Some 11 villagers in Nkayi, Matabeleland were flogged and forced to sing war songs in Shona by Zimbabwe Republic Police officers, human right lawyers have said.
Posting on X today, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said the villagers were beaten as part of “a brutal crackdown” apparently to investigate theft of diesel.
Said the ZLHR post in part:
The Nkayi villagers have asked ZRP authorities to take remedial action against some delinquent police officers, who ill-treated them by severely assaulting them & coercing them to sing some liberation songs…
In a letter of complaint written to the Officer-In Charge of Manoti Police Station by the Nkayi villagers’ lawyers Jabulani Mhlanga & Prisca Dube of ZLHR, the villagers protested against the conduct of the police officers for conducting a violent operation across 3 homesteads belonging to the Sibanda, Ncube & Lunga families, under the pretext of investigating a case of alleged theft of diesel belonging to Oscar Mawarire, local entrepreneur.
Mhlanga & Dube stated that the ZRP officers, who were armed with a rifle, truncheons & whips, unlawfully assaulted the villagers including a minor, using excessive force & without just cause. In addition, Mhlanga & Dube stated that the villagers were coerced into singing some liberation songs in Shona language & were further assaulted for allegedly failing to sing the songs correctly.
The ZRP officers, Mhlanga & Dube said, rummaged through the villagers’ homesteads even though they did not have search warrants authorising their actions & proceeded to seize various tools from the homesteads, alleging that they were weapons that were used by the villagers in committing some criminal activities.
The human rights lawyers said although Mawarire, who is the complainant in the matter, informed the ZRP officers that the villagers were not the people whom he suspected of stealing his diesel, the law enforcement agents insisted on arresting the villagers & subsequently, 7 of them were apprehended & taken to a police post located at Kana Mission. The villagers, Mhlanga & Dube said, were not given an opportunity to wear their shoes or warm clothing & neither were they informed of their rights at the time of being apprehended.
The ZRP officers reportedly threatened to make an example of the villagers in order to deter “Ndebele thieves” from crossing into “Shona territory” & were once again subjected to further physical abuse & forced to sing more liberation songs. At the police base, the villagers were made to sleep on concrete floors, without the provision of blankets and with no ablution facilities, with men being handcuffed to each other.
The villagers were all released on 15 July after being ordered to pay US$30 each per person by a police officer, who only identified himself as Dube but were not issued with any receipts acknowledging payment of what was supposed to be an admission of guilt fine & were also not furnished with some request for medical report forms in order for them to seek medical attention at government-run medical facilities.
The villagers only received medical treatment for their injuries at a private medical facility and afterwards engaged Mhlanga & Dube, who on 1 August wrote a letter of complaint to the Officer in Charge of Manoti Police Station demanding that the law enforcement agency conduct an investigation into the ill-treatment & assault of the Nkayi villagers & take remedial action against the perpetrators of such brutality.
The human rights lawyers protested against the violation of the villagers’ fundamental rights including the right to liberty, right to dignity, the right to bodily & psychological integrity, protection from cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment & the right to equality & non-discrimination, all enshrined in the Constitution. The conduct of the ZRP officers, Mhlanga & Dube said, amounts to a serious breach of their constitutional mandate & hence the perpetrators of the brutal assault of the villagers should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
The development has angered who have referred to this as “Gukurahundi all over again”.
Said writer and activist Thandekile Moyo:
When they did this during the Gukurahundi genocide, They said we were dissidents. Is this tribalism another operation against yet another generation of dissidents? This is unacceptable and Matebeleland should not accept this.
Mbiko KaMadlenya said it brought back memories of a similar ordeal he experience:
This happened to me and my relative in 1985 we were in grade 7, forced to sing shona song’s beaten and kept at police station for 2 weeks, our crime for being Ndebele. Shocked that its happening in 2024