EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
It is therefore not a surprise
that ZPP recorded four cases
of killings,30 cases of assault,
and five cases of unlawful
detention, most of which are
attributable to the actions of
the state security agents who
seem to have become the law
unto themselves.
In light of that, the Zimbabwe
Republic Police (ZRP),
contributed to nearly 40
percent of all human rights
violations and the Zimbabwe
National Army contributed to
nearly two percent.
While the cases involving the
army may be fewer, they are
more severe as they resulted
in unnecessary loss of life like
in the Mhondoro-Ngezi case
where a soldier shot down
people during a bar brawl.
It is of great concern that of
the four cases where people
died, three of these cases
involved state security agents
while the other one involved
an artisanal miner.
The Zimbabwe Peace Project
(ZPP) has continued to call on
state security agents to act
professionally and on the
State to ensure all
perpetrators are brought to
justice.
The State must also take
preventive measures like
capacitating the disciplinary
units of the army and the
police, keeping a tight lock of
armouries, and ensuring that
soldiers do not roam around
in public carrying weapons.
In addition to the state
security agents playing an
undesirable role in human
rights abuses, the ruling Zanu
PF party significantly
contributed to the December
2021 statistics and was
responsible for just over 47
percent of all violations.
This is mainly as a result of
the party’s internal provincial
elections, held in the last two
weeks of December, marred by
violence, intimidation and
harassment.
In one of the cases in
Mhondoro-Ngezi a rival
candidate opened fire and
randomly shot at a vehicle of
his opponent.
As the political fights
happened, there was a surge
in incidents involving artisanal
miners and machete gangs,
and in the month under
review they contributed to
about five percent of the
violations.
Zimbabwe’s socio-economic
situation continued to
deteriorate, with increased
incidents of substance abuse
among the hopeless and
jobless young persons making
them even more vulnerable.
In light of the gloomy
atmosphere, the ZPP believes
2022 should be a year where
the government of Zimbabwe
should reflect and be
considerate to the citizens
who have continued to bear
the brunt of human rights
abuses by the very arms of
security that should protect
them.
Government should be serious
about tackling the rise in
substance abuse, and must
take into account that it is
about young people not
having available, accessible
and equal opportunities to
generate income. High level
corruption, greed by those
with access to national
resources, a lack of a peoplecentred approach to the
economy, politicisation of all
sectors of the economy and
lack of transparency have
robbed a generation of
opportunities, and the ZPP
appeals to President
Emmerson Mnangagwa to
seriously look into the
implications of his failure to
deal with this issue on the
future generations.