•
ABDUCTED & TORTURED: Noxolo Maphosa shows her
wounds and torn clothes after she was abducted, tortured
and sexually assaulted by alleged state security agents in
the aftermath of the July 31 protests
ZPP recommends that the government of
Zimbabwe be cognizant of their obligations towards
the people of Zimbabwe. As a government, they
have a primary responsibility to ensure that all
citizens are protected from social vulnerability. The
current situation where people are dying because
of the neglect of the health sector cannot continue.
The increasing hunger and poverty and economic
malaise are unacceptable. Government should set
its priorities right and ensure all citizens get
adequate, affordable and accessible healthcare,
and measures should be put in place to avert the
hunger crisis. Government should fix the economy
as the current economic challenges have become
the biggest threat to the realization of fundamental
human rights
• Government should implement security sector
reforms. The current situation, where some
obscure, mafia-style units are alleged to be
embedded within the state security institutions are
a cause for concern. Such units should be
abolished as they do not have a place in what is
supposed to be a democracy. The police and the
army are there to protect people, and must act as
such. Any individuals who commit human rights
violations and crimes against humanity under the
ambit of the country’s state security institutions
must be prosecuted.
• The executive and ruling party should respect the
independence of the judiciary and the sanctity of the
legal profession. Interfering in the work of judicial
officers and lawyers is unacceptable and
unconstitutional. The Constitution of Zimbabwe
clearly specifies the separation of powers and those
in power should respect that.
• As August has shown, Zimbabwe has a long history
of human rights violations, and this cannot
continue. The government should gather will-power
to end the violations and to begin a genuine healing
and reconciliation process, where perpetrators
open up, and victims and their families can find
closure.
Zimbabwe has a bright, prosperous tomorrow, and it begins
today, and it starts with political will power, and citizen
participation. Without that, the current situation will
continue, and we will continue to ask, IS THIS FREEDOM?
It is alleged that she was abducted in the morning by
suspected state security agents
IN HER OWN WORDS: NOXOLO MAPHOSA
“I called my friend and told her there were men following me. Just as I ended the call, they grabbed me from behind and took my phone. They
forced me into a white Isuzu pick-up truck.
I was blindfolded and driven to a house where I was interrogated about the whereabouts of my uncle Josphat ‘Mzaca’ Ngulube, who is a
political activist. I told them I did not know my uncle’s whereabouts.
One of the men said I thought they were playing. He took out a knife and cut through my bra, leggings and panties. The men took turns to
beat me on my legs and thighs with logs while I was naked.
*Maphosa has since fled to South Africa and there were disturbing reports that she had to seek refuge at a South African police
station after vehicles, suspected to belong to Zimbabwean state security agents camped close to her new home in South
9 Africa