This archive report was first published on 19 August 2019.
On August 19, 2019, Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, was under heavy security as troops and police patrolled the streets to prevent a planned opposition march.
The march, organized by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was banned by police after they violently dispersed protesters in Harare on Friday.
Using loudhailers, police warned people against joining the demonstration, citing deteriorating economic conditions.
Police set up checkpoints on most roads leading to the city centre and cordoned off one of the city's usually busy areas, the precincts of Tredgold Magistrate Courts.
The MDC is challenging the ban in court, citing the jailing of a well-known government critic, tribal chief Felix Ndiweni, as one of the reasons for the protest.
Chief Ndiweni was jailed for 18 months for allegedly destroying a villager's property, sparking widespread anger in the western Matabeleland region.
On Friday, police fired teargas and beat up several demonstrators in Harare after they gathered in a square where the protest had originally been scheduled to start.
The protests were the first since President Emmerson Mnangagwa's decision to hike fuel prices by more than 100 percent sparked nationwide demonstrations in January, which left at least 17 people dead and several injured.
According to the UN, about five million Zimbabweans, or a third of the population, are in need of food aid.
"We are deeply concerned by the socio-economic crisis that continues to unfold in Zimbabwe," said UN Human Rights spokesman Rupert Colville in Geneva on Friday.
"We urge the Government to find ways to engage with protesters, and to refrain from the use of violence," he added.
