Soldiers beat up activist just released

ROHR Zimbabwe activist Cosmas Ndira was heavily assaulted by a group of more than 5 people identified as members of the Zimbabwe National Army yesterday around 2000 hours in Mabvuku. Ndira sustained serious head injuries, lost blood and he is currently battling for his life at a local hospital.

Ndira is among the group of 13 ROHR activists arrested at the High Court on Wednesday 29 July for staging a peaceful protest. It is barely two days after his release from Harare Central Police station. Efforts by Ndira’s family to report the assault at Mabvuku police station were fruitless as the police station refused to open a docket for unspecified reasons.

ROHR spokesperson, Stendrick Zvorwadza has condemned the assault as an act of security forces brutality against civilians amidst high fears of security risks on the human rights campaigners in the backdrop of an abusive environment.

The protest at the High Court has heightened the calls by Civil Society and human rights defenders for an end to selective application of law by the security forces. The Global Political Agreement signed by the three principals Arthur Mutambara,  Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe singled out the reforming of the security sector to embrace a multi-party democracy as one of the key fundamentals towards transition from a one party state mentality, legacy of political violence dominated society towards democracy and sustainable peace.

Independent analyst have cited the unreformed security sector as the biggest threat to the gains of the coalition government and prevalence of sustainable peace since the ‘inclusive government’ came into being.

ROHR Information Department

For Peace, Justice and Freedom