FOCUS
THE LAW &
JUSTICE
SYSTEM AS
WEAPONS
The State continued to weaponise the law to target opposition and civil society
individuals. On 6 June anti-riot police besieged the offices of the Zimbabwe
Divine Destiny (ZDD) and arrested Bishops and church members who were
gathered in prayer under the theme, “The Zimbabwe We Want Campaign.”
Bishop Ancelimo Magaya of the ZDD and at least 36 worshippers were arrested
by the police who claimed that their gathering was political.
They were arrested at the Dutch Reformed Church building in central Harare
where they intended to launch ‘The Zimbabwe We Want’ campaign. The irony of
all this is the fact that in Manicaland the President was addressing an even
larger gathering of the Apostolic church where he declared that …”Zimbabwe is
open for business and it is also open for religion.”
Following that, police, arrested Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of
Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) and Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Spokesperson, Obert
Masaraure on a ‘charge of murder’ related to a death by suicide which happened
in 2016 incident. An inquest into the matter, had already ruled out foul play.
The labour rights activist endured a week in detention and as has become the
norm, had his bail denied several times.
Police also arrested four Institute for Young Women’s Development (IYWD) staff
members for holding a meeting with their members.
At the time of writing, opposition legislators Job Sikhala and Godfrey Kurauone
and 11 other activists are still in detention, having been denied bail after being
charged with inciting violence in Nyatsime, where CCC activist Ali was
murdered in a suspected politically motivated case.
Following the discovery of Ali’s mutilated body, the police has gone on to arrest
the two legislators and 11 CCC activists, leaving out known Zanu PF activists
who publicly incited Zanu PF supporters to bar CCC supporters. The person
suspected of murdering Ali Pious Jamba has been arrested and has since
appeared in court.
Of great concern is that among the 11 CCC activists, three are victims of arson
after their houses were burned down by suspected Zanu PF supporters in the
orgy of violence that occurred in the area as tempers flared over Ali’s murder.
The surprising bit is that those responsible for malicious damage to property of
CCC members have not been arrested revealing selective application of the law.
In June alone, ZPP recorded 16 cases of unlawful detention as the law
enforcement and justice systems are increasingly being used as weapons to
silence government critics and civil society actors.
In light of the continued use of the law to silence opposition actors, ZPP makes
the following observations and recommendations.
•
The police have a mandate to conduct themselves in a fair and lawful
manner, and should enforce the law regardless of political affiliation. In a fair
society, we should be seeing the Zanu PF Councillor, Masimbi Masimbi who
publicly incited Zanu PF supporters to bar CCC members from mourning Ali,
and the Zanu PF activists who torched CCC activists’ houses, being arrested. Not
only does fairness promote transparency and confidence in the police force, it
also helps end of impunity. As it stands, it appears Zanu PF supporters can
break the law and walk scot-free in the face of considerable evidence of
breaking the law and violating the rights of others.
•
While the CCC leadership has publicly denounced violence, which is a
welcome move, we believe they should do more to ensure that their supporters
are not drawn into retaliating. This is because such a scenario can only breed
more violence. The leadership should also desist from irresponsible utterances.
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