“We are way more powerful when we turn to each other and not on each other when we celebrate our diversity and together tear down the mighty walls of injustice.” – Cynthia McKinney, American politician and activist
Today marks five years since the shocking and tragic shootings of six civilians on 1 August 2018. On this day, exactly five years ago, scores of Zimbabweans who had decided to actively discharge their right to protest took to the streets to express their frustration at the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s perceived delay in announcing the presidential election results following the 30 July 2018 harmonized elections. The protestors were met with a brutal and disproportionate force that resulted in the tragic loss of life. The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) was deployed into the streets and fired live ammunition into the demonstrators and innocent bystanders resulting in at least six lives being lost and scores more being injured. Some of the dead and injured were shot in the back whilst fleeing posing no immediate threat to law enforcement officials. Five years on, various stakeholders need to pause, reflect and recognise that such an incident had no place in contemporary democracy and smite any signals of recurrence.
A Commission of Inquiry on August 1, 2018, post-election violence (the Commission) was set up and chaired by the former President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe. This was a platform that was established to become the formative steps towards affording victims of this tragic day redress for the actions of the members of law enforcement. The Commission released its report on 18 December 2018 that proffered some comprehensive recommendations towards the government. Some of the critical findings made by the Commission included that the six people who had died and the thirty-five who were injured were a result of the actions of the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the ZNA. Additionally, the Commission also found that the deployment of the military was lawful but that the operational framework in terms of section 37 (2) of the Public Order and Security Act [Chapter 11:07] had not fully been complied with. To this end, the Commission made several recommendations that included compensation for losses and damages caused, electoral reforms as well as accountability in respect of the alleged perpetrators.
There was also a promise by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in his 26 August 2018 inaugural speech to ensure respect for human rights in his tenure as the President-elect as he referred to the tragic event as “regrettable and most unacceptable”.
The Forum is aggrieved that five years later, there have been no meaningful attempts or steps taken to genuinely implement the Commission’s recommendations. This is not just about the 1 August 2018 shootings, but also about the number of political and human rights violations that have occurred in the aftermath of this incident. A 2018 Post-election Violence Monitoring Report by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum), recorded a total of 274 human rights violations between 1 and 31 August 2018. The fact that such a high number of violations were recorded over a short period is indicative of how the immediate post-election period was tainted by a brutal crackdown on opposition political party members and activists. According to the 2018 Post-election Violence Monitoring Report by the Forum, these violations ranged from assaults, abductions, arbitrary arrests as well as sexual torture. The trajectory taken by the incumbent administration reversed the promises made about ensuring the realisation and enjoyment of human rights for all.
On the other hand, the Forum applauds Government for signing into law the Zimbabwe Independent Complaints Commission Act (the ZICC Act) in October 2022. This Act would provide for the investigation and prosecution of members of security services for misconduct. The gazetting of the ZICC Act is a commendable step towards security sector reform as it aims to enhance accountability and transparency by the security services and their members by the principles of the Constitution. It was also long overdue as the Act was signed into law nine years after the independent complaints’ mechanism was envisioned under section 210 of the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe. However, to date, there have been no reports of the mechanism being operationalized through its constitution with the commissioners, nor of compensation being accorded as redress in particular, support and school fees for the children of the deceased as per the recommendations of the Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry.
The Forum is also concerned that to date, there has been no evidence of comprehensive security sector reforms to ensure that the events of 1 August 2018 are not repeated. Instead, the state was found wanting again when there was a repetition of the 2018 shootings through the yet again tragic 1 January 2019 shootings. The State once again, deployed the military to quell protests against the rising price of fuel. In this incident, seventeen people lost their lives as a result. Almost five years on, there has been no evidence of disciplinary action being taken against the perpetrators of both the 1 August 2018 or January 2019 killings to date.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing that it seeks to destroy. It is therefore imperative to permanently break the cycle of violence and put in place comprehensive, far-reaching and long-term mechanisms to end the cycle of impunity for perpetrators of organised violence and torture. There is an urgent need for the eradication of reprehensible acts such as the 1 August 2018 shootings that defy common humanity and threaten collective safety and peace as a nation.
The Forum accordingly intreats the Government of Zimbabwe to:
- Urgently and immediately act to reaffirm its commitment to peace through
- the full implementation of the recommendations of the Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry
- The undertaking of a comprehensive, open and transparent investigation into the events that make up 1 August 2018 and ensuring that the actual perpetrators of the shootings, including those who gave the command are held accountable; the taking of steps to ensure that a permanent compensation fund for the victims and survivors of the 1 August 2018 shootings is fully set up and sufficiently financed as a matter of urgency in light of the lapse in time since the occurrence of the shootings; and
- the ratification of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT)
- The taking of urgent steps to ensure that the Zimbabwe Independent Complaints Commission Act (ZICCA) is operationalized to ensure that perpetrators of violence are investigated and prosecuted fully and that victims and survivors of violence receive adequate compensation and rehabilitation.