Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. AT least 8 279 people experienced human rights violations in 2024 amid a shrinking democratic space, the latest Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) report revealed.
The report, titled Rising Still: Community Resilience in the Struggle for Human Rights in Zimbabwe 2024 Annual Report, singled out Zanu PF members and the police as the leading perpetrators of the violations.
“In 2024, ZimRights, under the human rights monitoring and response action zone with over 250 000 members and 96 action committees, documented 274 human rights violations across the 10 provinces in Zimbabwe,” the report read.
“These included violations related to partisan food distribution, forced displacements, unjustified arrests, inhuman treatment, restricted access to social services, hate speech, assault, detention and malicious damage toproperty.
“According to the ZimRights human rights violations situational reports (SitReps), 8 279 people were affected by the violations in total.”
Zanu PF members were the leading perpetrators of the violations, followed by the police, according to the report.
“The data on perpetrators reveals a troubling trend, with Zanu PF members identified as responsible for 1 359 violations, followed bylocal government officials and the police force,” the report read.
“This points to a pattern where State apparatuses and affiliated political entities are implicated in perpetuating human rights abuses.
“The prevalence of Zimbabwe Republic Police violations (4 697 instances) raises concerns about accountability and transparency with regard to policing.”
Police and Zanu PF members have often been cited as the main perpetrators of human rights violations, a charge they deny.
However, the report said the total reported cases indicated that 4 457 females and 3 822 males were affected by various human rights violations.
“Notably, Harare and Bulawayo provinces reported the highest numbers for both genders, with 1 170 females and 912 males affected in Harare and 446 females and 202 males in Bulawayo.
“This suggests a concentrated pattern of violations in the urban centres for the capital and second largest city, potentially linked to political tensions and socio-economic instability.”
ZimRights national chairperson Takesure Masiiwa expressed concern over the surge in human rights violations, including a shrinking democratic space.
“This year presented significant challenges, including a restrictive civic space, increased human rights violations and systemic barriers against civil society organisations,” he said.
ZimRights national director Dzikamai Bere said 2024 was a challenging year for the human rights movement as the operating space remained restrictive.
“The Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill returned ferociously to the scene and obstacles to civic organising made life difficult for many activists,” he said.
“And yet, as the country’s largest grassroots human rights movement, we remained committed to our shifting power to the people approach, allowing communities to innovate and advance human rights, even in a very difficult context.
“2024 became a living testament to the power of communities working together for human rights, holding duty-bearers accountable and safeguarding fundamental freedoms.”
Bere added: “We will intensify our advocacy against repressive laws, continue empowering communities to lead their own struggles for justice and replicate successful peace-building models across Zimbabwe.”
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