In a shocking admission, Zanu PF has confirmed that it deliberately imprisoned human rights defenders to prevent demonstrations during the recent SADC Summit.
The regime justified these actions as necessary to maintain a positive image for the country, which hosted the summit where President Emmerson Mnangagwa assumed the chairmanship.
Speaking to journalists in Harare after the summit, Zanu PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa praised the country’s security forces for their actions, claiming that the activists received the “medicine” they deserved.
“If you are a disorderly country, you will not make progress. When everyone else is trying to put on a good show for a particular occasion, and you decide to become a champion of disorder, you are a deviant,” Mutsvangwa said.
“So if you are a deviant, you will be dealt with accordingly, which means being jailed so that you don’t create a sideshow and take attention away from the event.”
Using the inflammatory term “flies” – reminiscent of the dark period of the Gukurahundi massacres in the 1980s – Mutsvangwa likened activists and human rights defenders to pests that needed to be eradicated during the SADC Summit.
“Those who wanted to be flies in the ointment, the ointment was well protected, and the flies were swatted away,” he said. “They got the right medicine. They were put away because they wanted to create disorder.”
Mutsvangwa, struggling to contain his laughter, further defended the actions of the security forces, adding: “There is a good reason to release them now because there is no longer any event to disrupt. What they wanted to disturb is over. There’s no point in keeping them in jail at the state’s expense.”
Renowned human rights lawyer and Bulawayo Mayor, David Coltart, expressed outrage at Mutsvangwa’s statements, calling them a blatant admission of the regime’s deliberate efforts to silence dissent.
“This is a remarkably candid admission that the Harare regime deliberately imprisoned and tortured people to prevent them from exercising their democratic right to protest, but now that the SADC summit is over, they can be released,” Coltart wrote on his X account on Monday. “What does this have to do with the rule of law and constitutionalism? The casualness and humour accompanying this brazen admission are profoundly shocking.”
Over 100 human rights defenders and opposition activists were arrested between June and July 2024, facing charges of disorderly conduct and inciting public violence.
The first wave of arrests targeted Jameson Timba and 78 activists at Timba’s private residence in Avondale on June 16 while commemorating the Day of the African Child. Despite being denied bail by both the magistrate and High Court, they have remained in prison for over 60 days, and their trial is ongoing.
Scores of activists across the country, including Transform Zimbabwe leader Jacob Ngarivhume, were also arrested and remain imprisoned. Young activists like Mmeli Moyo, Namatai Kwekweza, Robson Chere, and Samuel Gwenzi also remain in custody after being denied bail.
Local and international human rights organisations, have condemned the arrests and torture of these activists.
So oppression, brutality and dehumanizing acts are ideological practical lessons taught by Zanupf at its ideological college..