US embassy makes Gwisai visa u-turn

By Staff Reporter

The United States embassy in Harare has been forced into an embarrassing u-turn after twice declining to grant a travel visa to prominent activist and former MDC MP Munyaradzi Gwisai. The embassy had also cancelled a visa for human rights activist Hopewell Gumbo who was due to attend a series of meetings in the US.

Nehanda Radio.com understands the embassy had initially denied Gwisai a visa on the basis that he had a criminal conviction. Gwisai and five others including former student leader Gumbo were last year arrested for watching video footage of the Arab Spring uprisings and convicted of conspiracy to incite public violence.

Nehanda Radio.com understands Gwisai’s wife, Shantha Bloemen, an American citizen who works for UNICEF in South Africa, wrote a letter to Johnnie Carson, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, complaining about the denial of the visa on the basis of a conviction imposed by a repressive regime.

“I would like to express our disappointment not only for the rejection of the second application but also to the way the process was handled. After having spent the last year fighting a very personal battle against the blatant abuse of power by the police and judiciary….I feel it is important to share our concerns about this decision.

“The conviction of the Zimbabwe Six has been condemned by international human rights bodies and lawyers on having no legal basis but clearly an example of how the Zimbabwe Government has used the rule of law to create fear and intimidation.

“Yet by rejecting both Munya’s visa and revoking the visa of civil society activist Hopewell Gumbo, to go to the US for a series of meetings, the US Government is sadly sending a message to civil society that the US is not standing with them in their fight for democracy,” Bloemen wrote.

“I know my husband is not without controversy, and perhaps his politics are not aligned to all the anti-Mugabe forces stand for but at least his politics have been consistently pro poor and working class. One of the reasons he is hated by so many in Zanu PF is he exposes the hypocrisy of much their populist rhetoric,” she added.

Bloemen also said “we were told that the concern was the conditions of the community service meant any absence could lead to his arrest on his return. The following week when we resubmitted the visa application, we provided proof that the High Court had appealed the community service conditions until the High Court appeal on the conviction was made.

“We also sent documentation from various prominent MDC people, the University of Zimbabwe, where Munya teaches along with a copy of the High Court appeal decision. So not only did we delude ourselves and prolong the expectations of our children, we also spent a lot of time and money investing in the applications.”

“I very much appreciate all the US Government has done in supporting civil society and the opposition in seeking democratic transition in Zimbabwe. I know the support to Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and other organizations is critical, especially in fighting the abuses within the security sector and judiciary.

“And after the long ordeal, we and the other families have endured, our hope was to be reinvigorated by a few weeks in the US and to soak up being back in a dynamic, open society with the virtues of public debate and intellectual creativity. We hope that next time, especially once we win the High Court Appeal, our attempt to bring our family to the US will be more successful.”

“We also hope that Hopewell Gumbo can have his visa reinstated so he can proceed for the all important tour on the Debt Crisis in Zimbabwe and the rest of the developing world. He has endured a lot of anxiety and I feel terrible we have jeopardized his visa to the US as well,” Bloemen wrote.

On Thursday there was to be good news for both Gwisai and Gumbo after pressure from several civil society groups forced the embassy in Harare to grant them their travel visas. Nehanda Radio.com