By MacDonald Dzirutwe

 

HARARE, 22 Jan. - (ANA)  - Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa promised on Tuesday to investigate violence against civilians who joined protests and punish any misconduct by security forces, as the country’s rights commission said civilians were being systematically tortured.

 

 

Zimbabwe's opposition says its members have been victims of a brutal crackdown in response to violent protests against a sharp rise in the price of fuel.

Movement for Democratic Change leader Nelson Chamisa said many of its members had been detained including four MPs.

 

He said security forces had attacked families in their homes.

 

The government has blamed the MDC for stoking the violence. Rights groups say at least 12 people have been killed but this has not been officially confirmed.

The trade union umbrella group that called the protests, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, says its leader, Japhet Moyo, has also been arrested.

 

 

Police say three people died during violent demonstrations last week, but human rights groups say evidence suggests at least a dozen were killed, giving rise to fears that - under Mnangagwa’s leadership - Zimbabwe is sliding back into authoritarian rule.

 

The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) said on Tuesday security forces instigated systematic torture of residents following the violent unrest that erupted last week after a steep hike in the price of fuel. The level of force used on those who died or injured and supported by medical reports pointed to police brutality, a ZHRC commissioner told reporters.

 

In his first public comments since cutting short a foreign trip and returning to Harare late on Monday, the president said “violence or misconduct by our security forces is unacceptable and a betrayal of the new Zimbabwe.”

 

“Misconduct will be investigated. If required, heads will roll,” Mnangagwa wrote on Twitter on Tuesday, calling for a “national dialogue” involving churches, civil society and the opposition.

 

The unrest drove Mnangagwa to cancel an appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he had been expected to pitch for foreign investments, and fly home.

 

Hundreds of civilians, including activist pastor Evan Mawarire and opposition lawmakers, have been detained since demonstrations that were triggered nine days ago by 150 percent hikes in price of fuel decreed by Mnangagwa.

 

He said on Tuesday that that increase had been necessary.

 

 

 

 

Several opposition politicians and rights activists have gone into hiding as authorities try to track them down. Lawyers and ZHRC say security forces have raided homes of suspected protesters at night and beaten up occupants, charges denied by the police and army.

 

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said police arrested 28 men late on Monday who were receiving treatment at a safe house after beatings by soldiers.

 

Police could not immediately comment on those arrests.

 

A spokesman for Mnangagwa, who became leader after long-time leader Robert Mugabe was forced out in November 2017, said on Sunday that the crackdown was a foretaste of how authorities would respond to future unrest.

 

That, along with an internet blackout, has fuelled fears that the country is sliding back into Mugabe-era authoritarianism. A judge on Monday ordered that communications shutdown to be rescinded.

 

Jacob Mafume, a spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said there was an urgent need for dialogue.

 

“The arrest of labour leaders and opposition members is a familiar script in Africa. We have called for dialogue until our voices have gone hoarse but have been ignored,” Mafume said.

 

With high inflation and a shortage of cash in circulation eating into ordinary Zimbabweans’ spending power, the fragile state of the economy is at the heart of the country’s political problems.

 

A 14-day strike notice given by public sector unions expires on Tuesday. Apex Council, which represents all civil service unions, will meet on Tuesday or Wednesday to plan its next move, its deputy chairman Thomas Muzondo said.

 

Earlier it emerged that South Africa had rejected a request from Zimbabwe for an emergency loan of $1.2bn (£932m) in December.

The government had hoped the cash would help stabilise the economy and resolve fuel shortages in the country.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/ 22 January 2019 - - -