Thread by @Wamagaisa

No Rule of Law in Zimbabwe

1. Spare a thought for the hundreds currently detained by the Zimbabwean regime. Senior lawyers believe the magistracy appears to be working under political direction, completely undermining the rule of law & human rights

2. It’s a reminder of the extreme difficulty of seeking justice & recourse using the apparatus controlled by an authoritarian regime. There’s a discernible pattern of uniformity in the manner in which magistrates across the country are mishandling cases of the detained.

3. The pattern includes: • blanket denial to hear bail applications of the detained; • where they are heard, blanket & thoughtless refusal of bail; • fast-tracking trials & denial of preparation & false semblance of judicial process • failure to observe rights of the detained

4. Lawyers are caught in a dilemma: they are concerned that their participation in this sham will give a veneer of legitimacy to the process BUT at the same time they cannot abandon their clients. The world needs to know that these are political detainees & the process is a sham.

5. “As lawyers we are asking ourselves whether actually we are aiding and abetting the system by giving it respectability,” laments internationally respected human rights lawyer and defender, Beatrice Mtetwa.

6. “... our presence makes it seem like there’s actually rule of law in Zimbabwe, when everything that is happening shows there’s an orchestrated, deliberate attempt to deny anyone associated with the shutdown their basic rights,” adds Mtetwa

7. It’s important for judicial bodies and peers across the continent and around the world, including law societies to express their concern over the legal sham taking place in Zimbabwe. The judicial process is under siege from the militarised system. It’s a total sham so far.

8. It shows once again that the Zimbabwean regime is interested in form over substance & a content-free rule of law, which in fact is rule BY law. There’s no regard whatsoever for a substantive rule of law underpinned by respect for human rights & international law.

9. But the regime is also creating matters and radicalising the many youths whom it is persecuting under the guise of prosecution. It may detain these people and deny them their rights but it is simply hardening them and creating a more radical generation which will haunt it.