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Kidnapped. Tortured Dehumanized. And yet, in the brutal context of Zimbabwe’s recent history, Tawanda Muchehiwa can almost be considered one of the lucky ones.
Unlike activist Itai Dzamara, who disappeared in 2015 and was never heard from again, Muchehiwa is alive. And unlike journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, and dozens of people who have been targeted by the state, he has no pending legal proceedings over his head.
The 22-year-old journalism student’s story began on the morning of July 30, the day before anti-government protests were scheduled to begin in Zimbabwe’s major cities and towns.
Muchehiwa was inside a vehicle in front of a hardware store in Bulawayo, the second largest city and stronghold of the opposition. His cousins, Advent Mathuthu and Amandlenkosi Mathuthu, were inside the store. In the car, an official from the Movement for the Alliance for Democratic Change, Zimbabwe’s official opposition, was waiting for him.
Suddenly, several cars stopped next to him. A tall man in a light blue shirt stepped out of one of them and aggressively pushed open Muchehiwa’s door. In Shona, the man shouted: “Prisoners! “You are under arrest. Before he knew it, Muchehiwa was handcuffed and dragged out of the car.
They put him in another vehicle, which sped away. His relatives were taken in a different car to a police station. Soon after, Muchehiwa was transferred to a different car, a white Ford Ranger, with the registration AES 2433, and taken to an undisclosed location.
“I suffered horrible abuse at the hands of the five officers over the next three days,” he told the Mail and tutor. “They beat me with logs and sticks, focusing mainly on my buttocks and under my feet. I suffered injuries to my buttocks and kidney. “
His captors were under the impression that Muchehiwa was coordinating the July 31 anti-government protests in Bulawayo and Matabeleland. He said he wasn’t. They questioned him about his uncle, Mduduzi Mathuthu, the editor of the ZimLive news site, who had published a series of damning revelations about alleged government corruption.
At the time, Mathuthu was in hiding, after state agents raided his home. It is still hidden.
The officers threatened to kill Muchehiwa and pointed a pistol at his head. They said they would hang him and then dump his body at nearby prey. He overheard them on the phone, presumably talking to his bosses, asking what they should do with him.
Three days later, around 10 p.m. on August 1, his kidnappers left Muchehiwa outside his home. They told him to join Zanu-PF, the ruling party, immediately. They said that if he did so and used their social media platform to show support for the regime, they would give him a college scholarship and a job after the 2023 election.
“I am terrified of leading a normal life in Zimbabwe, because now I know what the regime is capable of,” Muchehiwa said. “My family was so terrified, but they were happy that he was at least back alive. They had lost hope. After three days, they thought he would not return. “
A pattern of abuse
These types of arrests are part of a disturbing pattern. In Zimbabwe, dozens of opposition leaders, activists and outspoken critics of the government have been abducted under mysterious circumstances and are often tortured before being released.
This was a feature of the late President Robert Mugabe’s regime, but has intensified under the leadership of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, there were 49 cases of abduction and torture in Zimbabwe in 2019 alone, with no investigation leading to holding the perpetrators accountable.
“Attacking peaceful dissidents, including youth leaders, in direct retaliation for the exercise of their freedom of association, peaceful assembly and freedom of expression is a serious violation of human rights laws,” the UN agency said.
Some examples include:
- Comedian Samantha Kureya, also known as Gonyeti, was kidnapped from her home in August last year by gunmen who told her she was “too young to make fun of the government” and forced her to drink sewage.
- Peter Magombeyi, director of the Zimbabwe Association of Hospital Doctors, led a strike by Zimbabwean junior doctors in September last year. Shortly after it started, he was kidnapped from his home in Harare. Five days later, he was abandoned in a city 18 kilometers from the capital, stunned and in pain.
- Three female opposition leaders, MP Joana Mamombe and youth leaders Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marowa, were arrested by police in May this year for attending a protest during the shutdown. They were taken from a police station by unidentified armed men, who beat and sexually assaulted them before dumping them on the side of the road a day later. Despite their visible injuries, when they went to file a complaint with the police, they were accused of fabricating allegations.
The government has consistently denied knowledge of these kidnappings. He has also accused his opponents of fabricating abuses.
“A certain political party is losing credibility due to its ‘crying wolf’ antics,” said government spokesman Nick Mangwana. He added: “Bogus kidnappings hurt our economic prospects.”
Muchehiwa’s abduction, however, was captured on closed-circuit television cameras. The footage is grainy but unmistakable. Just as you described it, your car is surrounded by several others. A man in a light blue shirt drags him out and forces him into another vehicle. Other CCTV footage shows it being transferred shortly after to a different vehicle: a white Ford Ranger, with the AES 2433 license plate clearly visible.
Zimbabwean journalists were able to trace the vehicle. It is owned by Impala Car Rental and was returned on August 6 with a damaged suspension. Impala Car Rental owner Thompson Dondo said he would release more information only to police.
“Our family has proven that the police participated in a kidnapping beyond a reasonable doubt. My lawyer, the defender Nqobani Mpofu, and Mduduzi Mathuthu are working tirelessly to ensure that he can obtain justice, ”Muchehiwa said.
“I think the Impala boss should understand that as a victim who was kidnapped in his car, I have the right to know my captors. They must not cover up or say they will reveal information to the police that was also involved in my abduction. [and] … Obviously I have an interest in covering the tracks, ”he said. “My message to the outside world is that the Mnangagwa regime has declared war on its citizens. The windows of democracy are closing fast ”.
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