The security forces' violent crackdown on nationwide protests in Zimbabwe last week was met by deafening silence from the country's neighbours and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional block.
Following President Emmerson Mnangagwa's sudden announcement on January 12 of a 150% fuel price increase, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions labour movement called for a three-day national strike, which triggered the protests. Protesters burned a police station, barricaded roads with large rocks, and looted shops in Harare, Kadoma, and Bulawayo. Government security forces responded with live ammunition, rubber bullets, and teargas, which they fired at the protesters and into people's homes.
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