Human Rights Lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa refuses to be intimidated by ZANU-PF

For more than 20 years, Beatrice Mtetwa has fought for freedom in Zimbabwe.

It's a battle that has pitched the human rights lawyer against the aging leader and his state-wide apparatus of terror and intimidation.

Like the politicians, journalists and activists she often defends, Ms. Mtetwa has been the target of intimidation, beatings and now imprisonment.

This week, she emerged from eight days in custody after she tried to prevent police from illegally searching the offices of the Movement for Democratic Change Party (MDC). The officers claimed she had shouted at them and detained her.

"[Beatrice Mtetwa] has felt the physical, mental and emotional consequences of being engaged in Zimbabwe's perverse legal system," said Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association in London.

"Her profound commitment to the rule of law in such difficult circumstances is incredibly inspiring."

The battle for justice in Zimbabwe has become increasingly dangerous, as Mr. Mugabe's Zimbabwean African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) struggles to hang on to power.

With Mr. Mugabe now 89, they know their days are numbered, so are working to shore up support.

Observers see Ms. Mtetwa's arrest as the first shot in the party's campaign of intimidation before general elections in July.

"Her arrest has nothing to do with any violation of the law," said Pedzisai Ruhanya, director of the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute in Harare.

"It is a clear message to defenders of democratic principles that if they can arrest this icon, you could be next."

Ironically, Ms. Mtetwa was charged with obstruction of justice for demanding to see a search warrant when police ransacked the MDC offices.

After her release, she said police were trying to make her an example.

"There will be more arrests to follow as we near elections," she said. "The police were out to get me. They wanted me to feel their might and power because I call myself a human rights lawyer and I felt it."

Mr. Mugabe and ZANU-PF have "absolutely no chance at winning a free and fair election," Mr. Ruhanya said. So they are "stepping up their violence and threats."

The last national elections in 2008 were marked by "horrendous violence" and vote-tampering by state agencies loyal to Mr. Mugabe.

As a result, the South African Development Community stepped in, forcing Mr. Mugabe to negotiate with Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader.

Eventually, a compromise was reached, which saw Mr. Mugabe remain president, while Mr. Tsvangirai became prime minster.

Predictably, it has been an uneasy and unsatisfactory partnership.

"The so-called unity government, whose partners are anything but united, consisting of the former ruling ZANU-PF and the two MDC factions, has failed to hold accountable those responsible for past human rights abuses, including during the 2008 electoral violence," said a Human Rights Watch report released in January.

"It has also failed to reform key state institutions responsible for the administration of justice, which remain highly politicized and extremely partisan towards ZANU-PF."

This month, Zimbabweans turned out to vote in a referendum on a new constitution. This features a bill of rights and limits on presidential terms.

But observers are wary of the impact it will have, noting the term limits will not apply retroactively. This means Mr. Mugabe, who has ruled since 1980, could stay in power for another 10 years.

"Some people assume it will help guarantee a freer and fairer election, but we won't know for sure until things play out this summer," said Blair Rutherford, director of the Institute for African Studies at Carleton University.

Early signals indicate it will be business as usual for ZANU-PF.

"There are accounts of [ZANU-PF] youth gangs being mobilized and the army being sent out to different rural areas under questionable pretexts, but ostensibly to intimidate people," Mr. Rutherford said.

"There are also newspaper reports that the chief of police has been telling police officials to make sure that no one votes for the MDC."

Ms. Mtetwa came by her sense of justice early. She was born in Swaziland, the eldest daughter of a polygamous father, who went on to sire more than 50 other children.

"Her passion for using the law to make a difference is her personal ethos," said Lorie Conway, an American independent filmmaker who directed a new documentary, Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law.

"I think it has very much been informed by where she came from and how she has always been fighting for her brothers' and sisters' well-being since she was a young child.

"She had a very stern father and she had to toe the line, and yet she stood up against him from very early on."

Ms. Mtetwa, who studied law at the University of Botswana & Swaziland, worked as a prosecutor, first in her native Swaziland and then in Zimbabwe. But she became disillusioned by the system and in 1989 decided to open a private practice specializing in human rights law.

Since, she has established an international reputation as a brilliant lawyer and a brave defender of vulnerable Zimbabweans caught up in a cruel and unfair system.

"Her religion is the law, it is truly what she lives by and for," Ms. Conway said.

"Even during the most difficult of times, she stays engaged in the fight with an uncompromising principle of justice and support for the victims of the Mugabe government," Mr. Ellis said.

This includes a bill of rights and limits on presidential terms.

Friends and colleagues speak of Ms. Mtetwa with admiration.

"She loves her work and she really has fun on many days because she is so smart and she enjoys the strategic thinking that it requires to outsmart the prosecutors and judges she is up against, who are bought and paid for by the [Mugabe] regime," Ms. Conway said.

While her practice keeps "her plate full," Ms. Mtetwa lives a balanced life with a "loving partner and two kids that mean everything to her."

"When she gets home from work, she quickly changes out of her suit and puts an apron on," said Ms. Conway, who spent several weeks living with the Mtetwas last year.

"She loves to cook, so she'll be at the stove stirring some wonderful curry while she has a phone balanced between her ear and shoulder. She is never totally free from her work, yet she is able to relax and find support from her family when she's at home."

Ms. Mtetwa also loves to dance, adds Ms. Conway recalling a visit to a New Orleans night club, while the Zimbabwean lawyer was in town to speak to the American Bar Association.

"She was sitting at the table with her drink tapping her fingers to the music. So I said, 'Beatrice, let's dance!' So we danced and danced and had a great time," Ms. Conway said.

But times are much more serious now, since Ms. Mtetwa has become a powerful symbol for the democratic movement.

"The stakes are very high," Ms. Conway said. "There are many in that government who want to hold on to the power and wealth they have accumulated by pillaging that country. Beatrice represents everything they are not and that scares them."

Supporters hope her arrest will be the tipping point to end Mr. Mugabe's three-decades-long rule, though they understand it will not be easy.

"When I asked Beatrice if she thought the rule of law would be adhered to in Zimbabwe during her lifetime, she said yes without a moment of hesitation," Ms. Conway said.

"She is very realistic about the price that is going to be paid before that happens, including more fixed elections, more arrests and more torture. But she believes deeply that it will come."