The Rwandan-backed March 23 Movement (M23) has killed, tortured and forcibly disappeared detainees, held some as hostages, and subjected them to inhumane conditions at detention sites in Goma and Bukavu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). These acts violate international humanitarian law (IHL) and may amount to war crimes, Amnesty International said today.
Ahead of the ninth anniversary of the enforced disappearance of Itai Dzamara, a journalist and pro-democracy activist who was abducted in Harare on 9 March 2015, Vongai Chikwanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said:
Throughout history, protest has been a powerful tool for change, but this precious right is under attack. Many governments around the world are restricting people’s right to protest, because they fear change. They want to maintain the status quo. They want to keep people divided.
Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups flagrantly violated international law and displayed a chilling disregard for human life by carrying out cruel and brutal crimes including mass summary killings, hostage-taking, and launching indiscriminate rocket attacks into Israel, Amnesty International said today. With evidence still emerging of the horrors that unfolded in southern Israel, Amnesty International will continue its investigations in order to determine the full range of crimes under international law.
Responding to the arbitrary arrest and detention of two lawyers Doug Coltart and Tapiwa Muchineripi by Zimbabwe police on 4 September 2023, for representing Womberaiishe Nhende an opposition elected councillor and Sonele Mukhuhlani, who were abducted and tortured over the weekend, Khanyo Farisè, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Southern Africa, said:
Responding to reports of the enforced disappearance and torture of Nelson Mukwenha, a political activist for opposition party Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), allegedly at the hands of security forces on 26 August, Khanyo Farisè, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Southern Africa, said:
Zimbabwe’s upcoming general election will take place in the context of five years of systematic, brutal crackdowns on human rights, including recent restrictions on political opposition gatherings, the violent suppression of protests and the criminalization of state critics, Amnesty International said today, ahead of the vote on 23 August.
Eight years after journalist and pro-democracy activist, Itai Dzamara went missing authorities are yet to give progress report on their investigation efforts to ensure his family receives justice, truth, and reparation, Amnesty International said today.
The Eswatini authorities must ensure that the unlawful killing of Thulani Maseko is promptly investigated in an effective, thorough, impartial and transparent manner, completely independent of government, Amnesty International said today.
More than 30 international organizations have joined forces to call for an international treaty to control the trade in tools of torture used to suppress peaceful protests and abuse detainees around the world.
Zimbabwe has practiced the death sentence for over a century with one of the most high-profile executions being that of Mbuya Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana in 1898 by the British colonial authorities. To this day her death is considered harsh, unjust and inconsiderate.Even though no executions have been carried out since 2005, the fact that this form of inhuman and degrading punishment remains on the law books, represents an image of a nation stuck in time.
The death penalty violates the most fundamental human right – the right to life. It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.