The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the on-site mission concerning the above-mentioned Zimbabwean parliamentarians, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/176/13(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 175th session (October 2004),

Taking account of the letter from the Speaker of the Zimbabwean Parliament dated 25 November 2004, of a letter from the Chief Justice dated 17 March 2005 and of a letter from the Commissioner of Police, dated 29 March 2005; also taking account of communications from the sources dated 9 and 16 March 2005,

Recalling that, as detailed in the Committee's mission report, Mr. Roy Bennett has been the target of consistent harassment and abuse, and that six court rulings ordering the vacating of his farm have not been implemented to date; considering in this respect that the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Patrick Chinamasa, in the parliamentary debate of 18 May 2004, stated inter alia that Mr. Bennett "has never forgiven this Government for seeking to redistribute land. He forgets that his forefathers were thieves... That it is an inheritance of stolen wealth accumulated over a century and a half. I want to warn him that we have taken over Charleswood Farm and he must not set foot on that ground", that Mr. Bennett then charged towards Mr. Chinamasa and pushed him forcefully so that he fell to the floor, and that during the altercation, Mr. Bennett himself was kicked by a parliamentarian belonging to the Zimbabwe African National Unity - Patriotic Front party (ZANU-PF), Mr. Mutasa, but that no one was hurt in the scuffle,

Considering the following developments regarding the incident in Parliament of 18 May 2004:

• On 20 May 2004, acting on a motion of the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Mr. Paul Mangwana, a Committee of Privileges was set up to investigate the conduct of Mr. Bennett and allegations of contempt of Parliament made against him. The Committee comprised three ZANU-PF members and two members of the Movement for Democratic Change party (MDC), and was chaired by Mr. Mangwana himself. The Committee rejected the request of Mr. Bennett’s counsel that Mr. Mangwana decline to act in the case because he had moved the motion for the Committee. It also rejected requests that the conduct of Minister Chinamasa and Mr. Mutasa be examined as well;

• The Committee unanimously concluded that Mr. Bennett was guilty of contempt of Parliament. With respect to the sentence, the two MDC members felt that a custodial sentence was not warranted. However, the majority recommended that Mr. Bennett be sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment with hard labour, of which three months were to be suspended. On 27 October 2004, the Committee presented its findings and recommendations to Parliament. The following day, Mr. Bennett was allowed to address Parliament. On that occasion he apologised again to the Speaker and Mr. Chinamasa for his conduct, after which he was asked to leave the House while the matter was debated and voted on. The vote was strictly along party lines, with 53 ZANU-PF members voting to adopt the recommendations and 42 MDC members rejecting them;

• Mr. Bennett was shortly thereafter taken into custody and started serving an effective one-year prison term. He was first held in Harare Central Prison in degrading and humiliating conditions, and was later transferred to Mutoko Prison, 160 kilometres north-east of Harare, where he is currently being held, reportedly also in inhuman conditions, with extremely restricted visiting rights;

• While it was first reported that the Speaker of Parliament had barred consideration by a court of law of Parliament's guilty verdict and sentence, the Speaker himself, in his letter of 25 November 2004, stated that Mr. Bennett “has the right to seek redress through the judiciary and has, in fact, instituted legal proceedings which are pending before the Supreme and High Courts”. On 1 November 2004, Mr. Bennett had indeed filed an application seeking his release pending the determination of an appeal he had lodged with the Supreme Court and constitutional challenges to be instituted by him. On 18 February 2005, High Court Judge Hungwe found that the Court was not competent in this case as the Speaker had issued the certificate of privilege provided for under section 6 (1) of the Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act and that, by virtue of that section, any proceedings had to be immediately stayed upon production of that certificate and be deemed to be finally determined;

• On 17 March 2005, the Electoral Court set aside a decision by the Constituency Registrar rejecting Mr. Bennett's nomination papers as a member of parliament for the March 2005 elections; an urgent application was filed against this decision and it is not clear whether Mr. Bennett was able to stand in the elections; on 10 March 2005, an application challenging Mr. Bennett's continuing incarceration following the dissolution of Parliament was dismissed,

Noting further that the constitutional challenge of section 16 of the Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act and setting aside of the parliamentary proceedings into his misconduct are pending and, according to the Chief Justice, were set down for 12 May 2005,

Considering that the following other new developments have been reported concerning the parliamentarians in question:

• On 13 December 2004, Mr. Paul Madzore was arrested and taken to the Police Law and Order Section at Harare Central police station. He was released on bail; according to the police, charges of malicious injury to property and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm were brought against him on account of his having thrown a stone against a car park which is a ZANU-PF youth cooperative;

• On 20 January 2005, a court hearing took place in the case concerning the attack on Mr. Bhebhe committed on 26 May 2001, when he was assaulted and left for dead; however, the case did not proceed as the public prosecutor announced that the case file could not be found in Bulawayo;

• On 23 January 2005, Mrs. Thokozani Khupe, MDC Deputy Chief Whip, was arrested together with others during a private meeting in her restaurant, which was closed for the occasion, and was reportedly accused of holding an illegal meeting. Three police details reportedly arrived at the private meeting and demanded to attend it. Mrs. Khupe allowed them to do so, and the meeting proceeded. However, after about 30 minutes, riot police in full riot gear reportedly arrived and told everyone that they were under arrest. Mrs. Khupe was released the next day; according to the police, she was charged with contravening the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for having failed to notify the regulating authority and was remanded out of custody to 15 May 2005 on bail;

• On 25 January 2005, Mr. Nelson Chamisa was arrested on allegations of inciting violence; according to the police, he said at a meeting of MDC youth "If a mentally retarded person pinches you, you should also pinch him/her so that he/she knows how painful it is"; he was charged with "incitement to violence"; he has been released and the matter is to proceed by way of summons,

Bearing in mind that legislative elections took place in Zimbabwe on 31 March 2005,

1. Thanks the Speaker, the Chief Justice and the Commissioner of Police for the information they provided and their cooperation;

2. Expresses deep concern at the sentencing of Mr. Bennett to a prison term, and stresses in this regard that the sentence imposed by Parliament on Mr. Bennett is unprecedented in international parliamentary practice, is exceedingly severe and disproportionate and does not serve the purpose of contempt of parliament proceedings, which is to maintain the dignity and decorum of the parliament;

3. Notes that the Speaker of Parliament recognised Mr. Bennett's right to judicial review of the sentence which Parliament imposed on him; nevertheless fails to understand how this can be reconciled with his issuing of a certificate of privilege, which prevents any court from carrying out such judicial review; would appreciate clarification in this respect;

4. Recalls that Zimbabwe is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which enshrines the right to fair trial, and that international law overrides any contrary national law; affirms that consequently, if a parliament is entrusted with judicial functions as is the case in Zimbabwe, defendants must enjoy all fair trial guarantees, including the right to appeal to a court of law;

5. Notes that a constitutional application challenging the relevant section of the Privilege Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act is pending, and wishes to be kept informed of those proceedings;

6. Is dismayed that Mr. Bennett's application challenging his continuing incarceration following the dissolution of Parliament has been rejected, and would appreciate receiving a copy of the relevant judgment;

7. Recalls that, as detailed in the Committee's mission report, Mr. Bennett and his family have been the target of harassment, abuse and a failure by the authorities to implement court decisions setting aside the government's decision to acquire Mr Bennett's farm compulsorily and ordering certain respondents not to interfere with farming activities; is perplexed to note in this respect that the Minster of Justice openly declared in Parliament that these court decisions would not be respected;

8. Expresses deep concern at the rearrests of Mr. Madzore, Mrs. Khupe and Mr. Chamisa and the disappearance of the case file concerning the attack on Mr. Bhebhe; deeply regrets also that the complaints which Mr. Sikhala and Mrs. Masaiti lodged regarding the torture and ill-treatment they suffered have not as yet led to any effective action to prosecute the culprits, the identity of whom is said to be public knowledge; and declares with regret that all this can only strengthen its fears that opposition members of parliament have been the target of systematic harassment, a situation inimical to the free expression of the will of the people;

9. Reaffirms that Parliament has a duty and special interest to ensure that all its members are treated in a way consonant with national and international law and with the human rights standards to which Zimbabwe has subscribed, in order that they may carry out their mandate without hindrance; calls on the new Parliament to take these matters into serious consideration and to avail itself of all its powers to ensure respect for human rights; calls on it in particular to review the previous Parliament's decision with regard to Mr. Bennett and to order his release from detention, as this would be conducive to renewed dialogue between ZANU-PF and the MDC, the only way forward;

10. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the competent authorities, the parliamentarians concerned and the sources;

11. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 113^th IPU Assembly (October 2005).

Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 112th IPU Assembly and related meetings in PDF format (file size 495K approximately ). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

HOME PAGEHUMAN RIGHTSMAIN AREAS OF ACTIVITYIPU STRUCTURE AND DOCUMENTS