Staff Reporter,
Zimbabwe has had a long and tainted history of human rights violations. With the coming of President Mnangagwa in 2017, the people of Zimbabwe had hopes that the new administration will usher a democratic transition, yet since 2017 human rights violations have persisted among political opponents and democracy activists. The August 2018 elections becoming the pinnacle of the effects of political violence and intimidation to society.
Lissa Masauso, a member of the Citizens Coalition for Change based in Mutorashanga is scarred for life due to the physical and emotional injuries she sustained in August, 2023 when she was abducted by Zanu PF youths during the night, her crime was being an opposition party supporter.
She was labelled a sell-out.
“On the 3rd of August 2023, I was taken from my home while my kids were watching at around 7 p.m. in the evening. The men who took me, drove to a Zanu PF base a few kilometers from my home. They put me in leg irons and handcuffs asking me why I was taking part in opposition politics in the area. They interrogated me on the political plans and programs being organized by the CCC party leadership in Mutorashanga,” Masauso said.
Reluctant to speak, Masauso says she was beaten and tortured.
“They were beating me using button sticks, while some used fists and in some instances kicking me. One of them kicked me from the back resulting in me hitting against the wall. I endured considerable pain and to date I feel serious pain on my back and suffer from migraine headaches,” Masauso said.
Masauso says she was eventually released the following day before the break of dawn, dumped along the roadside to be rescued by passersby.
“I was released at around 4 a.m., dumped by the roadside and helped by a passerby who assisted me with a phone to call my family and party leadership. This detention subjected me to torture in the form of physical assault, mental and psychological torture. I was admitted in the hospital for a week,” Masauso said.
Civil rights activists say the ruling party, Zanu PF has been a dominant political force in Zimbabwe, wielding political power through intimidation, coercion and violence. Its political approach to critics has provided a foundation of undermining constitutionalism and democratic values.
According to human rights advocates, violations have become systematic in Zimbabwe’s political landscape with opposition political and democracy activists sustaining attacks on their civil liberties through arbitrary arrests, assaults, torture and detention becoming a common place in the country.
Chipinge based Civil Rights activist, Owen Dhliwayo says Zimbabwe’s justice system should be sensitized to protect vulnerable citizens who have become targets of political victimization.
“Serious human rights violations and arrests to intimidate political opponents especially during election season so that citizens do not enjoy their democratic rights to support a political party of their choice without fear,” Dhliwayo says.
Since the beginning of this year (2024), close to 100 pro-democracy activists and opposition players that include the CCC 79 activists, Namatai Kwekweza, Robson Chere being arrested signifies the restriction of political participation by members of the Zimbabwean society perceived to be critical of the government.
“The arrests, torture and detention are meant to limit the ability of ordinary citizens to engage in political processes thereby suppressing alternative voices,” says Claris Madhuku, Director for Platform for Youth Democracy, a civil rights organization based in Chipinge.
In its June 2024 report, the Zimbabwe Peace Project recorded 137 human rights violations across the country.
“We documented violations against freedom of assembly and association, harassment and intimidation, the right to equality and non-discrimination, unlawful detention and the right to personal security. Of the 137 victims, 49 percent were female. Members of the ruling Zanu PF contributed significantly to the human rights violations,” read the ZPP report.
