British aid agencies are speaking out on Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF party on Zimbabwean church groups carrying out human rights work.

Mugabe's ZANU PF is putting pressure on human rights groups, with a recent arrest of eight church leaders and the closure of the office of a church-based human rights organisation - funded by Christian Aid - in Harare.

Christian Aid and Christian humanitarian agency Tearfund are speaking out on behalf of these church groups following a recent spate of violence and intimidation.

Most recently, the leaders from the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA), a Christian network which is trying to tackle the worsening crisis in Zimbabwe, were arrested at a church gathering in Kadoma.
.
Following interrogation, the eight men were accused of preaching incitement to violence - a charge ridiculed by the ZCA who were watching a video of Martin Luther King at the time.

"This harassment is unacceptable," said Christian Aid's Africa policy manager, Babatunde Olugboji.

"State services have all but collapsed in Zimbabwe and the poor have limited access to healthcare, education, clean water, food and other essentials. Aid agencies are playing a major role in keeping people off the bread line," said Mr Olugboji.

"The physical assaults, the intimidation and arrests of our church partner organisations are outrageous - it puts people's lives at risk."

Tearfund's Karyn Beattie said: "Churches and NGOs must be allowed to continue the work they are doing to help the poor. They are filling the vacuum left by the actions of a dysfunctional government, and cannot simply stand by and watch while people are robbed of their fundamental human rights."