Beatrice Mtetwa (born 1957) is a Zimbabwean lawyer who has been internationally recognized for her defense of journalists and press freedom.

[6] She also won acquittals for detained reporters Toby Harnden and Julian Simmonds from London's Sunday Telegraph, who had been arrested during coverage of the April parliamentary election on charges of working without government accreditation.

Mtetwa's firm has been involved with multiple high-profile human rights cases and, Notably, was instrumental in the recovery of abducted activist Jestina Mukoko — who was held incommunicado and tortured for nearly a month in 2008.

Mtetwa subsequently handled a string of related legal cases that followed, including securing a stay of prosecution for Mukoko and suing her abductors for damages in their personal capacity.

[5] Police officers reportedly attacked Mtetwa again in 2007, beating her and three colleagues with rubber truncheons during a march protesting harassment of Zimbabwe's lawyers.

[7][9] In an interview with the Committee to Protect Journalists, Mtetwa described her procedure for averting potential attacks: "I think I confront the danger immediately before it happens.

Mtetwa was placed under arrest after requesting the production of a valid search warrant and an inventory list of items that had already been removed.

The Zimbabwean police defied an emergency high court ruling ordering the release of Mtetwa and continued to hold her on charges of obstructing justice.

In December 2013, Mtetwa was awarded with an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the University of Bath in the United Kingdom in recognition of her work.

[14] In April 2016, Mtetwa was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree by Rhodes University in South Africa in recognition of her achievements in the promotion and protection of human rights in Zimbabwe.