Condemnation and calls for action as Zimbabwean activists detained and allegedly tortured

Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights are representing four pro-democracy activists after they were taken from a  commercial plane in the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare and kept in separate rooms for eight hours in the airport and tortured, according to the organisation. After the torture, by what has been reported in ZimLive reports, they were handed over to the local police and only then could the lawyers reach them.

“We have worked tirelessly during the day and at night searching for victims of abduction and torture, and are now with them at Harare Magistrate’s Court, representing them after they were formally charged with disorderly conduct,” Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights said. 

Namatai Kwekweza is an advocate and human rights activist in Zimbabwe. She works to advance young people and women’s rights in the country. She was with Robson Chere, the general secretary of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, and human rights politician Councillor Samuel Gwenzi and Vusumuzi Moyo, who is an artist but was targeted due to proximity with the human rights defenders. 

The arrests take place as Zimbabwe prepares to assume the chair of the Southern African Development Community, and to host the SADC Summit on 17 August 2024 in Harare.

Images of four in blood-stained clothes were shared by civil society organisations who described their condition as limping and visibly in pain as they made their first appearance in the Harare Magistrate’s court at noon on Friday.

Their bail application was postponed to August 5 , so the four were due to spend the weekend in jail, according to the legal human rights group.

Describing their ordeal, Arnold Tsunga,  a member of the legal team representing the four, said. “They were kicked and shoved to enter via a carousel that ordinarily carries luggage into the domestic terminal. They were detained in an excluded poorly lit room at the domestic terminal of Robert Mugabe International Airport  They were taken in turns into a dark room where each individual was held in solitary confinement and was tortured by between 8 and 12 men at a time. The room also had a pit that had pieces of metal and drums that was 3 or so metres deep The torture included being hit with open hands, clenched fists, wooden planks, iron bars. The blows were being administered on the back, in the buttocks, in the thighs, in the face, shoulders. During the torture they would be made to lie facing down or up and besides the beating, water would be poured on their bodies.

Tsunga said Chere was tortured the most. A cloth was used to cover his face "as water was being poured over the face creating a drowning sensation".  Threats  were made "to rape his wife and abduct his children should the country experience demonstrations during the SADC Summit. All the human rights defenders experienced psychological torture and threats". 

The torturers recorded the ordeal, which went on for hours, with their mobile phones, said Tsunga, adding the activists were denied access to lawyers and their phones and a laptop were confiscated. 

Only when the accused were transferred to the Harare Central Police Station , were they allowed to consult lawyers, Tsunga told Daily Maverick. 

Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights advocates in court to help human rights defenders who were allegedly victims of torture after being detained for eight hours at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on 31 July, 2024. (Photo: Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights)

Violence condemned

Civil Society Organisations including Southern  Defenders, We Lead and the Zimbabwe National Students Union, condemned the violence Zimbabwean activists face. 

In a statement, the organisations said the rights defenders were en route to a crucial African philanthropy conference in Victoria Falls and their arrest "constitutes a blatant disregard for fundamental human rights and democratic principles".

The artist, Moyo, who was a renowned sound engineer "and in no way an activist", had been en route to Victoria Falls for a concert.

“The unwarranted actions of the security forces, who forcibly removed these individuals from a commercial flight, are a gross violation of their personal liberty and professional rights. Holding them incommunicado for eight hours is a cruel and unusual punishment that contravenes both domestic and international law. To subsequently charge them with the frivolous offence of disorderly conduct is a cynical attempt to justify their unlawful detention,” the statement read.

“Zimbabwe is a signatory to the United Nations Charter and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, both of which enshrine the principles of freedom of assembly, association, and expression. 

Fundamental rights

“These fundamental rights are further protected under the Zimbabwean Constitution, sections 58, 59, 60 and 61. The actions taken against these human rights defenders are in direct conflict with these commitments. We condemn this incident as a deliberate attempt to intimidate and silence civil society. It is a chilling reminder of the shrinking space for human rights defenders in Zimbabwe.

“The government’s disregard for the rule of law and its persistent erosion of democratic freedoms are a threat to the nation’s stability and progress. As Zimbabwe prepares to assume the chair of the Southern African Development Community, it is imperative that the government demonstrates its commitment to upholding human rights and the rule of law. "

The statement called on the international community and the region to also play their part to condemn the violation of human rights and "to exert pressure on Zimbabwe to respect the rights of its citizens and to adhere to its domestic and international human rights obligations".

According to Tsunga The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders issued a tweet (X) calling the Zimbabwean government to release the HRDs. However he said SADC has been indifferent and that no government in SADC has raised any issues with the "brutalisation of citizens and violations of rights."

Shocked by reports that HRDs incl. Namatai Kwekweza & Robson Chere were detained yesterday in ??, held incommunicado & at least one mistreated in custody. Namatai joined us last year for a meeting on youth HRDs & is an inspirational young woman. All must be released now @MoFA_ZW pic.twitter.com/mlvSVPKLni

— Mary Lawlor UN Special Rapporteur HRDs (@MaryLawlorhrds) August 1, 2024

‘State-sponsored clampdown’

Tsunga said the clampdown "undermines the SADC as a whole and reinforces the notion that the SADC heads of state do not respect the rule of law and judicial oversight. It is regrettable that in 2012, Zimbabwe led the SADC States to disband the SADC Tribunal. It is not permissible for SADC to create a climate of impunity. It is pure paranoia. The Security Sector and the elements of militia who operate with acquiescence of the state have run amok thinking that there may be planned demonstrations before and during the SADC Summit. The charges are trumped up around plans to hold demonstrations."

Emma Louise Powell, the DA spokesperson on international relations and cooperation, released a statement, calling on the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, to exercise South Africa’s right as a SADC member and urgently demand that the upcoming SADC summit be moved to a different location.

She said that it was clear that the "paranoid Zanu-PF regime" feared public protests in the lead-up to the summit. She pointed out that recently Jameson Timba, an opposition politician,  together with 77 opposition activists, had been detained, held in horrific conditions, and repeatedly denied bail after they were arrested for allegedly holding an “unauthorised political meeting”.

“By abusing state machinery to violate the rights of Zimbabweans, the unrepentant Zanu-PF regime has demonstrated that it is prepared to go to any lengths to violate the law in order to entrench its authoritarian rule. South Africa, and by extension the Southern African Development Community, have an obligation to hold the Zimbabwean government to account. Allowing the summit to proceed under the current circumstances will not only endorse Zanu-PF’s flagrant abuse of international law, but further undermine the principles upon which the Southern African Development Community was established. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s upcoming Southern African Development Community Chairmanship is testament to the continued failure of regional leaders to hold these political thugs to account,” Powell said.

She added that South Africa must take a firm stand to uphold international law and advocate for the summit to be moved to a location that upholds and respects democratic values.  “This action would send a clear message that South Africa... will no longer tolerate the suppression of democratic freedoms on our doorstep,” said Powell. 

Bloomberg has reported that the Harare government was using the upcoming SADC event to repair dilapidated infrastructure — like fixing roads and street lights — and build villas to be used by regional leaders at the site of a new area north of the city. Any protests would tarnish the preparations, Information Minister Jenfan Muswere told reporters at a briefing on Thursday. “The full might of the law will be deployed in response” to plans to disrupt the summit, he said. DM

This article was updated with some adjustments on Saturday morning, August 4, 2024.