Ei-iE

The President of the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe, who was illegally arrested and held incommunicado under appalling conditions, has now been released from prison.

PTUZ President Takavafira Zhou was held in solitary confinement from 18 to 22 September. He was held without charges for four days and nights in a dark humid cell which was infested with insects. He was denied access to water, a toilet and blankets. EI has written to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to protest the arrest and the inhuman and degrading conditions in which Mr. Zhou was held.

It is expected Mr. Zhou will be summoned to court in the coming week, but it is not clear what charges he will face. PTUZ lawyers are attempting to discover the allegations against him.

Meanwhile, the Executive Board of EI voted this week to admit the PTUZ to membership in Education International. The full text of EI’s letter to President Mugabe is below:

H. E. Robert G. Mugabe Office of the President Private Bag 7700 Causeway Harare Zimbabwe

Fax: + 26 3.4.708 211

Brussels, 22 September 2008

Mr President,

I write to you on behalf of Education International (EI), the Global Union Federation of education unions, to express EI's condemnation of the illegal arrest and detention of the President of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), Mr Takavafira Zhou.

EI has been informed that the PTUZ President was arrested on Thursday 18 September at 2 pm by men in plain clothes while he was queuing peacefully at the ZB Bank. He was verbally harassed and molested and then brought to the Masvingo Central Police station, where he was detained until his release on Monday 22 September in the morning. No charges were brought against him. He was accused verbally of “nibbling illegal strikes”, and police officers told him they would “fix him”. He was held incommunicado 4 days and 4 nights in a dark humid cell, infested with insects, with no water, no toilet and no blankets. EI considers Mr Zhou has been subjected to inhuman and degrading detention treatment.

The PTUZ President has been informed that he will be summoned to Court next week but he was not informed of the charges.

Mr Zhou’s detention, the last of a long list of acts of discrimination against PTUZ, is a blatant violation of basic human and trade union rights enshrined in international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by Zimbabwe.

Excellency, EI requests the Government of Zimbabwe to guarantee the right of workers’ organisations to exercise activities relating to the conditions of work and economic and social policy. EI also requests that trade unionists and human rights defenders not be harassed and discriminated against.

Sincerely yours,

Fred van Leeuwen General Secretary