This month, ZPP features accounts by some of the individuals who have suffered human rights
violations.
An account by Fadzai Mahere, MDC A spokesperson: We had written placards that read "No
Violence," "I am protesting peacefully," Babies' Lives Matter," "Covid Kills, So does corruption,"
"FreeZimbabwe," "I have a dream," and "EndHunger". When we were making these placards, we
joked that each placard represented each person's little prayer or wish for Zimbabwe. It was a
gloriously sunny, blue-skied day but the air was thick and ominous…
Moments after we left the house, a vehicle without a number plate was following us and taking
pictures. We continued walking. Courage does not mean you're not afraid. It means that you face
your fears and choose to act in spite of them.
..We continued up a main road, peaceful and socially-distanced. We continued chatting. Firm in the
conviction that we were innocent and had nothing to hide or run away from, we went to a coffee
shop at a shopping centre. They followed us there too.
I wish to thank
everyone who tweeted,
made calls and prayed
for Tawanda's safe
return. He was tortured
in unspeakable terms,
but he remains
resolute. He's now
getting the medical
attention he so badly
needs. He's a strong
lad and will pull
through. We demand
justice! – Journalist
Mduduzi Mathuthu
commenting on his
"Friends, here is a
principle. If you
want your suffering
to end, you have to
act. Action comes
from hope. This the
principle of faith
and action,"
Award-winning author
Tsitsi Dangarembga
We observed from a distance that the persons in plainclothes were now changing into police
uniforms. We telephoned David Drury who arrived with Emma Drury. As they arrived, riot police had
flooded the shopping centre, armed with AK rifles. This scene was unfamiliar in this part of town.
We remained seated until they started pointing at me "uyo, uyo." They charged at us. I asked why
and what the charge could possibly be if we were under any sort of arrest. "Inciting public violence!"
the officer yelled as another leapt over the barricaded entrance to the coffee shop.
"What are you doing? This is ridiculous. Why do you find it necessary to jump over the entrance?"
Mr Drury asked the police in an attempt to de-escalate their disproportionate advance towards us.
"We want to see the placards in your car."
The placard at the top when they inspected the car was the one that read, "No Violence" followed
by the one that said "I am protesting peacefully."
Of course, they bundled all 7 of us up into the back of a police truck and charged us with inciting
public violence anyway. We lay and sat on top of each other as we drove through a menacingly
silent CBD to the Harare Central Police Station. When it comes to enforcing repression, all
semblance of wanting to respect Covid 19 is thrown out the window. (This is an excerpt that details
the moment up to the arrest. The full account is here
A Narration by Tapiwa Zivira, ZPP Media and Communications Officer: While filming an incident at
the flyover on Lytton Rd this morning (July 17, 2020), about six municipal police officers and two ZRP
officers ran towards me asking me why I was filming.
They sounded so angry and threatening.
I didn’t run, but produced my media accreditation card and continued to insist that I was a duly accredited
media practitioner.
They didn’t hear any of that and started punching me with fists an open palms, dragging me all over the
place.
One of them had already wrestled my phone from my hand.
In no time, I was dragged into the awaiting municipal vehicle, together with an arrested truck driver
I later learnt that the truck driver was being chased by municipal police officers, and one of them jumped
onto the truck, but fell onto the ground and died.
In the truck were two ZRP officers and about six munìcipal police officers.
I asked them why they were so angry, savage and unprofessional.
They responded by heckling me and threatening me. I really wanted to understand the source of their
anger.
I kept insisting that what they had done was unlawful and that I was going to take steps to seek recourse.
As we got into the CBD, the municipal officers dropped off one by one.
By the time we got to Harare Central Police Station, the only people in the vehicle were the two ZRP
officers and three municipal police officers.
The ZRP officers then asked me to get off the vehicle and here they began apologising for what they
had done to me.
Everyone else had disappeared.
I told them I would lodge a complaint before leaving the station. No one was prepared to account for their
actions. This is Zimbabwe, where impunity reigns.
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