Zimbabwe under siege

The police, together with youth militias, the Central Intelligence Organization, the "war veterans" and the military, have essentially deprived persons perceived as anti-government of the protection of the law. [...] When the Law Society succeeded in its challenge to the AIPPA provision requiring Internet service providers (ISP's) to enable the government to monitor electronic mail, the executive simply reiterated the need to sign forms giving the authorities the access they sought. [...] ZCTU and its affiliates have worked with the Movement for Democratic Change (led by Morgan Tsvangirai, the former President of ZCTU), the National Constitutional Assembly, various human rights and civic organisations, and other oppositional forces to fight for the restoration of democracy and the rule of law in Zimbabwe. [...] In the agricultural sector, the government has failed to honour the conditions of the collective agreement negotiated through the National Employment Council for the Agricultural Industry by GAPWUZ and the Commercial Farmers Union, claiming that the wages negotiated are too high. [...] The inability to communicate with the outside world and to provide accurate information about the condition of workers to the international community has contributed to the Zimbabwe crisis not getting the profile and attention it deserves in such international forums as the ILO or among labour organizations in both SADC and the rest of the AU.