Beatrice Mtetwa
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Beatrice Mtetwa (born 1957) is a
Zimbabwean Demographic features of the population of Zimbabwe include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Population The population of Zimbabwe ...
lawyer who has been internationally recognized for her defense of journalists and press freedom. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' described her in 2008 as "Zimbabwe's top human rights lawyer".


Legal practice

Born in
Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...
, Mtetwa received her LLB from the
University of Botswana and Swaziland The University of Botswana and Swaziland was the predecessor of both the University of Botswana and the University of Eswatini. It existed from October 20, 1975 when the Lesotho campus of the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland (UBLS) wit ...
in 1981 and spent the next two years working as a prosecuting attorney in
Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...
. In 1983, she moved to Zimbabwe, where she continued working as a prosecutor until 1989. That year, she went into private practice, and soon began specializing in
human rights law International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law is primarily made up of treaties, ag ...
. In one of her more notable cases, she successfully challenged a section of Zimbabwe's Private Voluntary Organizations Act which allowed a government minister the authority to dissolve or replace the board members of
non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
s. She also challenged the results of 37 districts in the 2000 parliamentary elections. In a
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
documentary, Mtetwa described her motives for her activism as "not because there is any glory or cash to it and not because I'm trying to antagonize the government... I'm doing it because it's a job that's got to be done". Mtetwa is particularly noted for her defense of arrested journalists, both local and international. In 2003, for example, she won a court order preventing the deportation of ''
Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...
'' reporter
Andrew Meldrum Andrew Meldrum (born 1951) is an American journalist who has concentrated on Africa and human rights. He worked in Zimbabwe for 23 years. Currently Meldrum is Global Weekend Editor for The Associated Press, working in New York. Previously he was A ...
, presenting it to security officials at
Harare International Airport Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (), (known colloquially as "RGM", or Harare Airport) and formerly known as Harare International Airport and Salisbury Airport, is an international airport in Harare, Zimbabwe. It is the largest airpo ...
only minutes before Meldrum's plane was scheduled to depart. She also won acquittals for detained reporters
Toby Harnden Toby Harnden (born 14 January 1966) is a British-American author and journalist who was awarded the Orwell Prize for Books in 2012. He is the author of ''First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11'', published by Little, Br ...
and
Julian Simmonds Julian Graham John Simmonds (born 29 August 1985) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives for one term from the 2019 federal election, representing the Division of Ryan in Queensland, until his defeat a ...
from London's ''
Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegr ...
'', who had been arrested during coverage of the April parliamentary election on charges of working without government accreditation. In April 2008, she secured the release of ''New York Times'' reporter
Barry Bearak Barry Leon Bearak (born August 31, 1949, in Chicago) is an American journalist and educator who has worked as a reporter and correspondent for '' The Miami Herald'', the ''Los Angeles Times'', and ''The New York Times''. He taught journalism as ...
, who had been imprisoned on similar charges. She also defended many local journalists arrested in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election. Mtetwa is also a director who sits on the Econet board . Mtetwa and Tawanda Nyambirai founded Mtetwa & Nyambirai Legal Practitioners in 2006 and it has established itself over the past decade as one of Zimbabwe's leading law firms. Mtetwa & Nyambirai's history is punctuated by landmark cases in multiple areas of the law. With
Econet Wireless Econet, officially known as Econet Group, is a diversified telecommunications group with operations and investments in Africa, Europe, South America and the East Asia Pacific Rim, offering products and services in the core areas of Mobile te ...
’s the largest telecommunications company in Zimbabwe being the firms most notable clients, the Econet name appears on many of those landmark cases. These include cases such as Econet Wireless v Trustco Mobile, and Derdale v Econet Wireless which is now the seminal case on the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court under the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe. Mtetwa's firm has been involved with multiple high-profile human rights cases and, Notably, was instrumental in the recovery of abducted activist Jestina Mukoko — who was held incommunicado and tortured for nearly a month in 2008. Mtetwa subsequently handled a string of related legal cases that followed, including securing a stay of prosecution for Mukoko and suing her abductors for damages in their personal capacity. Over the years, the Mtetwa and Nyambirai has grown into a full service law firm with the capacity to handle matters relating to all aspects of Zimbabwean law.


Imprisonment, assaults and threats

In 2003, Mtetwa was arrested on allegations of
drunk driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is in ...
. At the police station, she was reportedly beaten and choked before being released three hours later without a formal charge. Though unable to speak for two days after the attack, she returned on the third day with a folder of medical evidence in order to file charges against the police officers who assaulted her. Police officers reportedly attacked Mtetwa again in 2007, beating her and three colleagues with rubber truncheons during a march protesting harassment of Zimbabwe's lawyers. In an interview with the
Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...
, Mtetwa described her procedure for averting potential attacks:
"I think I confront the danger immediately before it happens. I always make sure that if, for instance, I'm called in the middle of the night to a scene that is potentially dangerous, I make sure that there are as many media practitioners as possible, particularly to record what will happen there. And in the glare of cameras I find that people don't want to do what they would want to do. So in a lot of ways I think I've been lucky, and I haven't received as much harassment as one would have expected, or as much as other human rights defenders have had."
On 17 March 2013, Mtetwa was arrested while executing her professional duties. She was attending to a client whose home was searched by the police. Mtetwa was placed under arrest after requesting the production of a valid search warrant and an inventory list of items that had already been removed. Her mobile phone, containing privileged attorney-client communication, was confiscated. She was charged with defeating and / or obstructing the course of justice under the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, section 184(1)(g). The Zimbabwean police defied an emergency high court ruling ordering the release of Mtetwa and continued to hold her on charges of obstructing justice. After more than a week in jail, Mtetwa was released on Monday 25 March 2013 after a high court judge overruled a lower court's decision that she be held without bail on a charge of obstruction of justice. On 26 November 2013, Magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa said Mtetwa had no case to answer to. Magistrate Mugwagwa found that there was no evidence to suggest that Mtetwa caused the police to fail to perform their duties.


International recognition

In 2005, she won the International Press Freedom Award of the Committee to Protect Journalists. The award citation stated that "in a country where the law is used as a weapon against independent journalists, Mtetwa has defended journalists and argued for press freedom, all at great personal risk." She also won the group's Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2008. Mtetwa was also received several awards from legal organizations. In 2009, the European Bar Human Rights Institute awarded her the
Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize The Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize, or Ludovic Trarieux Award, is an international human rights award given annually to a lawyer for contributions to the defence of human rights. History The Prize was inaugurated in Bordeaux i ...
("The award given by lawyers to a lawyer"), reserved each year to a lawyer who throughout his or her career has illustrated, by activity or suffering, the defence of human rights in the world. Mtetwa also won the 2010 International Human Rights award of the
American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...
. In 2011, she was awarded the Inamori Ethics Prize by
Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...
in the US. In 2014, she was a recipient of the
International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...
.
St. Francis Xavier University
located in Nova Scotia, Canada, was the first university to celebrate Mtetwa's many achievements by presenting her with an honorary degree in May 2013. In December 2013, Mtetwa was awarded with an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the
University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...
in the United Kingdom in recognition of her work. In April 2016, Mtetwa was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree by
Rhodes University Rhodes University () is a public research university located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the prov ...
in South Africa in recognition of her achievements in the promotion and protection of human rights in Zimbabwe.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mtetwa, Beatrice 1957 births Living people 20th-century women lawyers 20th-century Zimbabwean lawyers 21st-century women lawyers 21st-century Zimbabwean lawyers Recipients of the International Women of Courage Award Zimbabwean activists Zimbabwean women activists Zimbabwean women lawyers