As part of the ongoing efforts to address the crackdown on human rights defenders, democracy activists, and opposition political members in Zimbabwe ahead of the 44th SADC Heads of State Summit, Africans Rising together with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) across Africa, have drafted a statement condemning the human rights violations and the targeting of individuals while reminding the Zimbabwean government of its domestic and international human rights obligations.
The statement released on Tuesday morning has generated signatures from close to 50 CSOs across Africa.
The statement addresses the following:
- Zimbabwe’s state-sponsored repression, including abductions, arbitrary arrests, and unjust denial of bail, is causing alarm among human rights and civil society organizations. This escalation is particularly concerning ahead of the 44th session of the SADC Summit, which is scheduled for 17 August 2024.
- The crackdown on the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) exemplifies this repression, as armed police violently disrupted a peaceful gathering, subjecting unarmed students to beatings and arrests.
- Over 77 democracy activists are currently in pre-trial detention, with some being severely beaten and tortured.
- The judiciary and law enforcement agencies are being weaponized to prosecute and persecute political opponents, signalling an alarming escalation of domestic repression.
- Extrajudicial killings have also increased, with several opposition members abducted, tortured, and killed following the August 2023 elections. Recent death threats from Zimbabwe’s Information Minister, Mr. Jenfan Muswere, accusing opposition and civil society organizations of planning to instigate chaos and subversive activities exacerbate fears.
Human rights and civil society organizations across the African continent are deeply concerned about the severe restriction of civic space and the systematic erosion of fundamental freedoms in Zimbabwe.
This is happening at a time when Africans Rising will be hosting the largest gathering of people of African descent to deliberate on major worrying issues that Africans continue to face across the continent and in the diaspora. The assembly to be held from the 29th – 31st August, 2024 at the Hill View Guest Center in Accra, Ghana, will be under the theme “Towards Pan-African Solidarity: United We Stand, Divided We Fall”. This theme is a call for Africans everywhere to rise up and support one another in times of distress and explore the systemic inter-relations between these issues affecting Africa, aiming to develop solutions, campaigns, and processes that are intersectional in addressing these issues.
