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The members of the Irish section of AWEPA have called for the immediate release of Jestina Mokoko, who was arrested in a dawn raid in Zimbabwe on Wednesday 3 December.
 As Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, an organisation which monitors incidents of political violence and politically-motivated abuse in Zimbabwe, Jestina was invited to the Oireachtas in May where she met with a cross-party section of AWEPA's members.
These members included foreign affairs spokespersons Michael D Higgins of the Labour Party, Billy Timmins of Fine Gael and Ciarán Cuffe of the Green Party, and deputies Brendan Howlin and Tom Kitt.
"The abduction of Jestina Mukoko is the latest outrage carried out by Robert Mugabe's regime against civil rights defenders in Zimbabwe," said Brendan Howlin, chairperson of the Irish section of AWEPA.
"Jestina Mukoko is a civil rights activist who has devoted herself to exposing acts of political violence in Zimbabwe and now this has become her fate.
"Since Wednesday morning, we have lobbied strongly within the Oireachtas for her release and we have sought to raise the issue of her arrest with our fellow parliamentarians across Europe.
"We also call on the Irish Government to do its utmost to influence South Africa, as the strongest power in the region, to work to secure Jestina Mukoko's release, and also that of other civil rights activists and political prisoners held in Zimbabwe."
The Irish section of AWEPA equally condemned the crackdown and arrests of trade unionists in Zimbabwe on Wednesday.
"In May of this year, Irish AWEPA members passed an All-Party Resolution in the Dáil specifically deploring attacks on trade unionists and medical workers," added Deputy Howlin.
"These were exactly the two groups targeted on Wednesday. We must keep fighting on every front, the EU, the UN, and through our own contacts in southern Africa, to defend these people and to keep up the pressure against this brutal regime."
For Amnesty International's statement, please click here.
For the original press release, please click here.
For further information contact Simon Murtagh, Policy Officer of the Irish AWEPA Section, 087 3238718.
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