Amnesty International has lamented the Zimbabwe’s progess.
This comes as the country marks 43 years since it gained independence.
Zimbabwe incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Tuesday wished sent well wishes to the country’s citizens saying: “Let us never forget the sacrifices our forefathers made in pursuit of a better Zimbabwe!”
However, Amnesty International it was unfortunate the country faced “the reality of a rapidly shrinking civic space, including criminalisation of dissent and targeting of political activists and human rights defenders.”
“Forty-three years after independence, authorities are yet to guarantee in practice the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly which are increasingly being threatened despite being guaranteed under the constitution and international law,” said Flavia Mwangovya, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East and Southern Africa.
She added: “The right to freedom of peaceful assembly has continuously been violated and undermined with the authorities refusing to give clearance for some of the main opposition party’s rallies, arresting and convicting peaceful protesters and using unnecessary and excessive force to stop protests.
“As Zimbabwe approaches elections later this year, freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly have come under increasing attack. Dissenting voices are being criminalised, with some opposition activists put in lengthy pre-trial detentions.”
Mwangovya urged authorities to: “promote, protect and uphold the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, as well as guarantee the socio-economic rights of every Zimbabwean.”
Background
Zimbabwe gained independence from the British colonial rule on 18 April 1980. Today marks forty-three years of independence. However, as Amnesty International’s 2022/23 annual report highlights, there has been a worrying trend toward the closing of civic space in Zimbabwe, with the right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly being threatened. Members and supporters of the main opposition party have been violently attacked at political rallies.
Protests have been effectively banned as demonstrated by the arrest and detention of Job Sikhala and Godfrey Sithole on charges of inciting violence, the arrest of 19 students at the University of Zimbabwe in September 2022 after they embarked on peaceful #FeesMustFall demonstrations, the conviction of Tsitsi Dangarembga and Julie Barnes following their peaceful protest, and more recently, the conviction of Fadzayi Mahere for “publishing or communicating falsehoods” based on a law that is no longer existent in Zimbabwe, after she posted a video on Twitter alleging that a police officer had killed a baby.
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