Zimbabwean opposition activists and a member of parliament have described torture, humiliation and repeated sexual assaults after being abducted by suspected state security services.<\/p>\n
The three women, all leaders of the Movement for Democratic Change\u2019s youth movement, were arrested at a roadblock guarded by police and soldiers on Wednesday at a protest in Harare against the state\u2019s failure to provide for the poor during the country\u2019s Covid-19 lockdown.<\/p>\n
They then disappeared until they were found on a roadside on Friday morning 60 miles away from the capital by a local man, badly injured and traumatised.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said masked assailants bundled the three women into an unmarked Toyota minivan and drove them away.<\/p>\n
One of the women, Cecilia Chimbiri, 33, told the Guardian they were taken to a remote, wooded area where they were beaten, stripped naked, sexually assaulted with firearms, and forced to drink each other\u2019s urine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey beat me on my back, all over the body using sticks. They used a gun to beat us, then molested me, \u201c Chimbiri said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey pushed [us] out of the truck on to the road. They left us there. They said \u2018we will be watching you \u2026 What is so special about you that you want to turn against the government?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another of the women, Joana Mamombe, one of the youngest Zimbabwean members of parliament, described how they were forced to march and sing protest songs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were pouring water on us. They beat us if we stopped. They made us drink each other\u2019s urine. They were fondling Cecilia,\u201d Mamombe, 36, told reporters at a private Harare hospital where she is receiving treatment.<\/p>\n
Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the MDC, called for international intervention.<\/p>\n
Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took power in Zimbabwe as president after the fall of Robert Mugabe in 2017, was last year accused by Amnesty International of a \u201cruthless\u201d and systematic crackdown on human rights.<\/p>\n
Chimbiri\u2019s father, Henry Chimbiri, told reporters that \u201cstate agents\u201d had been responsible for the abduction of his daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are not human. They are killers. The girls are in bad shape. They are in pain. One can\u2019t talk. She is just crying The police is no longer our police,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Zimbabwean police said they were investigating the suspected abduction case and suggested that imposters were responsible for the attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice are concerned with the abuse of social media platforms by some members of the public. Some are even using cellphone lines registered in fictitious names to abuse state officials, among other criminal acts. Members of the public are warned against the practice and offenders will certainly be brought to book,\u201d said a police spokesman.<\/p>\n
Authorities in Zimbabwe have previously suggested that abductions of trade unionists, lawyers and opposition activists have been staged to discredit the government.<\/p>\n
Nick Mangwana, the government\u2019s information secretary, called on the three women \u201cto work with the law enforcement agents in order to bring the truth to light\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe three women were part of a group of MDC youths that defied the lockdown laws in the country and took part in an illegal demonstration,\u201d Mangwana said in a statement, adding that police started looking for them after they failed to show up for questioning.<\/p>\n
Dozens of pro-democracy campaigners, trade unionists and opposition officials have been abducted by suspected state security services in recent years.<\/p>\n
Most have been released after several hours, though many have been badly beaten, stripped, threatened or otherwise mistreated.<\/p>\n
Last year government ministers and senior officials suggested the apparent abduction of a doctor and labour activist had been carried out by a \u201cthird force\u201d to destabilise the country.<\/p>\n
Allegations that unidentified third parties were undermining authorities were a staple under Mugabe, who ruled for 37 years and died last year in a clinic in Singapore.<\/p>\n
The European Union on Friday said it was \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d about the \u201ctorture and humiliation\u201d reported by the MDC members and urged authorities to investigate their \u201cenforced disappearance\u201d.<\/p>\n
Zimbabwe Lawyers For Human Rights condemned the abduction.<\/p>\n
\u201cZLHR strongly condemns such wanton disregard of human rights and the constitution. Enforced disappearances, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment can never be justified. All perpetrators must be held accountable,\u201d the human rights watchdog said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Public discontent has grown in Zimbabwe with Mnangagwa, who has struggled to fulfil promises of economic prosperity and greater political freedom. The health system has largely collapsed amid the worst economic crisis in more than a decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Zimbabwean opposition activists and a member of parliament have described torture, humiliation and repeated sexual assaults after being abducted by suspected state security services. The three women, all leaders of the Movement for Democratic Change\u2019s youth movement, were arrested at a roadblock guarded by police and soldiers on Wednesday at a protest in Harare against […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":17852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[34,88],"class_list":{"0":"post-23291","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-parties","9":"tag-emmerson-mnangagwa","10":"tag-mdc"},"yoast_head":"\n