High Court judge in Zimbabwe orders police to release Jestina Mukoko and 31 other activists

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RTE News reports

A High Court judge in Zimbabwe has ordered police to immediately release 32 activists, including former Zimbabwean newscaster Jestina Mukoko.

A prominent human rights activist, Ms Mukoko appeared in court in Harare on Christmas Eve charged with plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe's government.

She had been missing for three weeks after she was abducted from her home by armed men

Zimbabwe: Fears grow for the safety of abducted Human Rights activists as repression grows

There are fears for the safety of
Jestina Mukoko (left), director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) who was abducted from her home in Harare on December 3 when fifteen armed men in plain clothes broke into her family home. Her son witnessed the abduction.

Two of Mukoko’s colleagues were seized from their offices on December 8. Their whereabouts are also unknown. In the last six weeks, 22 opposition or civil rights activists have been seized and not heard from since.


The ZPP, a human rights organization has been documenting human rights violations by the Mugabe regime and its henchmen.
Human rights have drastically deteriorated in Zimbabwe, Caritas Internationalis reports.

People are being indirectly denied food and clean water, health care, and education. The police and army have shot illegal diamond miners, while more than seventy people have been arrested at trade union protests.
Reportedly, civil society activists have been detained after peaceful protests and human rights advocates have been systematically targeted and detained...

Please take this online action demanding the release of Jestina Mukoko.
A recording of an interview with Jestina Mukoko when she visited Ireland is available via Trocaire. The interview was conducted by George Hook on Newstalk

Burma (Myanmar) jails cyclone Nargis journalist - 60 opposition activists jailed in last two weeks

The following report appears in Al Jazeera:
"A Myanmarese (Burmese) journalist has reportedly been sentenced to two years in prison for critical coverage of the military government's response to a devastating cyclone, according to colleagues. Dozens of critics of the country's ruling generals have been jailed in recent weeks, according to human rights organisations and legal sources.
Colleagues of Ein Khaing Oo told the Associated Press news agency on Saturday that she was sentenced the previous day after being convicted of "disturbing tranquility" in a closed-door trial.
Ein Khaing Oo, a reporter for the weekly Myanmar-language magazine Eco Vision, was arrested on June 10 while covering a demonstration by victims of the cyclone...."
".....Another 17 pro-democracy activists were jailed for between two and 16 years at hearings in yangon and Mandalay on Friday, according to legal sources"...
"...Up to 60 opposition activists are believed to have been jailed in the last two weeks.."

With media attention focused mainly the world economic crisis the Burmese junta has taken advantage of the situation and has begun a crack down on pro democracy activists. The Butchers of Rangoon have learned nothing.
Russia and China have vetoed efforts at the UN Security Council to bring Burma to heel. It is now time for both countries to alter course and to support US and EU efforts to cripple the Burmese regime.

The tyrants of Rangoon are impervious to realism and feel that their position is impregnable. This feeling is buttressed by the determination of the Chinese, Russians and Indians to continue trading with the junta. The world must not stand idly by.