This week-end, Max Dana posted an article on her blog about Owen Maseko: Owen Maseko, a Zimbabwean artist under arrest. She follows the artist and his work for a long time and she wrote about his arrest last week (via This is Zimbabwe). Yesterday, Amnesty International called on Zimbabwe’s Government to end repression of public debate on past and ongoing human rights violations, following the detention of a well known artist for work depicting atrocities committed in the 1980’s.

The report from Amnesty International (read more here):

Owen Maseko was arrested on 26 March after participating in a show at the Bulawayo National Art Gallery, which depicted atrocities that took place in the Matabeleland region, known as Gukuruhundi, in western Zimbabwe during the 1980s where thousands of people were killed, mainly by state security agents. The artist who faces charges of “undermining the authority of the President”, “inciting public violence” and “causing offence to people of a particular tribe, race, religion”, under the Public Order And Security Act (POSA), was released on bail on Tuesday and ordered to report to a police station every Friday. 

“President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai should demonstrate their commitment to end human rights violations in Zimbabwe by publicly condemning attempts by police to silence activists and all charges against Owen Maseko should be immediately and unconditionally withdrawn,” said Erwin van der Borght, Amnesty International’s Africa programme director. “Arbitrary arrests, unlawful detentions and ongoing harassment and intimidation restrict the work of activists who are exercising their right to freedom of expression and contributing to the process of national healing as provided under the Global Political Agreement,” said Erwin van der Borght.

This arrest is about Human Rights and free expression. We wanted to spread the word on this information so you can be aware about the situation and stand up for Owen Maseko and support the artist’s right to free expression. You can visit Maseko’s website and see his amazing work. And we hope Zimbabweans will be able to appreciate it too soon.

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— Photo credit: © Zenzele Ndebele and Priscilla Sithole