Zimbabwean journalist, Itai Dzamara, was allegedly kidnapped by suspected state security agents on the 9th of March in 2015, his whereabouts are not known since then.
There have been calls from human rights defenders and the international community on the government to make sure that Dzamara is safely brought back since it is its sole responsibility to protect every Zimbabwean citizen.
In a message to mark the 7th anniversary since Dzamara disappeared, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said the government must ensure that assailants who kidnapped the journalist are brought to justice. They said:
Today marks the 7th anniversary of the disappearance of Itai Dzamara. We call on government to mobilise the full extent of its resources to investigate the circumstances surrounding Dzamara’s abduction and to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. Dzamara’s family and the generality of Zimbabweans deserve answers on where he is, what happened on 9 March 2015 and who is responsible for his disappearance. We remind government of its constitutional obligations to safeguard the right to life and personal liberty, the right to participate in peaceful political activities, the right to demonstrate and petition peacefully and the citizens’ right to express themselves freely and without repercussion.
Dzamara was a staunch government critic.