Zimbabwe: Citizens groups endorse Bishops' Pastoral Letter

Citizens across Zimbabwe have expressed their solidarity with the country's Catholic bishops, after they released an outspoken Pastoral Letter on Friday, 15 August, criticising widespread corruption, extreme poverty and human rights abuses under the current regime. While the government has described the Archbishop of Harare as 'evil-minded' and said the Church was stoking division, thousands of Zimbabweans have strongly welcomed the bishops' letter.

The Catholic Professionals Network of Zimbabwe; The Platform for Concerned Citizens; Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and the Catholic Lawyers Guild have issued statements - see texts below:

Catholic Professionals Network of Zimbabwe

1. The Catholic Professionals Network of Zimbabwe is a nonpartisan grouping of lay Catholic professionals who practise their vocations throughout the country.

2. We received with comfort and satisfaction the ZCBC pastoral letter of 14 August 2020. The letter follows the long, proud, pre and post-independence Catholic tradition of speaking out in support and defence of the large majority of Zimbabweans, many of whom are disadvantaged, marginalized and seemingly powerless.

3. The Bishops as our Shepherds, are duty bound to call out those in authority in situations of widespread poverty, endemic corruption, human rights violations, poor health delivery especially in times of a huge pandemic, and political instability and uncertainty.

4. When they voice their concerns, as they did on 14 August 2020, they do so collectively, not individually, and speak as Shepherds of the very many Catholics in the country, and on behalf of all those negatively affected by the problems and vices that too often and for too long afflict our beloved nation Zimbabwe. They too are entitled to express themselves freely, without fear or favour. Their voice is rooted in the Christian faith and draws from the Social Teachings of the Church and is based on the Holy Bible itself.

5. The contribution of the Catholic Church, and indeed many other churches, in Zimbabwe's development and to the cause to the black majority of people of this country admits of no doubt .This includes the numerous mission schools , hospitals, clinics, nurse training institutions, colleges and universities. Many interventions in humanitarian relief work carried out directly or through development agency support by or affiliated to the Church locally or internationally. Indeed in terms of education and health, many of the current leaders in all spheres of life including in the present government, are beneficiaries.

6. We also note with some dismay the statement issued by the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Honourable Mrs Monica Mutsvangwa on 15 August 2020. The statement appears to be an angry and rushed response to the temperate and clear call to government made via the Pastoral letter of 14 August 2020. We particularly and categorically condemn the very misplaced and unwarranted attack on the person of Archbishop Robert Ndlovu, whose ethnicity is needlessly brought to the fore and is singled out for a venomous attack as if the pastoral letter was his own initiative or creation. It simply is not. ZCBC speaks collectively, and a President there for the time being, unlike perhaps a political party President, does not wield disproportionate power and authority over his brother Bishops, at all. They speak and act collegially and more importantly, their voice is the voice of the people. It is the voice of God.

7. Finally, we call upon the government to cease or desist from any and all retributive actions against ordinary citizens, journalists, political activists, political parties, civil society and the Church. Instead, we call upon it, in addition to discharging its mandate for the common good, to embrace the Comprehensive National Settlement Framework Proposal to achieve National Convergence, Unity and Progress so that we, together, as Zimbabweans, mould the Zimbabwe We Want.

God bless our country

Catholic Professionals Network of Zimbabwe.

The Platform for Concerned Citizens (PCC)

Statement in Support of the AU, South Africa and the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC)

16 August 2020

The Platform for Concerned Citizens (PCC) notes, with deep concern, recent statements by some members of the Zimbabwe government, attacking important allies of the people of Zimbabwe.

On 5 August 2020, in response to the ANC Secretary-General, Ace Magashule's concern over recent developments in Zimbabwe, ZANU-PF spokesperson, Patrick Chinamasa, made an insulting rebuke of the ANC.

On 7 August 2020, the chair of the African Union Commission issued a statement expressing concern over violations of human rights, and offered to assist Zimbabwe to "deepen democracy".

In response, Minister Sibusiso Moyo issued his own statement on 12 August 2020, un- diplomatically rebuking the AU Commission chair.

On 15 August 2020, in response to the Pastoral Letter issued by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC), Permanent Secretary for Information, Nick Managwana, and Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa, directed insulting and threatening statements to the ZCBC and its Chair, Archbishop Robert Ndlovu.

The PCC believes that the above-stated behaviour of members of ZANU-PF and the government is ample evidence that they are unable to conduct themselves as responsible members of the regional and international communities. Attacking the African Union, the ANC of South Africa and the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC), demonstrates that the government is impervious to, and intolerant of advice, even from erstwhile friends and comrades of ZANU-PF.

It is indisputable that Zimbabwe is facing a myriad of deep crises. It is these debilitating crises, endured by the people for two decades now, that informed the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHoCD) to make the Sabbath Call in October 2019, which call in turn, led to the establishment of the National Convergence Platform.

Citizens of Zimbabwe, who have peacefully borne the brunt of these crises, took the initiative to express their disquiet at the deepening corruption, and apparent lack of solution to their existential challenges, during the month of July 2020. The government's response to this initiative was brutal.

It was this brutal response to citizens' peaceful cry for relief, which triggered the statements of the ANC of South Africa, the Chair of the AU Commission and the ZCBC.

For the two decades of deepening crises, the response of ZANU-PF and its governments has been denial and displacement. They deny that the country is in crisis, and, paradoxically, attribute all our problems to national, regional and international inimical dark forces.

All of this is happening ahead of the forthcoming SADC Summit, and the annual changes in the leadership of SADC and the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation. The Zimbabwe government evidently feels threatened by the prospect that both SADC and the AU may take more pro-active stances to the crisis that both bodies perceive.

In this context, we deprecate the attacks by functionaries of the government of Zimbabwe, on the AU, and the insinuation that this august body was influenced to issue its statement on Zimbabwe, by external forces. At the least, this is deeply insulting to a body that has been engaged with, and supportive of Zimbabwe for decades, has been instrumental in assisting Zimbabweans to throw off the yoke of colonial repression, and has always been a good friend and ally to the people of Zimbabwe. The AU can lend crucial support in resolving our deep crises, and will be critical in assisting Zimbabwe return to the international fold.

We deprecate the attacks on members of the ANC of South Africa, and the South African government. It again is insulting to think that the South African government and the ANC are unable to determine for themselves that Zimbabwe is in crisis. The statements of ZANU-PF and the government of Zimbabwe about South Africa, are even more distressing, given that, of all SADC member states, only South Africa sought to engage us, in order to find a way out of our largely self-inflicted pain, and avert a likely deep regional contagion.

Finally, we take the strongest possible exception to the attack on the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC) and its Pastoral Letter. The statement attacking the Bishops, and in particular the defamatory attacks on the person of its chair, Archbishop Robert C. Ndlovu, can only be described as hate speech. This is a scurrilous attack on the Catholic Church, one of the strongest domestic supporters of the people of Zimbabwe, which has maintained this support for decades, both before and after Independence. The ZCBC's commitment to the people of Zimbabwe cannot be doubted or challenged by anyone, except self-serving hypocrites.

Thus, we call on all churches, national and regional, to express their support for the ZCBC, to express their distaste of the intolerance shown by ZANU-PF and the government of Zimbabwe, to citizens exercising their constitutional rights.

We also call on civil society in its generality, national and regional, and the citizens of Zimbabwe, to express support for, and solidarity with the ZCBC.

Signed -

Ibbo Mandaza, Tony Reeler, Briggs Bomba, Godfrey Kanyenze, Frances Lovemore, Simba Makoni, Jestina Mukoko, Tsitsi Dangarembwa

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) stands in solidarity with the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference (ZCBC) and condemns the vilification of Catholic Bishops by government which borders on outright fanning of hate speech.

The vilification of the Catholic Bishops came after the clergymen rebuked government's ominous transgressions in a Pastoral Letter on the "Current Situation in Zimbabwe" issued on 14 August 2020 in which they raised concerns over human rights violations.

In their Pastoral Letter, the Catholic Bishops highlighted and criticised state-sponsored human rights excesses.

In response to the ZCBC's Pastoral Letter, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Minister Monica Mutsvangwa in a curse-laden tirade against the Catholic Bishops singled out Archbishop Robert Christopher Ndlovu and also raised some unwarranted tribal sentiments.

There can be no justification of this vilification of the clergymen and this anti-Catholic scorn because for the Bishops, speaking out against transgressions is their moral obligation.

As ZLHR, we are greatly concerned that the intolerance of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government on dissent and criticism is becoming more despicable every passing day and we should realise that it is the manifestation of President Mnangagwa's and his followers' fear on the people's legitimate dissatisfaction from a leader who claimed and promised to be a "listening" President which is equally growing.

We have noted that in 2020 while the vilifiers and the vilified are different, the script is the same.

The incendiary statements by government are aimed at inflicting shame on clergymen and to vilify their struggles that spring from righteous causes.

Section 60 of the Constitution provides for freedom of conscience and states that; "Every person has the right to freedom of conscience, which includes- (a) freedom of thought, opinion, religion or belief; and (b) freedom to practise and propagate and give expression to their thought, opinion, religion or belief, whether in public or in private and whether alone or together with others."

In addition section 62 of the Constitution provides that; "Every person has the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom to seek, receive and communicate ideas and other information."

Besides domestic laws, government is bound by some regional and international instruments including Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides that; "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion" and which does not permit any limitations whatsoever on the freedom of thought and conscience.

As clergymen, the Catholic Bishops must not abdicate their sacred mandate as shepherds to whom the Lord has entrusted his flock and no amount of vilification, intimidation or threats should make them give up their critical role, especially that of giving voice to the voiceless.

Being Bishops or clergymen does not divest them of their civil and political rights to free speech, because they are still citizens of Zimbabwe and have the inalienable right to speak about the government's shortcomings.

ZLHR urges the Catholic Bishops to have faith and take heart as they have long championed people's rights and freedoms for several decades.

To the Catholic Bishops, always bear in mind the biblical verse in 1 Peter 5:8, which reads; "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

To government, ZLHR calls for the withdrawal of its intemperate and inflammatory statement and urges it to embrace constructive criticism and the principles of good governance.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

God bless our country

Catholic Lawyers Guild

Watch the the Catholic Lawyers Guild statement here: www.facebook.com/JesuitCommunicationsZimbabwe/videos/1337980716406751

LINKS

Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference: www.zcbc.co.zw/

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights: www.zlhr.org.zw

ICN 15 August 2020 - Zimbabwe: Bishops issue Pastoral Letter on current crisis: www.indcatholicnews.com/news/40248

Sunday Mail (Zimbabwe report: Government blasts genocidal evil minded bishops www.sundaymail.co.zw/govt-blasts-genocidal-evil-minded-bishops