17th November 2022
By Panyika Karimanzira
With its atrocious human rights record the fact that the Zimbabwean regime is actively seeking readmission into the Commonwealth of Nations is not only audacious but is also a sign of how out of touch it is with reality.
In common parlance we would say they have got balls indeed.
Who in their right mind would want to be associated with a state
that murders and persecutes its citizens as brazenly as Zimbabwe does? Zimbabwe
will remain a pariah state until the government starts respecting and upholding
the rights of its citizens. Incontrovertible evidence of the regime’s
atrocities abounds, thanks to social media and the digital era.
The human rights situation in Zimbabwe has changed for the worse from the time of Robert Mugabe’s rule. Opposition and civil society activists have been, and continue to be, subjected to physical and psychological abuse, including being tortured and killed, by state apparatus and ZANU-PF functionaries.
In the first week of August 2018, six peaceful protesters were shot dead by soldiers in the streets of Harare, Zimbabwe in broad daylight in the full glare of international media and elections observers.
Soldiers then went around from suburb to suburb in Harare, Bulawayo and other cities and towns beating up and maiming civilians suspected to be activists. In rural areas, ZANU-PF militia and the CIO were doing the same. Some activists were killed, some remain unaccounted for. Some activists were abducted tortured and then injected with unknown substances by state agents.
In the week commencing Monday 14th January 2019, members of the Zimbabwe National Army, Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) operatives and ZANU-PF militia in Harare, Bulawayo and other locations in Zimbabwe used live ammunition to shoot unarmed civilian protesters.
This left at least seventeen people dead, more than 200 injured, thousands displaced and hundreds in hiding. Soldiers, state security operatives and ZANU-PF militia are reported to have thereafter gone around from suburb to suburb in Harare, Bulawayo and other cities and towns in Zimbabwe beating up and maiming civilians suspected to be activists. In rural areas, ZANU-PF militia and state security operatives (CIO) were doing the same.
It is also reported that at least 11 women reported having been raped by soldiers and suspected ZANU-PF Militia during this period. The number of those raped is likely to be much higher as some women would rather not report for fear of further persecution or due to social or personal considerations.
Another glaring example of the brutality of the current regime in Zimbabwe was the occurrence on Friday 16th August 2019, when members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police assisted by suspected ZANU-PF Militia dressed in Police uniform brutalized unarmed civilian Zimbabweans citizens during a peaceful demonstration in Harare, Zimbabwe. This left more than 100 injured.
There are hundreds other state sponsored atrocities that I could cite. Many of them involve abductions and torture.
An example was a case whereby on Wednesday 13th May 2020 three female activists namely Joana Mamombe (Member of Parliament), Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova belonging to the opposition MDC Alliance were abducted and tortured by Zimbabwean state agents.
Yet another example of the brutality of the current regime in Zimbabwe is the murder of yet another activist in Zimbabwe, Moreblessing Ali, whose mutilated body was found in a well in Nyatsime, Chitungwiza on Saturday 11th June 2022 following her enforced disappearance at the hands of well-known members of ZANU-PF, Pius Jamba and Simba Chisango on Tuesday 24th May 2022.
The state is also notorious for persecuting journalists like Hopewell Chin’ono. It also persecutes and hounds other professionals like judges, lawyers, teachers, nurses and doctors. It does the same even with Parliamentarians – the ongoing incarceration of Job Sikhala who is part of The Nyatsime 16 (or is it 17?) is a case in point.
In all these cases, lawfare is the regime’s modus operandi. It arrests on spurious charges, incarcerates without trial for protracted periods and when it eventually releases someone on bail it attaches onerous bail conditions that leave the person so encumbered, they cannot lead a normal life. The person will be required to appear in court for years on end. The case becomes an encumbrance on the individual’s life. Well known activists like Namatai Kwekweza are in this situation.
The President of Zimbabwe and senior ZANU-PF officials publicly boast about the Army, the Police, and the Judiciary being under their control.
The sad thing is this will not change soon because ZANU-PF cannot reform itself out of power. They fear ending up in jail once they no longer have control of state apparatus.
Should Zimbabwe be re-admitted into The Commonwealth of Nations?
No sane institution of the stature of the Commonwealth of Nations would admit a country led by rogues like Zimbabwe. The regime ought to reform first.
About the author:- Panyika Anselm Karimanzira is a Zimbabwean human rights activist based in the United Kingdom. He is a Board member of and Spokesperson for Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR)Zimbabwe. He writes in his personal capacity in this instance. He can be contacted via email; - anselm.karimanzira@yahoo.ie