This archive report was first published on 1 August 2019.
On August 1, 2018, Zimbabwe witnessed a violent crackdown against unarmed civilians protesting against the delayed release of presidential vote results. The incident resulted in six civilian deaths.
Former head of the presidential guard, Anselem Sanyatwe, was accused of commanding troops that opened fire on the protesters. The State Department stated that it had credible information that Sanyatwe was involved in the violent crackdown.
When questioned about the incident, Sanyatwe blamed the opposition for the killings. However, a commission of inquiry led by former South African president Kgalema Motlanthe found that the soldiers' use of live ammunition was 'clearly unjustified and disproportionate.'
Despite the findings, Sanyatwe was later retired from the army in February and appointed ambassador to Tanzania. He is Zimbabwe's first high-ranking official to be sanctioned since the ouster of long-time ruler Robert Mugabe in 2017.
US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Brian Nichols, expressed concern over the heavy-handed response by the army, stating that it had dented Harare's efforts to end its international isolation. He also criticized the lack of prosecution of soldiers involved in the killings.
On January 14, 2019, President Emmerson Mnangagwa deployed soldiers after protests against a steep increase in fuel prices turned violent. Human rights groups reported that the soldiers shot dead at least 17 people and raped dozens of women during the clampdown.
On August 1, 2019, Zimbabwe's Foreign Affairs minister, Sibusiso Moyo, announced that police were being reoriented to handle sit-ins to avoid army deployment to keep law and order.
