Zimbabwe police charged 18 activists on Thursday for participating in demonstrations demanding the release of the main opposition leader, as the government warned of a crackdown on protests ahead of a regional summit.
The arrests on Wednesday occurred as Zimbabwe prepares to host the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit on August 17, with a preliminary trade and development meeting already underway.
According to Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), four activists were taken off a plane at Harare International Airport on Wednesday.
Another 14 people were arrested in the small northwestern town of Kariba, according to human rights lawyers on X.
They were charged with public disorder on Thursday after participating in protests calling for the release of opposition leader Jameson Timba, who has been detained since June.
Zimbabwe’s opposition has faced a wave of arrests following disputed August 2023 elections in which President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF, which has been in power since independence in 1980, won a parliamentary majority.
Timba, the interim leader of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), was arrested at his home on June 16 along with over 70 other people.
They were accused of attending an unlawful gathering.
According to ZLHR, the four activists arrested in Harare were preparing to fly to the western town of Victoria Falls for the annual African Philanthropy Conference.
Among them was teacher’s union leader Robson Chere, who was described as “visibly tortured and in severe pain.”
Namatai Kwekweza, a human rights activist and recipient of the Kofi Annan Foundation’s 2023 Democracy Prize, was also among those present.
The foundation stated Thursday that it had received credible reports that Kwekweza and the others “were held incommunicado and tortured for several hours before being handed over to the police.”
“We call on the authorities to follow due process and ensure that all of Namatai and her colleagues’ civil and political rights are fully respected,” it said on X.
Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe accused the opposition of planning demonstrations around the SADC summit in order to elicit a “heavy-handed response” and attract international attention.
“The attempts at rendering the country ungovernable will be met with the fitting responses,” he stated. He warned that “such antics will not be tolerated”.
“Spoilers and anti-development-minded forces shall be dealt with decisively,” Kazembe said.
“We will go after those pushing for lawlessness and allow the law to take its course.”
Add Comment