This archive report was first published on 27 August 2019.
On August 26, 2019, Amnesty International released a report marking the first anniversary of President Emerson Mnangagwa's presidency, cataloguing alleged human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.
The report highlighted a crackdown on freedoms and arrests of rights activists, including Evan Mawarire and Peter Mutasa, who were charged with plotting to overthrow the government for calling on Zimbabweans to miss work in response to a fuel price increase.
Days after the July 30 election, the army used deadly force to control a demonstration by unarmed civilians protesting a delay in the announcement of the vote results, resulting in six deaths and dozens of injuries.
Leading civil rights activist Evan Mawarire and union leader Peter Mutasa were arrested and charged with plotting to overthrow the government for calling on Zimbabweans to miss work for a day as a response to the fuel price increase.
Amnesty International's deputy director for southern Africa, Muleya Mwananyanda, stated, "What we have witnessed in Zimbabwe since President Emmerson Mnangagwa took power is a ruthless attack on human rights, with the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association increasingly restricted and criminalised."
"What we have witnessed in Zimbabwe since President Emmerson Mnangagwa took power is a ruthless attack on human rights, with the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association increasingly restricted and criminalised," said Muleya Mwananyanda, Amnesty International's deputy director for southern Africa. Amnesty International's report also highlighted the abduction and torture of political satire comedian Samantha Kureya by armed men, which showed that violence is now systematic rather than isolated aberrations, according to political analyst and University of Zimbabwe professor Eldred Masunungure. Professor Masunungure blamed a culture of violence that started with the colonial government and the struggle to dislodge it, stating, "Most of the top leadership of the country participated in the armed struggle and they deal with dissent the only way they know how." "Most of the top leadership of the country participated in the armed struggle and they deal with dissent the only way they know how." President Mnangagwa became Zimbabwe's second president after the November 2017 military putsch that forced long-time president Mugabe out of power. He won the July 2018 disputed elections and promised a new democracy.
