FILE PHOTO: President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga greet supporters of his ZANU PF party at a rally in Murombedzi, Zimbabwe November 24, 2018. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo
“President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s unfortunate comments are deeply troubling and unwarranted. Coming off the heels of Amnesty International’sexpose of a systematic targeting of dissent during the national ‘stay-away’ period, they affirm that his government used security forces, including military personnel, to brutalize people who were protesting. This latest threat is a sinister hint that the situation could become even worse.
“If his government wants to build an inclusive country that is based on respect for human rights, President Mnangagwa should accommodate differing views, whether they please his government or not.”
Background
Amnesty International recently released a briefing that documented a systematic crackdown on dissent during the national stay-away between 14 and 16 January.
In it, the organization exposes a crackdown on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly as the authorities sought to crush protests against fuel price hikes. In the process numerous serious human rights violations were perpetrated including killings and torture.
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Zanu PF is a party of violence and its modus operandi is simply to blatantly do whatever the party feels it must do to secure its strangle hold on absolute power be it to rig elections and use brute force to silence protesters, etc. Once the party’s iron grip on power, the party will give the usual promises of punishing all those responsible for human rights violation and quietly forget all about.
Zanu PF crossed the Rubicon River a long, long time ago, fully armed; some people are ignoring this fact because they do not want to deal with the consequence of the crossing – that Zanu PF declared war on the nation.
Zanu PF rigged last July’s elections, it has no mandate to govern, it is illegitimate. This is the elephant in the room and we cannot avoid dealing with is anymore