The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has reported nine cases of assault and torture by state security agents against civilians as the country battles Covid-19.

The forum, which comprises 21 human rights groups in the country, also raised the alarm over citizens’ defiance of measures aimed at reducing the spread of the virus.

Zimbabwe has recorded more than 30,000 Covid-19 cases, with over 1,000 confirmed to have died.

In the weekly monitoring report, the forum said there was a need for the government to respond urgently and deal with the pandemic.

‘Vendors have flocked the Siyaso, Magaba and Mupedzanhamo areas to sell their wares’, it noted.

‘In Bulawayo, police officers resorted to the deployment of water cannons in the central business district to disperse people who were loitering.

‘Reports from Gwanda also indicate widespread defiance of the national lockdown regulations’.

Meanwhile, the forum raised concerns over gross human rights violations by law enforcers during lockdown and challenged the government to improve the deteriorating state of the country’s prisons.

The NGOs noted nine cases of assault and torture by state security agents against civilians in Hwange, Binga, Bulawayo, Chipinge and Figtree.

In the city of Gweru and Nkulumane (a suburb in Bulawayo), 25 cases of arbitrary arrests were reported while one journalist was arrested.

Source: Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO

Photo source: World Bank Photo Collection