Wave after Wave
JUNE 2021
1.0 Executive Summary
A boy walks past the remains of a tuckshop that was demolished in Highfields, Harare. The tuckshop
also served as a house for the owner and is one of the many informal trading spaces and houses
demolished under an operation by the Zimbabwean government in June 2021.
PIC: ZPP INFO
In post-coup Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) has continued to record wave
after wave of human rights violations as the democratic space continues to narrow.
Criticising government has easily become a reason for one to get arrested, harassed,
detained or denied access to government services.
The line between government and the ruling party has been violated, continues to
fade and in all this, the ordinary citizen is the most affected.
Just this month, ZPP recorded a wave of evictions and demolitions resulting from the
government’s policy inconsistences, corruption and interference in local authorities.
This happened as service delivery continued to decline, and despite pronouncements
by government that it had embarked on an emergency rehabilitation of urban roads,
the current efforts have remained hardly noticeable as the majority of roads and other
public infrastructure remain in a state of decay.
There was also a wave of repression marked by arrests and detention of civil and
political rights activists.
This month, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) dominated the list of human rights
violators at over 44 percent, followed by Zanu PF and the Municipal Police at just over
21 percent each.
Municipal police and the ZRP enforced the demolition of houses and informal trading
spaces and the ZRP was responsible for enforcing the lockdown imposed by
government in response to the rise in cases of COVID-19.
Zanu PF, which is geared up for the 2023 elections and is in the process of setting up
local structures countrywide, is doing so with little respect for the people’s freedom of
association.
In all this, general citizens make 99 percent of the victims of the human rights
violations recorded this month.
Food and other aid continue to be used as a toll for political coercion and this month,
ZPP recorded 31 cases of discrimination of people, during aid distribution with
Manicaland, Masvingo and Midlands topping the list at 22.22 percent each.
In the month of June 2021, government imposed a lockdown to contain the rising
cases of COVID-19 and this happened amid a wave of different human rights
violations largely perpetrated by government agents, and the ruling party.
General citizens make 99 percent of the victims of
the human rights violations recorded this month.
3