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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Zimbabwean authorities should end their crackdown on opposition and civil society members before the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Harare on August 17, 2024, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. Authorities should immediately and unconditionally release all those arrested for exercising their rights.
The groups said authorities should also promptly and effectively investigate allegations of torture or other ill-treatment of detainees and hold any suspected perpetrators accountable in a fair process. In addition, SADC should urgently call for an end to such human rights violations as it prepares to hand over leadership of SADC to Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
“Since mid-June, the Zimbabwean authorities have launched a massive crackdown on dissent. So far, more than 160 people have been arrested, including elected officials, opposition members, trade union leaders, students and journalists,” said Khanyo Farise, Amnesty International’s deputy director for East and Southern Africa.
“Security forces have tear gassed people in private homes, beaten people to the point of requiring hospitalization, forced people to disappear for hours, and tortured detainees. The authorities should end these violations and immediately release all detainees.”
The groups said SADC leaders should condemn the human rights violations committed by the Zimbabwean government and demand that the authorities reverse course and release all those unjustly arrested before the situation deteriorates further. SADC Chair, Angolan President Joao Lourenço, and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, chair of the Agency for Political, Defence and Security Cooperation, need to speak out.
The current crackdown began on June 16, when police raided the home of opposition Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Jameson Timba while he was attending a private party, arresting 78 people. Police fired tear gas and beat people with batons, injuring several people, including one who required surgery.
Authorities charged the group with “gathering with intent to incite public violence and disturb the peace” and detained them for more than two days without bringing them to court, in violation of Zimbabwean law. Authorities released two children and granted bail to one adult, but 75 people remain arbitrarily detained.
On June 24, police arrested 44 members of the Zimbabwe National Student Union, including its president, Emmanuel Sitima, and forced them to pay a fine for “disturbing the peace” before releasing them. Police then arrested Sitima again for “criminal nuisance” and released him on bail the next day.
On June 27, Zimbabwean President Mnangagwa warned that “opposition political parties are bent on spreading lies and inciting popular unrest, especially before, during and after major regional and world events.” Hours later, police outside the Harare Magistrates’ Court beat and arrested peaceful protesters demanding the release of those arrested at Timba’s home.
The next day, Information Minister Janfan Muswerre threatened “opposition insiders, certain politicians and some civil society organizations,” saying that “their days are numbered.”
On June 29, police arrested five members of the National Democratic Workers Social Justice Movement at a private residence in Harare where they were attending a fund-raising meeting for poor families, and subsequently released them. On July 1, police dispersed a memorial service for a member of the National Democratic Workers who was killed in 2022. On July 3, police arrested another six people associated with the Zimbabwe Community Voice media organization in Gokwe and subsequently released them without charge.
On July 31, government agents forcibly removed four activists from a plane at Robert Gabriel Mugabe Airport before takeoff and forcibly disappeared them for nearly eight hours. Lawyers later documented evidence of torture and other ill-treatment, including extensive bruises on the body of Zimbabwe United Rural Teachers Union leader Robson Chere, who reportedly required urgent medical attention. Authorities charged the four activists with “disturbing the peace” for participating in a protest outside the Magistrate’s Court on June 27.
Since August 1, authorities have arrested more than 30 people across Zimbabwe, including Sitima, who was arrested for the third time, a councillor from Kariba town and 13 others, a city council member, a senator and a religious leader. Most of the arrests were related to protests or support for opposition parties. On August 8, masked men attempted to break into the offices of the Zimbabwe Crisis Coalition, a civil society group in Harare.
“The grave violations we have witnessed, including violent attacks, kidnappings, torture, arbitrary arrests, and other ill-treatment targeting the opposition, government critics, and activists, are just the latest examples of President Mnangagwa’s government’s failure to promote, protect, and respect fundamental human rights,” said Idris Ali Nassa, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.
The SADC has not spoken out publicly about these human rights violations. The groups said the organization needs to speak out against repression in Zimbabwe, especially as President Mnangagwa prepares to take over as SADC chairman. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights should demand the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained simply for exercising their rights.
“The Zimbabwean authorities’ increased repression and denial of fundamental freedoms is directly linked to the government’s hosting of the SADC summit in Harare,” Nassa said. “This sets a dangerous tone for Zimbabwean President Mnangagwa’s incoming chairmanship of SADC’s commitment to human rights.”
SADC should now address repression in Zimbabwe, while also using the Harare summit and President Mnangagwa’s chairmanship to improve respect for human rights across the region, in accordance with the SADC treaty.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).
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