Zimbabwe Lawyers for human rights

For over two months the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) has been hosting lunchtime meetings about Zimbabwe on Wednesdays in the ecumenical centre. At the beginning of this month WSCF also set up a special Zimbabwe desk, which has been extremely busy given the raids on the Harare ecumenical centre and the arrest of SCM activists.
Today we had powerful and very moving testimony from three feisty members of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. It was a privilege to listen to them, to see the photos they had managed to take of beaten prisoners and to hear them encourage us to continue in the churches to show our solidarity by praying with and for the people of Zimbabwe.
We saw photos today of advocate Eric Matinenga, still unlawfully imprisoned despite two high court rulings saying he should be released.
We listened, shared information and discussed how best to try to bring pressure to bear on the diplomatic system. The letter from the WCC general secretary to UN general secretary Ban Ki-Moon about the desperate situation in Zimbabwe was shared with all those present.
As is often the case we also tried to keep our spirits up - yes it is worth doing this because we want people in Zimbabwe to know that they are not alone.
At the end we prayed.