Harare on Wednesday acknowledged accusations that its security forces engaged in \u201csystematic torture\u201d during a crackdown on anti-government protests, saying there were lessons to be learnt from the operation.<\/p>\n
In a blunt statement issued on Tuesday, the government-appointed Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission accused the security forces of \u201csystematic torture\u201d and lambasted the authorities for using soldiers to curb civilian disturbances.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was quite a strong report against the methods that were used by law enforcement agencies, it was a strong report against the demonstrators who took the law into their own hands,\u201d presidential spokesperson George Charamba told reporters in Harare.<\/p>\n
It was the first time the government had reacted to the damning report from the government-funded commission which was created nine years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn every situation of conflict, there are lessons to be drawn,\u201d he said, responding to a question about what the government had learnt from the crackdown.<\/p>\n
But he also warned there would be no tolerance for any further unrest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not have the mayhem that we saw last week \u2013 never again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you decide to dabble on the wrong side of the law\u2026 the law comes back to hit you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last week\u2019s protests, which lasted three days, saw people taking to the streets in outrage over a government move to more than double fuel prices, prompting a ruthless crackdown by security forces that claimed up to a dozen lives.<\/p>\n
But Charamba admitted that the brutal response had sullied the country\u2019s image.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a damaging week for Zimbabwe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Human Rights Commission said at least eight people had been killed in the unrest, mostly by gunfire, but rights groups put the toll at 12.<\/p>\n
The violence prompted President Emmerson Mnangagwa to cut short a foreign tour which was to have taken him to the World Economic Forum in Davos.<\/p>\n
After flying home late on Monday, he pledged to investigate the security forces over any misconduct.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf required, heads will roll,\u201d he said on Tuesday, while also condemning the protests for involving \u201cwanton violence and cynical destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n
At his first public engagement since returning, he swore in a new prosecutor general, Kumbirai Hodzi, on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
Harare on Wednesday acknowledged accusations that its security forces engaged in \u201csystematic torture\u201d during a crackdown on anti-government protests, saying there were lessons to be learnt from the operation. In a blunt statement issued on Tuesday, the government-appointed Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission accused the security forces of \u201csystematic torture\u201d and lambasted the authorities for using […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8,35,12],"tags":[152,91,165],"class_list":{"0":"post-2482","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-head-lines","9":"category-homepage-english","10":"category-policy","11":"tag-crisis","12":"tag-harare","13":"tag-shutdown"},"yoast_head":"\n