Government to pick them up on set dates
HARARE - The Zimbabwe government has placed under strict surveillance 15 independent journalists it accuses of working with "hostile anti-Zimbabwean Western governments", and has indicated it will pick up named journalists for unspecified action.
Press freedom organisations around the world have immediately condemned the Mugabe government, demanding that the Harare administration guarantees the safety of the listed journalists.
Top of the list, compiled by the Central Intelligence Organisation, is Abel Mutsakani, editor of the South African-based news agency, Zimonline, who was shot outside his Johannesburg home on July 23.
Also named is Gift Phiri, Chief Reporter of The Zimbabwean newspaper, who was abducted by police and severely tortured in April this year. Wilf Mbanga, the editor and publisher of The Zimbabwea, and reporter Itai Dzamara are also mentioned in the document.
Others listed are Dumisani Muleya, Clemence Manyukwe, Bill Saidi, Njabulo Ncube, Foster Dongozi, Itai Mushekwe, Vincent Kahiya, Cephas Chimhete, Valentine Maponga, Kumbirai Mafunda and Ray Matikinye.
"The government of President Robert Mugabe must make it clear to the
international community that it is not targeting journalists," said General Secretary of the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Aidan White. "It can do that by guaranteeing the safety of all the journalists named and all other journalists in Zimbabwe."
The leaked document appears to date from June this year and is headed 2008 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. A list of 15 names then follows under the heading Targeted Journalists, and a note that reads: "The following media personnel and others as discussed in the previous meeting are to be placed under strict surveillance and taken in on the various dates set. They're working hand in hand with hostile anti-Zimbabwean western [sic] governments. Measures to be taken against the above, including those in exile, are listed on page 4 summary."
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said it was "outraged" at the hit-list, which singles out investigative journalists who are exposing Mugabe's tyranny.
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists and the Zimbabwe Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa roundly condemned attempts to silence free press journalists.
IFJ's White said: "In the run up to the presidential and parliamentary elections expected in 2008, independent journalism will be key to ensuring that the voting process is fair and democratic. We will be watching Zimbabwe closely to ensure that our journalist colleagues are able to do their jobs freely and safely." – Gift Phiri