This archive report was first published on 20 September 2019.
Dr. Peter Magombeyi, a Zimbabwean union activist, was found alive on September 12, 2019, five days after he was kidnapped from his home in Harare. His disappearance sparked widespread concern about the country's human rights record.
Magombeyi's ordeal began on September 8, when he received death threats. Six days later, he was abducted from his home, leaving behind a WhatsApp message that read: 'I have been kidnapped by 3 men.'
His abduction was not an isolated case, according to Human Rights Watch Southern Africa Director Dewa Mavhinga. 'Recent months have seen an alarming spike in abductions and torture of critics of the government and the political opposition.'
Magombeyi's case is part of a larger pattern of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. Since President Emmerson Mnangagwa came to power in 2017, the regime has resorted to brutal tactics to clamp down on dissent, said Amnesty International in a statement last month.
Magombeyi's disappearance was linked to his role as the head of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA), which had launched a strike to demand better pay and working conditions. The strike was sparked by the collapse of the local currency and hyperinflation, which had reduced the value of their pay by 15-fold in just a year.
Magombeyi's abduction was not the first of its kind. In August, comedian and government critic Samantha Kureya was taken from her house and forced to drink sewage water. She was found hours later in a state of shock.
Obert Masaraure, the head of Zimbabwe's rural teachers' union, was abducted in June and subjected to torture. He was forced to roll in the mud and was left for dead.
The government has denied any involvement in the abductions and has instead pointed fingers at the opposition. However, Human Rights Watch has confirmed more than 50 cases of abductions this year, with none of the perpetrators arrested.
Magombeyi's case has sparked widespread condemnation, with Amnesty International calling it a 'witch-hunt' against anyone who dares to challenge the government. The organization has accused President Mnangagwa of playing a major role in the Gukurahundi massacre, in which an estimated 20,000 minority Ndebele people were killed in the 1980s.
