WSCF demands end to attacks on Zimbabwean Trade Union leaders 4 March 2010 The World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) and its Zimbabwe Advocacy Office (ZAO) have released a statement expressing shock and outrage at the recent wave of attacks on trade union leaders by police and security forces in Zimbabwe. The statement explains how on March 1, 2010 police raided and ransacked offices of the General Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ) forcing its Secretary General, Mrs Gertrude Hambira, a mother and farm-workers’ leader to flee her home and country. On March 3, WSCF and its ZAO received troubling reports of the arrest of staff of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) who were conducting a civic education workshop in the eastern city of Mutare. WSCF sees these as senseless attacks, which together with the recent upsurge in general violence in the country, indicate clearly that Zimbabwe’s political crisis remains unresolved and that Zimbabwe’s Inclusive Government needs to do much more to deliver change. WSCF calls on all its members to pray for the safe return of Mrs Hambira and her colleagues to their homes and places of work. The statement issued by WSCF's Geneva office today is signed by General Secretary Michael Wallace and Zimbabwe Advocacy Officer Marlon Zakeyo. The statement continues, "We urge the Inclusive Government in Zimbabwe to protect the rights of workers and students to organise freely and uphold its commitment to restoring human rights and the rule of law in the country. " "A year after the formation of the Inclusive Government, the international community continues to look to the leadership in Zimbabwe to demonstrate its commitment to genuine, irreversible reforms." "We ask the ongoing 13th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council and the International Labour Organisation to take note and act on these attacks." In conclusion the statement urges students and workers worldwide to stand in unbreakable solidarity in the face of injustice and repression, particularly in support of the students and workers in Zimbabwe.