From the 10-point explanation in 2.1, backed by the statistics as summarised in the tables
and in the executive summary, the following can be concluded about the turbulent month of
August in respect of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe:
•
•
•
Documentary
2yrs after
August 1, 2018
Shootings
•
•
ZPCS top
official
appreciates
donation of
jerseys, PPE
to prisons
•
•
The conflation of the State and the ruling party has reached the climax. As noted,
pronouncements by Zanu PF officials are seen to take an effect on decisions made
within state institutions. It is clear that the attacks on Chin’ono by Zanu PF acting
spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa in June 2020 could have signalled the ruling party’s
intentions to have the journalist persecuted by prosecution, and this played out in the
way he and other like-minded political and human rights activists were arrested,
denied bail and treated while in detention.
Evidently, the statements by Chinamasa in July, where he called on party supporters
to ‘fight back against the July 31 protesters’ play out in this month’s statistics, where
Zanu PF contributed to a significant 12.92 percent of human rights violations, up from
4.97 percent in July.
The judicial system in Zimbabwe is under siege from an executive that seeks to silence
dissent and retain power at any costs. The denial of bail to human rights and political
activists, the attempts to silence lawyers and judgements that local and international
jurists have condemned all point to a worrying state of affairs in the justice system in
Zimbabwe.
The state security agents, who are supposed to protect citizens, have become fully
fledged violators of human rights. Revelations of the work of the “Ferret team”, which
is allegedly comprised of the police, the intelligence and the army, are enough to send
chills down the spine of any Zimbabwean. The fact that this team is allegedly meant
to use some of the most brutal and ruthless ways of dealing with anti-government
activists leaves no one safe. It shows that the security sector is not there to protect
citizens, but to prey on people while protecting the interests of the ruling elite.
Government has unofficially, but effectively suspended fundamental freedoms, such
as the right to free of expression, freedom of association, right to justice, right to health,
right to social protection and others enshrined in the Constitution. The arrests, torture
and abduction of people for simply expressing themselves have confirmed that
Zimbabwe has become some kind of a ‘prison’. Government’s continued neglect of
the health and social welfare sectors has left millions vulnerable. No attention has
been paid to the reports by the World Food Programme that 6.8 million Zimbabweans
face starvation. Healthcare workers have been on strike, justifiably asking government
for a living wage, and their pleas have not been heard. Health institutions are too
incapacitated to deal with Covid-19 and other diseases. And yet, the ruling elite has
for itself state of the art private institutions where they can get treatment, ironically
using the poor taxpayer’s money.
The government is proving to be a non-listening government and can defend itself
using any means, and any set of words. The reaction to the ZCBC statement and the
subsequent statements expressing concerns over the deteriorating situation are
testimony of that
In all this, the shining light in the dark is the rise in citizens’ consciousness of their
rights. Even those that have always chosen silence, began to speak out. The
#ZimbabweanLivesMatter campaign has all but proved that citizens can still speak out
and be heard beyond borders. At millions of tweets so far, and compelling evidence
of the crisis that is unfolding in Zimbabwe, the campaign’s hashtag, which is cited at
an average of every 5 seconds as observed by ZPP, has raised global awareness and
invited international solidarity with the long-suffering people of Zimbabwe.
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