Tension is rising in Zimbabwe ahead of crucial by-elections on March 26, with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ruling Zanu PF party and security forces accused of unleashing violence against supporters of the main opposition party.
Zimbabwe last month lifted a two-year ban on elections due to Covid-19, paving the way for polls to fill 12 parliamentary seats and 102 local government vacancies.
The stakes have been raised by the main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, who formed a new party named the Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) after he was controversially elbowed out of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
MDC, formed in 1999, has been the biggest threat to the independence party Zanu PF’s long rule, but President Mnangagwa is accused of using state institutions to dismantle it.
Mr Chamisa, 44, who narrowly lost the disputed 2018 presidential elections to his 80-year-old rival, drew one of the biggest crowds seen so far at a rally held in the capital Harare on February 19 despite tough police conditions for the gathering.
The March by-elections are largely viewed as a test for next year’s general election, where the two rivals are expected to face off again.
As in previous elections, Zanu PF and security forces are accused of using violence and draconian laws to stop the opposition from campaigning.
On the eve of the February 19 rally, 13 CCC supporters were arrested in Harare and allegedly tortured by police while in detention for using hailers to advertise the gathering.
Police also locked down Harare on the day of the rally in what the opposition said was an attempt to stop its members from meeting.
Civil society organisations say there is an upsurge in cases of political violence across the country with police, the army and Zanu PF supporters singled out as the main perpetrators.
Tafadzwa Matubuka, a disabled disc jockey who works for CCC’s online radio, narrated how Zanu PF supporters attacked his family after his wife took videos of them defacing the opposition party’s campaign posters in Harare.
“One dreadlocked guy dropped from a vehicle they were moving in and removed a CCC poster from the wall,” Matubuka said.
“One guy confiscated the phone and started beating my wife and ordered her to delete the material. My father tried to intervene and was assaulted as well.”
Heal Zimbabwe, a human rights organisation that monitors political violence, said CCC members were the main targets of the violence by the ruling party.
“Heal Zimbabwe condemns in the strongest terms the violent episodes of violence targeting members of the newly formed Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) ahead of the March by-elections,” the organisation said.
“In … February alone, Heal Zimbabwe recorded an increase in cases of violence against CCC supporters. More worrying is the complicit hand of the police in perpetuating violence.”
The organisation added: “These recent acts of violence expose insincerity by the ruling party over the need for peace ahead of the March by-elections.”
“The lack of political will to deal with past state-sponsored atrocities has created impunity and a culture of violence among political players,” it said.
“More worrying is the complicit hand of law enforcement agents in perpetrating violence such as the police.
“The use of violence and arbitrary arrests against CCC supporters exposes the police’s lack of impartiality and failure to uphold the rule of law.”
Army shot dead six opposition supporters
The European Union (EU) last week renewed its arms embargo against Zimbabwe as security forces continued to attack opposition supporters and the democratic space was shrinking.
“The situation in terms of respect for human rights has not improved in Zimbabwe," the bloc said.
"Intimidation of political opposition and other government critics has continued to restrict the democratic and civic space, which is under threat of shrinking further through the Data Protection Act and on-going legislative processes such as the Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill and the envisaged so-called Patriotic Act.
President Mnangagwa's government has rolled out several laws targeting its critics such as civil society and the media.
In August 2018, the army shot dead six opposition supporters who were protesting delays in the release of presidential election results and the EU has been demanding the prosecution of the perpetrators.
"Perpetrators of human rights violations should be swiftly brought to justice to end impunity," the EU said.
"It is important that international human rights obligations are adhered to and the constitutional rights of the people of Zimbabwe respected.
"In this light, the EU recalls the purpose of its restrictive measures, which is to encourage a demonstrable, genuine and long-term commitment by the Zimbabwean authorities to respect and uphold human rights and the rule of law."
Besides the EU, the United States and the United Kingdom have maintained targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe as punishment for alleged human rights violations and manipulation of elections.
The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) said cases of politically motivated violence have been on the increase since December last year.
“Indeed, we have noted a gradual increase in incidents of politically motivated human rights violations for the past two months as political parties prepare for by-elections,” ZPP said.
“We have noted with great concern that the ruling Zanu PF has been the major perpetrator and it contributed to over 50 percent of the cases in December 2021 and 27 percent in January.
“We have heard scores of incidents where people were victimised by Zanu-PF activists and state security agencies for wearing yellow.”
Zimbabwe has a long history of political violence dating back to the 1980s, with the worst episode being a clampdown against supporters of the former liberation movement Zapu in the south-western parts of the country.
The late Robert Mugabe unleashed a North Korea army unit that was accused of killing 20,000 civilians during the military campaign that ended in 1987 after the strongman succeeded in forcing Zapu to join his party to form a one-party state.
However, the one-party state project was short-lived as one of Mr Mugabe’s lieutenants broke away to form the opposition Zimbabwe Unity Movement in 1990 and this saw an upsurge in political violence ahead of the elections the same year.
The formation nine years later of the MDC, led by the late Morgan Tsvangirai, and the takeover of white-owned farms in 2000 led to an increase in political violence.
Western countries and the European Union (EU) in 2002 moved to impose targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe after Mr Mugabe won a controversial presidential election against Mr Tsvangirai that was marred by political violence and allegations of voter fraud.
In 2008, security forces unleashed violence against MDC supporters after Mr Mugabe lost the first round of presidential elections against his arch-rival and this forced the African Union to intervene, leading to the formation of a unity government the following year.
After taking over from Mr Mugabe in 2017 following a military coup, President Mnangagwa claimed that Zimbabwe was witnessing a “new and unfolding democracy”, but he is now accused of turning into an autocrat.
