Itai Dzamara, a journalist and pro-democracy activist, was abducted 10 years ago on 9 March 2015 by five unknown men at a barber shop in Harare’s Glen View suburb. Ever since then, his loved ones have not seen him or had any information about his fate or whereabouts.
What is the problem?
Five unidentified men suspected to be state security, abducted Itai Dzamara on the morning of 9 March 2015, at a barbershop in the Glen View area of Harare. The men accused Itai of stealing cattle before grabbing, handcuffing him and driving him away in a white truck with concealed license plates. 10 years have passed and Itai’s fate and whereabouts remain unknown. The efforts of his attorneys and family to ensure the authorities conduct an effective investigation have failed.
The day after his abduction, on 10 March, 2015, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights petitioned the High Court to order the government to use every resource at its disposal to find Itai Dzamara. On 13 March 2015, the High Court of Zimbabwe ordered the Central Intelligence Organization’s Director General, the Commissioner-General of Police, the Minister of State Security, and the Minister of Home Affairs to investigate and report the progress of their search to the High Court’s Registrar fortnightly until Itai’s fate or whereabouts was determined.
None of the state authorities have fully complied with the directive, since it was issued, to notify the High Court of their progress on the investigation. The police have stopped reporting.
The authorities have not gone back to Itai’s family to update on any progress on the case. In 2019, Itai’s wife Sheffra Dzamara wrote an open letter to President Mnangagwa appealing for help in finding her husband; she never received a response. The Zimbabwe government has ignored pleas to effectively investigate Itai’s fate or whereabouts from multiple civil society, international and regional human rights bodies.
What you can do to help?
Join the people of Zimbabwe in demanding that the Zimbabwe authorities set up an independent judge led commission of inquiry to effectively investigate the disappearance of Itai Dzamara, establish his fate or whereabouts and bring to justice, in fair trials, anyone suspected of criminal responsibility.