November 14, 2005 Source: Carleton University:
http://www.carleton.ca/duc/News/news11140502.html Carleton University Presents Lecture on The Crisis in Zimbabwe Events:
On Wednesday November 16, Wellington Chibebe, Secretary General, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and Shari Eppel, Human Rights Consultant for Archbishop Pius Ncube will speak on "The Crisis in Zimbabwe Today: A Report From the Front Lines." Chibebe was just released after being arrested in Zimbabwe last Tuesday along with the top leadership of the ZCTU and at least 100 other people who were trying to protest deteriorating living conditions in Zimbabwe. On Wednesday November 23, Joanne Lebert, Ph.D. candidate in Social Anthropology at York University will discuss "Wild with Freedom: Linking Human Rights to Youth Deviance in Post-apartheid Namibia." When:
Both events are scheduled from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on successive Wednesdays Where:
517 Southam Hall, Carleton University Background:
Both events are sponsored by The Department of Sociology & Anthropology, African Studies Committee, Jurisprudence Centre, and Human Rights B.A. Program at Carleton University. -30- For more information:
Blair Rutherford
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology & Anthropology
Carleton University
613-520-2600, ext. 2601
brutherf@ccs.carleton.ca BIOGRAPHIES Wellington Chibebe
Wellington Chibebe is the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) which is Zimbabwe’s largest labour federation representing over 300,000 workers. In May 2005, Chibebe was elected chairman of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, an umbrella body representing nine major civil society coalitions representing more than 500 civic organizations fighting for democracy and good governance. Before leading the ZCTU in 2001, he worked for the National Railways of Zimbabwe and was involved in the Railway Artisans Union. Together with 40 other civil society groups, the ZCTU spearheaded the formation of an alternative party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), whose top leadership originally came from the labour movement. Chibebe’s clear and consistent advocacy of civil rights, bolstered by workers’ voices, has made him a target of attacks from both government forces, police officers, the ZANU-PF youth brigade and so-called "war veterans." Although left with shattered hearing, due to a brutal beating by police officers for representing workers’ interests, Chibebe remains a zealous advocate for workers’ rights. Shari Eppel
Shari Eppel, the Executive Director of Amani Trust, is a well known human rights activist in Zimbabwe. She was born in Zimbabwe and has lived there her entire life. Amani Trust, based in Bulawayo Zimbabwe, was established in 1997 to deal with the many thousands of survivors of institutionalised violence around Zimbabwe, in particular, the civilian survivors of both the liberation war and, in the case of Matabeleland, the survivors of the 1980s atrocities in which over 20,000 people were killed. Eppel has been involved with human rights work in the anti-apartheid movement since the late seventies and early eighties during her university days in South Africa. She belonged to the Detainees Parent Support Committee through the Psychology Department, where she used to offer psychological support to the parents of people in detention. She was the key researcher of "Breaking the Silence, Building True Peace" a report commissioned by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and the Legal Resources Foundation in Zimbabwe which document the atrocities in Matabeleland by the 5th Brigade.
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