full and transparent investigation into this blatant infringement of Beatrice’s human rights and those of her colleagues.”

Human rights defenders and journalists are often harassed by the Zimbabwean security forces acting on behalf of the government. Freedom of expression and freedom of assembly have been greatly curtailed during the recent political, economic and social deterioration within the country.