Today, March 9, 2018, marks the third anniversary of the forced disappearance of pro-democracy activist and journalist, Itai Dzamara, who after three years remains unaccounted for.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) joins Zimbabweans, human rights defenders and the Dzamara family in remembering and condemning the gross human rights violation.
Dzamara was abducted on the morning of March 9, 2015, from a barber’s shop by five suspected state security agents in the Glen View surburb of Harare.
Dzamara’s family, including his wife and two young children, continues to seek for answers of what happened to him.
Itai Dzamara deserves justice and the government of Zimbabwe has a responsibility to deliver this justice to him and his family.
The authorities have a constitutional duty to guarantee the personal security of all Zimbabweans, regardless of their political beliefs and affiliation.
The abduction followed a spat of arrests, assaults and interrogation by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) over his criticism of the government’s human rights and economic policies.
Dzamara’s unresolved abduction, like other cases of activists who were abducted and have not been accounted for, is a blight on the conscience of the nation.
ZimRights urges President Emmerson Mnangagwa to investigate the abduction of Dzamara and reach closure on the issue, also in line with a High Court order passed in March 2015, which tasked the law enforcement institutions to find the activist.
That ruling means that the government has a responsibility to find him and remains answerable to the lack of progress in resolving the criminal act.
ZimRights urges the government to show its commitment to end enforced disappearances in Zimbabwe, by among other actions, ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Person from Enforced Disappearances.
ZimRights Hotlines: 0773789874, 0733606797, 0718928611
Source: ZimRights