Source: Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition would like to condemn the brutal crackdown on protestors in Makokoba, Bulawayo and parts of Harare. In particular the Coalition strongly condemns the arrest of more than 10 children from Makokoba Township on allegations of looting. Dozens of people including the elderly and children were reportedly teargased whilst sitting in their houses during the country’s shut down on Wednesday. Whilst we do not condone violence in any form we find it weird that the police have the temerity to arrest little children whilst gangsters in briefcases in the corridors of power accused of looting billions of dollars of diamond revenue continue to go scot free without a single arrest and yet minors accused of looting sweets have been subjected to inhuman and degrading conditions in jails in Bulawayo.
One small child who is under a year old is reported to be in a critical condition after being exposed to teargas fumes in Makokoba. Such inhuman and barbaric treatment of children has no place in a modern democracy, a concept which appears alien to our rulers. We call upon the authorities to release all detained children and to stop harassing innocent civilians many of which were caught in the crossfire during the protests. There is still a heavy presence of armed police in places such as Makokoba and it has come to our attention that young men were being indiscriminately dragged from their homes by the police and subjected to harassment and abuse. These blatant human rights abuses remind many in the region of the Gukurahundi massacres which resulted in the killing of thousands of people and the disappearance of thousands more.
The police must stop harassing the citizens especially the elderly and children and strive to carry out their constitutional mandate of protecting them. All children in police custody must be immediately released.
It is worrying that at the moment there were 86 people detained at Ross Camp, 6 at Luveve Police Station and 4 at Central Police Station and 16 children. In Victoria Falls about 36 protestors were arrested including tourists and 76 have been arrested in Beitbridge protests according Abameli Lawyers for Human Rights. There are hundreds of others that have been detained in Harare and other parts of the country. This is an abnormal situation in a country with rampant corruption where the perpetrators are still scot free.
The country is in a state of crisis and if the government continues with this crackdown and its intransigence on addressing issues of economic justice, corruption and human rights the people may decide to take their own destiny into their own hands.
Source: Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition