The High Court on Monday ruled that the eviction of some 150 settlers at Arnold or Manzou farm in Mazowe, Mashonaland Central province, should be discontinued.
President Robert Mugabe’s wife, Grace, reportedly intends to set up a wildlife sanctuary on the sprawling farm but government has denied this.
In a statement, AI described the High Court order as a “victory for human rights and justice”. Police demolished homes of the settlers and torched their personal belongings on January 7.
The evictions were carried out despite an earlier High Court order issued in August 2014 protecting the Arnold Farm residents from arbitrary eviction under Section 74 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The families initially occupied the farm in 2000 as part of the government’s Fast Track Land Reform Programme to equitably distribute land between black subsistence farmers and white Zimbabweans of European ancestry.
AI said forced evictions were prevalent and cited several cases in Harare, Mashonaland East, Masvingo and Mashonaland Central provinces that took place in 2014.
“In some of these cases, court orders were disregarded by the authorities,” said AI.
Post published in: Human Rights