Zimbabwe: Police raid home of GALZ director Chesterfield Samba
Early this morning police raided the home of the director of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe, Chesterfield Samba. Chesterfield - a former member of the WRI Council - was not there, but they confiscated his passport, birth certificate and various other belongings.
Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights issued the following press release:
26 May 2010 Subsequent to the arrest of Ellen Chademana and Ignatius Muhambi, employees of the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) on charges of “possessing dangerous drugs and pornographic material” on the 21st May 2010, the police have gone further to search the house of Chesterfield Samba, the Director of GALZ. The raid took place this morning (26 May 2010) at 0600hrs. Five police officers from the Zimbabwe Republic Police searched the house and confiscated Mr. Samba’s birth certificate, passport photo, magazines and business cards. Mr. Samba was not present during the ordeal, but the family members there report that the police asked for his whereabouts and when he will return.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) condemns this conduct by the police in the strongest terms. The conduct of the police is unwarranted and is testament of the levels of intolerance within the police force and our government. Further the Forum questions the independence of the police in executing what clearly are political instructions against the gay and lesbian community in Zimbabwe.
The Forum reiterates its calls to all civil society organisations to stand in support of GALZ as fellow comrades in the struggle for human rights, being mindful of the fact that such repression can easily happen to any organisation fighting impunity in this country.
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