HARARE - The Zimbabwe Republic Police Support Unit continuously gets directives from Zanu (PF) hardliners to beat and detain anyone suspected to be planning a demonstration without investigating the cause of such gatherings, said a top police official. Orders to beat up anybody opposing Zanu (PF) are still coming from the police top officials who are not happy with the current political set-up.
We are instructed to harass civilians who happen to stage demos without finding out the reasons and basis for such actions. What we know as police is that we can only apply force to violent demonstrations, not small law-abiding civilians organizing their social meetings. The directives are so barbaric and we have told junior officers not to follow them, said the senior policeman, who requested anonymity for fear of victimization.