February 2019
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
ABOUT ZPP
Of resurrections
Introduction
February, “the month of love” witnessed Zimbabwe
endeavouring to recover from the January protests
and state retaliation and crackdown on alleged
protestors and human rights defenders.
ZPP documented 196 human rights violations for
February 2019. This is a marked decrease from the
January 2019 figure of 668. Approximately 62% of the
recorded violations for February were of harassment,
intimidation and threats. In the urban centres, police
The organisation was founded in 2000 by church-based and
human rights organisations. The current members of ZPP are
Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ), Zimbabwe Council of
Churches (ZCC), Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in
Zimbabwe (CCJPZ), Counselling Services Unit (CSU), Zimbabwe
Human Rights Association (ZimRights), Civic Education Network
Trust (CIVNET), Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
and Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ).
ZPP was established with the objective of monitoring,
documenting and building peace and promoting the peaceful
resolution of disputes and conflicts. The Zimbabwe Peace Project
seeks to foster dialogue and political tolerance through nonpartisan peace monitoring activities, mainly through monitors who
document the violations of rights in the provinces.
The monitors, who at full complement stand at 420, constitute the
core pool of volunteers, supported by four Regional Coordinators.
The Regional Coordinators relate with the national office headed
by the National Director and programme officers in various units.
together with the army and municipal police continued
their crackdown on illegal vending sites destroying
stalls and structures while confiscating goods. In Harare, soldiers also assaulted civilians in a
door-to-door operation in Dzivarasekwa around 11pm on 7 February for unclear reasons.
Assaults constituted 10% of the violations recorded, discrimination 9%, theft/looting 6% and
abduction 3%. Harare province continued with the highest violations for February with 46,
followed by Mashonaland Central with 34, Midlands 31 and Mashonaland East with 23. In
Harare assaults by military personnel were noted, comedians and human rights defenders were
arrested, and legislators threatened each other in Parliament.
February highlights
Political Parties dialogue hosted by President Emmerson Mnangagwa saw leaders of
some political parties at State house in an effort to devise a framework for a national
dialogue aimed at bringing an end to the socio-economic woes the country is facing.
The meeting was attended by 21 out of 23 political parties invited; MDC Alliance
President Advocate Nelson Chamisa and National People’s Party (NPP) President
Joyce Mujuru did not attend. Chamisa cited the absence of an impartial third party
mediator to facilitate the process and felt that President Mnangagwa could not be the
convener among the major reasons for not attending. He questioned the neutrality of
the venue considering that the engagement was at State house.
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