The UN’s high commissioner for human rights on Friday warned
Zimbabwe against using the coronavirus pandemic as a pretext for restricting
freedoms, after an investigative journalist and an opposition leader were
arrested this week.
Award-winning journalist and government critic Hopewell
Chin’ono and Jacob Ngarivhume, head of a small opposition party, were arrested
on Monday ahead of anti-government and anti-graft demonstrations planned for 31
July.
State prosecutors accuse the pair of recklessness for
organizing a protest in the midst of a coronavirus outbreak.
They were charged with inciting public violence.
“We are concerned at allegations in Zimbabwe which suggest
that the authorities may be using the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext to clamp
down on freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly and
association,” said the commissioner’s spokesperson, Liz Throssell.
The planned demonstration against corruption and the
deteriorating economy marks the second anniversary of a general election won by
President Emmerson Mnangagwa amid accusations of fraud.
But the protest was effectively banned when Mnangagwa
imposed a curfew and reinstated confinement measures on Tuesday to curb the
spread of coronavirus after a surge in cases.
Mnangagwa has been accused of conducting a growing crackdown
on dissent since he took office in 2017.
“Merely calling for a peaceful protest or participating in a
peaceful protest are an exercise of recognized human rights,” Throssel told a
virtual briefing.
“We are concerned at reports of police using force to
disperse and arrest nurses and health workers for infringing lockdown
restrictions as they were trying to protest for better salaries and conditions
of work,” she added.
The southern African country, whose public health system is
in ruins after years of economic crisis, has reported 2 124 coronavirus cases,
including 28 deaths.
(Today.ng)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Disclaimer: Comment expressed do not reflect the opinion of African Parliamentary News