Beatrice Mtetwa

Beatrice Mtetwa is a lawyer who specialises in media law and human rights.

She has defended many local and foreign journalists in Zimbabwe who have been detained and harassed. In a country where the law is used as a weapon against independent journalists, Ms Mtetwa has defended journalists and argued for press freedom, all at great personal risk.

Ms Mtetwa's human rights work has been recognised internationally. She received Liberty's Human Rights Lawyer of the Year Award in 2003 and Committee for the Protection of Journalists' 2005 Press Freedom Award as well as its 2008 Burton Benjamin Memorial Award.

Ms Mtetwa serves on the boards of a number of organizations including Freedom Under Law, the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and the Mail & Guardian newspaper of South Africa.