MDC activists stage protest inside Zim embassy in London
By Tichaona Sibanda
21 March 2007

MDC activists in the UK Wednesday staged an hour long sit-in protest inside the Zimbabwe embassy demanding an end to government’s crimes against humanity.

The activists intended handing over a petition calling on the regime to stop killing and brutalising innocent civilians. They also called on the government to lift the restrictions on freedom of movement of opposition politicians.

The seven men and three women walked into the embassy soon after it opened its doors to the public and demanded to see Gabriel Machinga, the country’s ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Eddison Mukundwi, an activist who spoke to Newsreel from inside the embassy, said they wanted to present a petition to Machinga which called on the regime to immediately end its repression against opposition figures. He said they also wanted Machinga to explain why the regime is beating up ‘our leaders, our colleagues, why the security agencies stole Gift Tandare’ body and buried it without his family’s consent.’

‘When we walked in we went straight to the enquiries desk and identified ourselves as MDC activists. We told the attendant we wanted to see the ambassador after which all the embassy staff on the ground floor bolted from their desks and hid themselves somewhere within the building,’ said Mukundwi.

The activists from the south Yorkshire branch of the MDC drove all-night long from Sheffield to London for their sit-in protest, which caught embassy staff and the police by surprise. After an uneasy stand-off with the police, the group was eventually arrested and charged with trespassing into a protected area. They were cautioned and released without further charges.

There has been almost complete silence from other African governments on the violations of human rights that have occurred in recent weeks, just as there was on the violations that took place before and after elections over the last six years. Alois Mbawara, a free Zim youth activist in London, said the 10 activists were forced into such an action because of the worrying silence from most African leaders.