Ms Mukoko arriving at court
Ms Mukoko, head of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, and nine other activists were charged with plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe's government.
If found guilty, they could face the death penalty, lawyers said.
Judge Yunus Omarjee ruled that police release 32 activists.
Nine of them, including Mukoko, would be taken to hospital for treatment and allowed access to lawyers and relatives.
Lawyers said there were allegations the activists had been tortured.
"Their continued detention by whosoever is holding them be and is hereby declared unlawful, and they should be released forthwith," Judge Omarjee said, referring to 11 people the police deny are in their custody.
The case could fuel more doubts about implementation of a power-sharing agreement between Mr Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, seen as a chance of rescuing the once-prosperous country from economic meltdown.
The opposition says abductions of activists have continued since a June presidential election run-off in which Mr Mugabe was re-elected unopposed after Mr Tsvangirai withdrew, complaining of attacks on his supporters.
Ms Mukoko's independent organisation monitored human rights and had compiled reports of violence at this year's elections.
The activists were brought to a tightly-secured court in the capital Harare.
They included a husband and wife and their two-year-old child.
The state-run Herald newspaper said the activists were accused of recruiting or attempting to recruit people for military training to topple the government.
Citing a police statement, it said some of the activists had recruited people for training in Botswana, including a police constable.
It said the plan was to "forcibly depose" Mr Mugabe's government and replace it with one headed by Mr Tsvangirai.
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