opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who was arrested at an 11 March protest and tortured while in police custody. The footage of Tsvangirai leaving a Harare courthouse with a suspected fractured skull, and then lying in a hospital bed, provoked a storm of international criticism of President Robert Mugabe’s regime. • ALERT Date: March 28, 2007 Persons: Luke Tamborinyoka Violation: Detained Luke Tamborinyoka, press officer of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was arrested along with about 30 MDC members when police raided the party’s headquarters on March 28, 2007. He was reportedly badly beaten and tortured while in custody and has been denied access to medical treatment and legal representation since his arrest. Tamborinyoka was the former news editor of newspaper The Daily News until it was banned in 2003 and he is a former Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists. Tamborinyoka was taken to hospital on March 30, 2007, on the orders of a Harare judge after fainting in court. • ALERT Date: March 22, 2007 Persons: Jan Raath, Peta Thornycroft Violation: Censored In a government press release issued on March 22, 2007, the government threatened foreign correspondents with unspecified government reprisal in the capital Harare over alleged biased reporting. Prominent correspondents Jan Raath of The Times of London and Peta Thornycroft of Britain’s Daily Telegraph and US-based broadcaster Voice of America were singled out among foreign media reporters accused of reporting “fabricated stories,” according to a statement by the Information and Publicity Ministry. “Should this not stop, government may be forced to act against them …” it said. The threats were linked to news reports alleging that Angolan paramilitary troops would be deployed to bolster the security forces of President Robert Mugabe in response to unrest in the aftermath of a March 11 opposition rally. “[The] Government is also aware of false stories on our arms security, stories which are being concocted by a group of western foreign correspondents mostly reporting for British papers,” according to the statement. In an article published in The Times, “Angola sends ‘Ninja’ paramilitaries to bolster Mugabe’s security forces,” Raath had quoted Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi as confirming the signature of a security cooperation agreement with Angola, according to CPJ research. But the government denied any pending deployment, according to international news reports. • ALERT Date: March 14, 2007 Persons: Journalists Tsvangirai Mukwazhi and Tendai Musiyu; Others: Morgan Tsvangirai, Lovemore Madhuku,Tendai Biti, Authur Mutambara, Ob Sikhala, and Grace Kwinje, William Bango and Nelson Chamisa Violation: Detained, other (freedom of ‘political expression and association’) On March 14 2007, journalists Tsvangirai Mukwazhi and Tendai Musiyu were released from police custody along with opposition Movement for Democratic (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai and other human rights activists. Their release comes after two nights in custody and severe assault at the hands of the Zimbabwean police. The journalists and leaders of opposition political parties and civic society organisations were So This Is Democracy? 2007 -134- Media Institute of Southern Africa