But Politically Motivated Criminal Convictions Remain
On November 27, a Zimbabwean court sentenced Jameson Timba, interim leader of the opposition Citizens' Coalition for Change (CCC), and 34 others to suspended prison terms, after being convicted earlier in the week for participation in an unlawful gathering. Timba was sentenced to a suspended two-year prison term, while the other activists received lesser suspended prison terms.
The suspended sentences mean that Timba and the other activists will immediately be freed, but the convictions remain.
The defendants have been detained since June following their arrest at Timba's home in the suburbs of the capital, Harare. The authorities charged over 70 people, who had gathered at his home to commemorate the Day of the African Child, with "gathering with intent to promote public violence and disorderly conduct." All those arrested were denied bail several times. In September, they were acquitted of disorderly conduct and 40 were released. The rest remained in custody until Wednesday's sentencing.
Lawyers for the defendants told Human Rights Watch that some of their clients had been left with serious injuries following police beatings. They had been denied the rights to humane treatment, a prompt trial and other basic rights, including access to medical care, adequate food and the right to bail.
One of the defendants, Maureen Dinha, was jailed five months with her year-old child. Tambudzai Makororo, whose leg was fractured during the arrest, lost her son during her detention and was refused permission to attend his funeral.
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Zimbabwean authorities are increasingly misusing the law against critics of the government.
Since taking power in a military coup in 2017, the administration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, which initially promoted itself as a rights-respecting "new dispensation," has arrested and prosecuted dozens of politicians and activists on baseless charges.
Leading opposition figure Job Sikhala, who was detained in 2022 on charges of incitement to commit public violence, disorderly conduct, and obstruction of justice, was only released in January 2024 after 595 days in custody. Opposition leader Jacob Ngarivhume spent eight months in detention before a court set aside his conviction in December 2023.
Zimbabwe's Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Zimbabwe is a party, prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention and protect the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, as well as to a fair trial. Targeting political opponents violates those rights and undermines Zimbabwe's standing as a rights-respecting country.
Zimbabwe authorities should end the weaponization of the judicial system and its attacks on rights opposition politicians, activists and supporters.
