ROHR Zimbabwe Human Rights Violations (HRV) Monitoring Committee Zoom meeting of Sunday 25th October 2020 - Report

28^th October 2020

The meeting started at 18:00 hrs

Attendance: - Lilian Nleya, Nicolate Gwati, Alvina Chibhamu, Karen Nhakaniso, Vongayi Mufara, Vengai  Mutsawu, Delina Mutyambizi

Nicolate Gwati chaired the meeting. She opened by welcoming everyone and commended everyone for their punctuality.  We had all been paired up and mandated to research human violations in Zimbabwe.  She started by suggesting if each pair could give at least 3 incidents of Human rights violations in their allocated period.

Vongayi Mufara and Alvina Chibhamu – They gave the feedback that the period leading to 31st July 2020  was volatile due to the planned protests and Covid-19 rules.

¾      Reported a host of Human rights violations including arrests, unlawful detention and arrests, denied bails, delayed bail outs, tortures (including the cases of Hopewell Chin’ono, Jacob Ngarivhume, Obert Masaraure etc)

¾      Three MDC members arrested protesting and charged (Ostensibly for Covid-19 Law transgressions).

¾      Constitutional amendments that would have eroded the freedom in the Judiciary system.

Karen Nhakaniso and Vengai Mutsawu - Reported a few incidents between 11^th August 2020 and 31^st August 2020. They are;-

¾      Job Sikhala was arrested and denied bail.

¾      MDC Alliance members arrested on 24^th August when they went to Court in solidarity with Job Sikhala.

¾      15 Villagers who were vendors and who attended an MDC alliance rally were arrested in Murehwa and for disrupting free flow of traffic (Ostensibly for Covid-19 Law transgressions).

Lilian Nleya and Shingirayi Kandi –   reported the following incidents; -

¾      Nhamo Five was arrested on 18^th of September ostensibly for insulting the President of Zimbabwe. He had complained about the $12 transport fare from Chitungwiza to Harare CBD being exorbitant. He had cited the mismanagement of the economy by Zanu-PF led government in general and President Emmerson Mnangagwa in particular as the main cause of the price hikes.

¾      3 Harare residence were unlawfully detained and remanded in custody for solidarity protest and for following MDC Alliance MP for Zengeza West Job Sikhala.

¾      Takudzwa Ngadziore (22), ZINASU President was arrested for protesting at Impala car rental following the use of their cars in cases of abductions of citizens by state agencies.

Nicolate Gwati and Nontokozo Malaba Ncube reported as follows; -

¾      Simasimpe Reeds Tshuma (25), a member of the Zimbabwe People Power Movement (ZPPM) was arrested and charged, allegedly for undermining the State after he was found in Dete asking residents to sign a petition calling for international intervention in the Zimbabwean crisis.

¾      Agnes Gurunhe (35) of Mucheke who is living with albinism was barred entry into the Pick n Pay Supermarket in Masvingo after she allegedly asked to wash her hands with soap instead of sanitizers that affect her skin.

¾      Hopely Residence in the south of Harare have been reduced to digging up wells near the Granville Graveyard so as to get drinking water.

Nicolate Gwati observed that citizens of other African countries (e.g. Nigeria and Ghana) have hyped up condemnation of human rights violations in their countries through sustained peaceful demonstrations. Youths from the Nigeria and Ghana have been in contact on Twitter to discuss the way forward regarding these violations. We can also get them and activists from other African countries to support our #ZimbabweanLivesMatter campaign and Human Rights Violations Dossier.

Delina Mutyambizi agreed that it was a good idea to collaborate with human rights organizations from other countries. She went on to suggest that ROHR Zimbabwe issues a statement regarding the #ENDSARS Campaign in support of the Nigerian Citizens against Human Rights Violations in Nigeria.

Alvina Chibhamu concurred with the idea to collaborate with human rights activists from other African countries in campaigns against human rights violations. She also gave feedback on the Scotland #ENDSARS campaign event which ROHR Scotland Branch members went to support.

Lilian Nleya suggested a sustained a daily routine of  monitoring  and recording of Human Rights violations in Zimbabwe so that we avoid a backlog?

Nikki- Suggested if we can have rotations with the current pairs in monitoring daily Human Rights Violations e.g. Lilian and Shingi records for December and the following month the next pair monitors HRV for that month.

Alvina suggested that if this can be done at an organizational level so that the workload can be shared. Each member will keep a tab of the violations and report on the monthly meetings.

Delina drew the committee’s attention to the case of Tapiwa Makore, the Murehwa 7-year-old boy who was murdered and dismembered for ritual purposes, allegedly by his uncle and their herd boy employee. She noted interesting feedback from members in Zimbabwe. She pointed out the possibility of this murder having been politically motivated as it is reportedly believed that Tapiwa Makore’s father is an MDC Alliance chairperson or executive in the area.  She urged  ROHR Zimbabwe to continue supporting the #JusticeForTapiwaMakore campaign, kick-started by ROHR Scotland branch.

She suggested we engage popular social media platforms e.g. Tilda Live, Sis Melly, Vuka Zimbabwe etc to have a video campaign featured on these platforms to highlight the Human Rights Abuses in Zimbabwe.

Further Action Points

¾      All research findings to be typed up and emailed  to Nicolate by Wednesday 28^th October 2020.

¾      Next meeting is scheduled for 01/11/2020 @6pm

¾      Information& Publicity Department to liaise with different social media platforms regarding #JusticeForTapiwaMakore Campaign.

Nicolate declared the meeting closed at 1900hrs after all agenda items were exhausted.