Zimbabwe is cracking down on dissent ahead of vote, Amnesty says

Zimbabwe’s government has actively undermined civil liberties and quashed dissent over the past five years, helping entrench the dominance of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is seeking re-election next month, according to Amnesty International.

“What we have seen in Zimbabwe over the past five years amounts to a brutal crackdown on human rights, especially the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association,” Khanyo Farisè, deputy director for southern Africa at the New York-based watchdog, said in a statement on Wednesday. There has also been a “dramatic decline” in socio-economic rights, which has left many people in abject poverty with no means to put food on the table,” she said.

All elections held in the southern African nation since 2000 have been marred by allegations of intimidation and irregularities, and Amnesty’s statement adds to concerns that the August 23 vote will also be compromised. Almost half of 2 400 Zimbabweans polled by pan-African survey company Afrobarometer in April and May said they don’t expect the election results to reflect how citizens voted and most anticipate violence after the ballot.

Kindness Paradza, Zimbabwe’s deputy information minister, said Amnesty had been misinformed and was relying on outdated information.

“The problem with Amnesty International is that when it comes to Zimbabwe they are no longer credible,” he said. “We are working well with civil society and journalists in this country. They should not not confuse political activists as genuine civil society or journalists. Where are they getting that information from? The landscape in Zimbabwe has drastically changed since 2018.”

Mnangagwa, 80, who took power in November 2017 after Robert Mugabe was toppled in a military coup, will face off against 10 challengers in the election. Amnesty accused his administration of seeking to criminalize his opponents and repeatedly flouting the rule of law.

Opposition figures from politicians to activists, a prominent author and journalist have all been arrested for various offenses. They include Job Sikhala, an opposition leader, who has been detained for more than a year after he accused the ruling party of killing an activist.

Amnesty also criticised Zimbabwe’s so-called Patriotic Bill, which came into force this month and makes it a criminal offense to willfully injure Zimbabwe’s sovereignty and national interests, saying it further criminalises dissent.

The “authorities must respect, protect, promote and fulfill the human rights of everyone before, during and after the election,” Farisè said.

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