Many teachers were targeted during the 2008 elections, particularly those working in rural schools, and fear that they will be especially vulnerable in future elections scheduled to take place in 2010, said Amnesty International in a statement to mark Workers Day.
Their employer, the Public Service Commission has done nothing to guarantee the safety of teachers.
The PSC is a statutory body which employs all government workers in Zimbabwe including teachers.
During election periods teachers, especially in remote rural areas, are often targeted for beatings, harassment and torture by ruling ZANU PF militia and war veterans who accused them of campaigning for then main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.
Dozens of schools have since the emergence of the MDC in 1999 as a potent rival to ZANU PF been forced to close and send children home every election time after teachers were beaten and forcibly expelled from classrooms by ZANU PF militants as punishment for allegedly backing the opposition.
Many schools in rural areas were closed after ZANU PF supporters, often led by soldiers, turned some schools into bases from which they operated in the run up to the June presidential election.
Amnesty said none of the reported incidents of torture and ill-treatment of teachers that occurred since 2008 up to now has been investigated and no one has been brought to justice.
Teachers who spoke to Amnesty last March expressed serious concerns about working in an environment in which they fear for their safety.
Amnesty International calls on the PSC to work with the police to ensure that impartial and independent investigations are carried out into the torture and ill-treatment of teachers and other civil servants that took place between the March and June elections in 2008, reads party of the statement.
The London-based rights group said teachers are being threatened with violence and terror by ZANU PF and Mugabe’s supporters.
Those found to be responsible should be brought to justice and victims should receive redress. Such measures would be a first step to ensuring the safety of the teachers and improving the environment in which they are working, it added. – ZimOnline