WMC Women Under Siege

Zimbabwe’s security forces still enjoy impunity months after alleged rapes during crackdown on protests

A school boy looks at a burning barricade during a shutdown demonstration on January 14, 2019 in Bulawayo after the president announced a more than hundred percent hike in fuel prices. (ZINYANGE AUNTONY/AFP/Getty Images)

Harare—Months after the government’s violent crackdown on protests in January left civilians arbitrarily arrested, beaten, and even killed in the streets, Zimbabweans are still waiting for justice. Among them are the women who claimed to have been raped in their homes by security forces as part of that suppression.

Following a series of thwarted protests against the country’s high levels of inflation, climbing unemployment rate, and crumbling economy, stretching into Robert Mugabe’s rule,  a nationwide general strike was called on January 14 after President Emmerson Mnangagwa doubled fuel prices, and demonstrations quickly descended into riots across the country.

In response, the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) was deployed onto the streets of major cities and into residential areas where, according to the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, both ZNA and Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) began “a reign of terror,” which ultimately included “at least 17 extra-judicial killings, 17 cases of rape or other violations of a sexual nature, 26 abductions … [and] 954 arrests and detention,” the group recorded. 

As part of the crackdown, the government issued a three-day internet blackout on January 15. It was during this time that the security forces allegedly began raiding homes and raping women. The Telegraph reported that the rapes were government sanctioned, and one soldier told the paper that he took part in “systematically breaking legs and personally committing at least one rape in a door-to-door operation on the night of January 15, 2019.”

The government only formally addressed the allegations after ITV News Africa aired an interview with 11 women, all of whom claimed to have been raped by members of the ZNA. George Charamba, press secretary in the Office of the President of Zimbabwe and permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, responded that the allegations were manufactured by foreign media to delegitimize Mnangagwa’s government. “[It is] an attempt to create what we call in propaganda terms ‘bottom-up propaganda,’ where you invent victims, parade them, sometimes not even by face, not even by head, but by feet, as if feet give identity.” This tactic of shifting blame onto the West is not new to the governing Zanu-PF party, which has long accused opposition party members of being funded by the West while accusing Western media of running negative portrayals of Zimbabwe to effect regime change.“We continue to ask why, after the government has asked any rape victims to come forward and identify themselves for purposes of litigation, we have to date only received just one call,” he said. Echoing Charamba’s statement, state-run The Herald daily newspaper also reported that only one attack had been officially reported.

The Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF), which is comprised of the ZNA and the country’s Air Force (AFZ), have since told the public that rogue soldiers and deserters stole uniforms and committed these abuses. “Some of these uniforms worn by criminals were seized by rogue elements during the recent riots in Epworth and Chegutu. A case in point is a recent arrest of five armed robbers in Epworth, Harare, on 14 January 2019, who were using police and military regalia to commit armed robberies after hiring vehicles from car rental companies,” Charity Charamba, a ZRP spokesperson, told media at a joint press conference with the ZDF.

Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa also reiterated the idea of “rogue elements” perpetrating these crimes—particularly the rapes—in an interview with VICE News. “There are rogues in our society. It doesn’t matter if you are Zanu-PF, it doesn’t matter if you are security forces. If there are rogues among our people who are perpetuating violence against the citizens of this country, then they will be punished.”

When asked how an alleged rape victim could have faith in any investigation carried out by the same people by whom she had been abused, the minister told VICE that investigations were already underway. “No stone is going to be left unturned … The government is on record that they will make sure all those allegations of misconduct against any of our security services would be dealt with thoroughly.”

While the Zimbabwe Gender Commission has said that they are currently conducting investigations, and would speak publicly when the investigations are completed, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC), through its chairperson Commissioner Elasto Hilarious Mugwadi, told Women Under Siege that the Commission had not launched any investigations into the rape allegations as it has not yet received any formal complaints from the alleged victims.

“Normally, we expect anyone who was violated to submit a complaint with us, but since we have not received any report—[and] only got to know of the allegations through the media—we cannot go from house to house questioning people. We have not started investigations,” Mugwadi said. He also conceded that the issue could stem from the fact that citizens likely did not have confidence in the existing institutions meant to take up their complaints, and that an independent complaints commission could change that. Section 210 of Zimbabwe’s constitution compels Parliament to “provide an effective and independent mechanism for receiving and investigating complaints from members of the public about misconduct on the part of members of the security services, and for remedying any harm caused by such misconduct.” But no such mechanism was ever established.

“If the Police had been anxious to improve their public image, they could have set up their own complaints body without waiting for the government to establish one,” said parliamentary and civic rights watchdog Veritas Zimbabwe in a "Constitution Watch" statement. “Legislation is not needed, so long as the Police are prepared voluntarily to accept oversight by a non-statutory body.”

According to the group, the government’s disinterest in setting up an independent complaints mechanism, as well as the constitutional court’s reluctance to enforce Section 210, has greatly discouraged the public from seeking proper investigations into grievances against police and defense forces. What is needed, it said, is an independent body that the public can trust to receive complaints and ensure that they are thoroughly investigated.

“Even the Police and Defense Forces had admitted that they have ‘bad apples’ and ‘criminal elements’ among their members. A proper complaints mechanism would help them weed out members whose misconduct tarnishes the reputation of the rest and would give us security services of which all patriotic Zimbabweans can be proud,” the group stated.

Mugwadi was inclined to agree. “Sometimes, communicating with the armed forces is not an easy thing because of bureaucracy … so if there is an institution or body set up to deal with those issues, the better. Because [the soldiers] would be answerable to that body and would cooperate and comply with its instructions.”

Dewa Mavhinga, Human Rights Watch’s Southern African director, reinforced this call for an independent complaints mechanism, adding that “the current terror in Zimbabwe following recent military crackdown pointed to an urgent need for drastic security sector reforms to create a peaceful, non-violent environment.”

To date, no further investigations concerning the assault, killing, and rape allegations leveled against the security forces have been carried out. The Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs declined to comment when Women Under Siege inquired about investigations. And both the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association told Women Under Siege that they had not received any formal complaints from victims of the alleged rapes in January to proceed with investigations independently.

Local media seems to have moved on from its coverage of January’s crackdown, with the focus shifting to the upcoming Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC-A) elective congress in May, when the successor of MDC’s late leader Morgan Tsvangirai will be chosen.

Dr. Alex Magaisa, Zimbabwean academic and law professor at the University of Kent, lamented on Twitter, “The system knows our outrage has a short shelf life. We forget too soon and jump on to the next point of outrage thrown by the system.

“In its viciousness the system will do it again and again. We will circulate the images and stories again before the outrage wilts and we wait again. From time to time we must take stock of our outrage. It is momentary. It blooms like a flower before it wilts.”



More articles by Category: Gender-based violence, International, Politics, Violence against women
More articles by Tag: Sexualized violence, Impunity
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