The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) says events in October brought to the fore that there is selective application of the law by the police when it comes to political activities between Zanu PF and opposition MDC Alliance.
In a monthly report for October 2021 titled Silly Season, ZPP says the police has been used to visibly disrupt opposition political activities.
“The events of this month laid bare the selective application of the law, where Zanu PF activities have gone on without any hindrances and where police have been used to subtly and overtly disrupt opposition political activity.
“This is largely because while the MDC Alliance was having hurdles thrown in its way, Zanu PF continued to conduct the last round of its district and provincial internal elections. These were characterised by incidents of violence and arrests were only made where the police acted against those in power.
“For example, in Bindura, on October, 15 police officers were arrested after they assaulted Zanu PF supporters in Mupandira near the provincial capital, Bindura, and the matter allegedly got the attention of President Emmerson Mnangagwa who allegedly suspended some senior officers,” said ZPP
The human rights pressure group says the situation shows a worrying trend ahead of the 2023 general elections.
“Politically, the country is turning a corner into what is set to be a bruising tussle for political power and with Zanu PF having already showed signs it will use its leverage of having access to state resources, the turf is set.
“The main opposition political party, MDC Alliance, contributed to nearly three percent of violations. The police continue to be in the spotlight for violating human rights this month as they are responsible for seven cases of unlawful detention and also largely liable for the 134 cases of harassment and intimidation, together with Zanu PF.
“The situation points to a worrying trend as the country approaches the 2023 elections. Hate speech continued to dominate the political environment. Zanu PF maintained its dominance on the list of human rights violators in the month of October 2021.For the second time the ruling party contributed to over 50 percent of all the human rights violations and this is largely attributable to the attempts by the party to stop the campaign activities of the MDC Alliance,” noted the report
ZPP urged restraint and tolerance among political parties and individuals if the country is to move forward.
