The Assembly of Delegates of International PEN, meeting in Ohrid on September 17-24th, 2002, addressing itself to the Government of Zimbabwe;

Alarmed by reports of harassment, intimidation, attacks and threats against the independent judiciary and its judges, the silencing of all criticism of the administration, and the widespread and systematic human rights violations in Zimbabwe;

Fearing the deteriorating human rights situation in Zimbabwe, the use of violence and the massive campaign carried out by the Zimbabwean authorities to hinder freedom of expression and a democracy made a free and fair election in March 2002 impossible;

Appalled by the introduction of laws restricting freedom of the media, and the exorbitant financial levies placed on independent journalists and their publications aimed at pricing them out of action;

Concerned by the arrests and judicial harassment of journalists accused of criminal defamation, and in particular alarmed by the harassing of and false accusations against the editor-in-chief of the Daily News, Geoffrey Nyarota, as well as death threats against him and other men and women of the media;

Calls on the government of Zimbabwe to:

• Order an investigation into all alleged human rights violations to bring the perpetrators of political killings, "disappearances" and torture to justice with a view to ending impunity to those who allegedly have committed torture;

• Repeal press legislation promulgated earlier this year - the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill and the Public Order and Security Bill - both of which serve to repress the independent media, alongside the requirement that all journalists must be registered at an annual fee that can represent a quarter of the average national wage;

• Discontinue the criminal processes against journalists whose only act has been to attempt to report freely on events in Zimbabwe;

• Restore freedom of expression in Zimbabwe by abstaining from attacks against the national and international media.