Police Tuesday briefly detained about 800 members of the activist group Women of Zimbabwe Arise outside the Harare parliament where they had demonstrated.
But the protesters said they were not roughed up by the police as was alleged after a similar mass arrest last week in Bulawayo. The alleged mistreatment of the activists in Bulawayo drew criticism from the U.S. State Department, among other observers.
On Tuesday, the WOZA demonstrators gathered outside parliament aiming to present legislators with what the group calls a "people's charter for social justice." The group has focused its protests on deteriorating living conditions for Zimbabwe's families, and its charter demands improved health care and education, and better governance.
WOZA National Coordinator Jenni Williams gave reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe an account of events Tuesday in the capital.