International unions to protest arrest and torture of ZCTU leaders
By Lance Guma
20 September 2006

Demonstrations will be organised worldwide at various Zimbabwean embassies on Friday to express displeasure at the police brutality following last week’s labour protests. The ongoing Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) annual congress will on Thursday push for a resolution to launch an international day of protest over the arrest and torture of ZCTU leaders in Zimbabwe. COSATU Spokesperson Patrick Craven says the congress will be deliberating on international issues and Zimbabwe is certain to be high on the agenda. Delegates are set to pass a resolution of solidarity with the ZCTU following the arrest and torture of its leaders.

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has also issued a statement saying, ‘Intensifying solidarity and action, ‘ was the only answer to the repression of unionists in Zimbabwe. ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder told the Cosatu congress that the restoration of union rights in Zimbabwe should be the ‘one and only goal.’ Ryder suggested the setting up of an African trade union federation saying, ‘We need an African movement whose voice is loud, clear and which has power in the new international (union movement). The challenge in Africa is to overcome weakness and fragmentation and develop influence.’

Craven told Newsreel that the ZCTU’s first vice president Lucia Matibenga gave journalists at the congress a ‘graphic and horrific account of the brutality and callousness of police officials’ following their attempts to march in Harare. She will also be addressing the Cosatu congress on Thursday and Craven anticipates delegates will be angered by what they will hear.

The British government meanwhile summoned the Zimbabwean ambassador in London Gabriel Machinga, seeking an explanation for the brutal response of the police to the protests. Ian McCartney, the Foreign Office Minister responsible for international human rights, quizzed Machinga over the arrests and torture and asked the ambassador to convey their concerns to the Zimbabwean government. ‘I condemn the infringement of the right to freedom of expression and association - it is vital that trade unions in Zimbabwe have the liberty to operate,’ he said adding, ‘The British Ambassador and British Embassy staff have seen first hand the appalling injuries suffered by several of the demonstrators.’