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July 11, 2024 Report Launch

Zimbabwe: The Case of Obert Masaraure

Obstruction of Justice & Incitement to Violence

From left to right: ARTUZ General Secretary Robson Chere; Obert & Robson's lawyer Doug Coltart; Trial observer; ARTUZ President Obert Masaraure.

From left to right: ARTUZ General Secretary Robson Chere; Obert & Robson's lawyer Doug Coltart; Trial observer; ARTUZ President Obert Masaraure.

Doug Coltart, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

Executive Summary

Obert Masaraure is the National President of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), a registered Trade Union which seeks to advance the rights of teachers in rural schools. The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) represents about 35,000 workers across 10 provinces in the education sector.[1] Mr. Masaraure has been subjected to six criminal charges against him as part of a pattern of harassment against union leaders and other human rights defenders and members of civil society.

In May 2024, Mr. Masaraure was convicted of obstruction of justice for the alleged publication of a tweet calling for solidarity with a detained colleague. The charges and conviction in response to his legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression additionally violated his right to be free from arbitrary arrest and detention. Mr. Masaraure was arbitrarily detained for 25 days in the midst of 10 pretrial hearings lasting 16 months followed by seven hearings over four months for the trial itself. The prosecution’s repeated delays also violated his right to be tried without unreasonable delay. Further, the conviction and sentence did not properly analyze the legal charges against him, instead merely substituting a factual assertion in the place of the required legal analysis, violating his right to be tried by a competent tribunal. The sentence itself further aggravates the harassment against him as the vague and overbroad language of the suspended sentence limits his rights to freedom of expression and association by leading him to self-censor to avoid a subsequent prosecution and custodial sentence. Given the political and legal context, the case against Mr. Masaraure for the alleged publication of a tweet has hallmarks of abuse of process in the criminalization of his legitimate right to freedom of expression and his trade union activities.

[1] Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), Frontline Defenders (last visited on Jun. 14, 2024), https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/organization/amalgamated-rural-teachers-union-zimbabwe-artuz. 

Read the full report here

Disclaimer: This report was prepared by staff of the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights. The views expressed herein represent the opinions of the authors. They have not been reviewed or approved by the House of Delegates or the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association and, accordingly, should not be construed as representing the position of the Association or any of its entities. Further, nothing in this report should be considered as legal advice in a specific case. (ABA Policy and Procedures Handbook, Chapter 5, Part C)