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On 26 June, police arrested Pastor Evan
Mawarire in the capital, Harare, after he held
prayers with University of Zimbabwe medical
students during a protest against fee
increases. He was held in Harare Central
Police Station for two days before being
released on bail on charges of inciting public
violence and disorderly conduct. He was
acquitted on 29 September, although
separate charges remained against him
relating to a different arrest (see below
“Freedom of expression”).
In July, Darlington Madzonga and Edmund
Musvubi were arrested by police during a
peaceful protest in Harare, held by the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change
youth against the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission’s failure to implement reforms.
They were charged with killing a police officer
during the protest and they remained in
detention in Harare at the end of the year
while their case was pending in court.
On 10 November, the police disrupted a
meeting in Marange Village, in the east, of 22
activists from Latin American and Southern
African countries to commemorate the ninth
anniversary of the killing of 200 people by the
military. The 200 had been killed after they
took control of the diamond fields in protest
at government plans to hand over diamond
mines to Chinese businesses. The 22
activists were arrested and charged with
entering a protected area without a
government permit. They were released on
11 November after pleading guilty and were
each fined USD100.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
The state restricted the right to freedom of
expression particularly of human rights
defenders and other activists.
On 16 January, Pastor Philip Mugadza was
arrested by police in Harare and charged
with criminal nuisance after he said that
President Mugabe would die on 17 October.
He was released on bail on 10 March. His
case was pending in the Constitutional Court
at the end of the year. If convicted, he faces a
jail sentence of up to six months.
Pastor Evan Mawarire was targeted for
various public statements he made criticizing
the government. He had fled the country in
July 2016, but was arrested by police in
Harare, upon his return on 31 January, on
charges of subversion and insulting the
national flag. He was released on bail on 8
February. On 24 September, Pastor Mawarire
was arrested again and charged with
subverting a constitutionally elected
government after he published a video on 23
September in which he complained about
fuel shortages and rising prices. He was
released from the Harare Central Police
Station on 26 September. On 29 November,
the Harare High Court acquitted him of all
the charges.
On 10 August, Energy Mutodi, a
businessman and supporter of Emmerson
Mnangagwa, was arrested in Harare by police
officers of the Criminal Investigation
Department for suggesting on Facebook that
a coup was likely if President Mugabe did not
choose his successor carefully. He was
charged with undermining the President’s
authority and causing disaffection among the
police and defence forces. On 23 August, he
was released from Harare Remand Prison on
bail but his case was ongoing at the end of
the year.
Victor Matemadanda, an executive member
of the National Liberation War Veterans’
Association, was detained by police at Harare
Central Police Station in August on charges of
undermining the office of the President and
causing disaffection among the police and
defence forces. He had called on President
Mugabe to step down. He was released on
bail after several days but his case remained
pending at the end of the year.
On 2 October, journalist Kenneth Nyangani
was arrested by police in the city of Mutare
for reporting that the President’s wife donated
clothing, including used underwear, to
ZANU-PF supporters in Mutare. He was
bailed on 4 October and was awaiting trial
until 13 December when the state failed to
bring him to trial.
On 3 November, journalist Martha
O’Donovan, a US national, was arrested at
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home by the Harare Police and charged with
insulting the President and attempting to
subvert a constitutionally elected
government. She was alleged to have insulted
Robert Mugabe on Twitter. She was released
on bail from Chikurubi Maximum Security
Prison on 10 November; she had not been
brought to trial by the end of the year.
ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND DETENTIONS
The military police arrested a number of
suspects on charges of fraud and corruption.
Those arrested included senior state officials,
implicated in corruption, whose rights were
denied on arrest, including by being denied
access to lawyers.
During the military takeover in November,
army personnel detained several members of
a ZANU- PF faction who were alleged to
support Emmerson Mnangagwa’s dismissal.
They were held for more than the
constitutionally permitted 48 hours before
being brought to court. Former Finance
Minister Ignatius Chombo, ZANU-PF Youth
League Commissar Innocent Hamandishe,
and ZANU-PF Youth League secretary
Kudzanayi Chipanga, were arrested and
detained by military police on 14 November.
During their detention they were denied
access to their lawyers and were not taken to
court until 25 November. Ignatius Chombo
was charged with corruption and criminal
abuse of office; Kudzanayi Chipanga and
Innocent Hamandishe were charged with
publishing or communicating falsehoods after
they claimed at a press conference that Army
Commander General Chiwenga stole money
from the sale of Marange diamonds.
FORCED EVICTIONS
In April, police used excessive force to evict
around 15 families from Manzou Farm in the
Mashonaland Central Province which
consists of several small farms. The evictions
contravened a High Court order on 24 March
which directed the government to end the
practice of arbitrary evictions and home
demolitions without providing compensation
or alternative land to those evicted. The
residents had lived on the farmland since
2000; the forced evictions from Manzou have
left over 200 families homeless and without
compensation.
LEGAL, CONSTITUTIONAL OR
INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
In August, Parliament passed a bill amending
section 180 of the 2013 Constitution. MP
Jessie Majome challenged the bill in court on
the basis that the vote did not meet the
required two-thirds majority and threatened
judicial independence. The bill gives the
President power to unilaterally appoint the
most senior judicial positions.
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL
RIGHTS
Economic instability, drought, high poverty
levels and unemployment put obstacles in
the way of access to education, health and
adequate food. In July, Zimbabwe reported to
the Voluntary National Review of Sustainable
Development Goals for the UN High Level
Political Forum that over 76% of children in
Zimbabwe lived in consumption poverty, and
a quarter lived in extreme poverty. Difficulties
in paying basic school fees were widespread;
the national Food and Nutrition Council
found that at least 63% of school-age
children were turned away from school for
non-payment of fees. An estimated 4.1
million people in rural areas were reported to
be food insecure.
The right to health was increasingly
threatened as allocation of budget to health
decreased to only 8.2% of the national
budget. The Auditor General’s June report
highlighted a crisis in health service delivery,
and noted shortages of essential medicines
and equipment, unavailability of water and
specialized personnel.
SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
In October, UNICEF reported that 34% of
girls and women were married by the age of
18. The government was yet to amend the
Marriage Act or related legislation to comply
with the Constitutional Court’s 2016 judgment
under which marriage under 18 was
unconstitutional. NGOs and girls and women