The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the outline of the case of Mr. Justin Mutendadzamera, Mr. Fletcher Dulini-Ncube, Mr. Moses Mzila Ndlovu, Mr. David Mpala, Mr. Abednico Bhebhe, Mr. Peter Nyoni and Mr. David Coltart, incumbent members of the Parliament of Zimbabwe, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/173/11(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 171st session (September 2002),

Having before it the case of Mr. Roy Bennet, Mr. Job Sikhala, Mr. Tichaona Munyanyi, Ms. Pauline Mpariwa, Ms. Trudy Stevenson, Ms. Evelyn Masaiti, Mr. Tendai Biti, Mr. Gabriel Chaibva, Mr. Paul Madzore, Mr. Giles Mutsekewa, Mr. Austin Mupandawana and Mr. Gibson Sibanda, incumbent members of the Parliament of Zimbabwe belonging to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which has been the subject of a study and report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians in accordance with the "Procedure for the examination and treatment, by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, of communications concerning violations of human rights of parliamentarians",

Taking into consideration the observations provided by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and a member of the opposition at the hearing held on the occasion of the 109th Assembly; taking account also of the memorandum dated 24 September 2003 prepared by the Police General Headquarters and conveyed by the Minister on the occasion,

Recalling that, according to the sources, the MPs concerned, all members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which holds 57 seats out of the 120 directly elected seats of the Parliament of Zimbabwe, were the victims of attacks without the authorities taking action to identify and prosecute the attackers, arbitrary arrests, ill-treatment and torture, or are being prosecuted, allegedly on fabricated charges,

Considering that, in the police reports of 28 February, 10 March, 20 June and 24 September 2003, apart from providing information on the accusations brought against some of the MPs concerned and the different judicial proceedings under way against some of them, the police authorities state more generally that members of the MDC "have tried to advance perspectives that they are being victims by the government and Zanu PF supporters" while in fact they committed offences and engaged in political violence; considering that, according to the opposition MP, the many instances in which courts dropped proceedings brought by police reveal a pattern of harassment,

Considering that, according to the Minister, confrontation between the Government and the MDC arose from a situation where the opposition decided to overthrow the Government; in the past three months, however, discussions have started between the opposition and the government in quest of common ground, and tensions have eased as a result; the MDC had stopped its boycott of national events and recently participated for the first time in a national hero celebration; to his knowledge, no arrests and prosecution of MDC MPs have been registered in the past three months,

Recalling that in September 2002 it requested the Committee to carry out an on-site mission to Zimbabwe; noting that the authorities have agreed to the mission but that it has proved impossible so far to find a date convenient for all parties concerned, the Zimbabwe authorities having twice postponed the mission shortly before it was due to leave; considering that the Minister reiterated that the mission was welcome as his country had nothing to hide,

1. Thanks the Zimbabwean delegation and in particular the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for the information he provided and his cooperation;

2. Remains concerned at the many allegations of attacks, harassment, arbitrary arrest and prosecution referred to it regarding more than a third of the opposition MPs;

3. Regrets that the proposed on-site mission to Zimbabwe has not yet taken place and therefore welcomes the fresh assurance given by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs that the mission is welcome and that there are no obstacles to its taking place shortly;

4. Earnestly hopes that it will take place as early as possible, and requests the Secretary General to pursue his efforts to organise it at a date convenient to all parties on the basis of the previously agreed programme;

5. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session to be held on the occasion of the 110th Assembly, in the light of such information as the on-site mission may have gathered.

Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 109th IPU Assembly and related meetings in PDF format (file size 615K approximately). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

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