The 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices has delivered a devastating indictment of Zimbabwe’s governance under ZANU PF rule. From systemic corruption to unchecked human rights violations, the report paints a grim picture of a nation where power is abused, the justice system is compromised, and the voices of dissent are brutally silenced.
Despite the presence of specialized anti-corruption courts in all ten provinces, the report exposes how political interference and weak investigations have rendered these institutions largely toothless. What should be strongholds of justice have instead become empty shells manipulated by the very forces they are meant to hold accountable. The result is a broken cycle of justice where the powerful go untouched and the corrupt are shielded by political proximity.
Petty corruption continues to choke everyday life, with police officers and local officials demanding bribes and engaging in misconduct with impunity. Yet it is the grand corruption at the highest levels that shocks the most. Al Jazeera’s ‘Gold Mafia’ investigative series cast an international spotlight on the country’s elite, exposing a network of gold smuggling and money laundering that extends from Zimbabwe to South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. High-profile individuals close to President Emmerson Mnangagwa were implicated, including Ambassador-at-Large Uebert Angel and Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation president Henrietta Rushwaya. These revelations speak not just of personal greed but of a state apparatus repurposed for looting.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission has proven to be ineffective in this climate. It handled 684 complaints in 2022, a sharp drop from the previous year. But even this modest caseload resulted in few, if any, meaningful convictions. Without prosecutorial power, ZACC has become symbolic of Zimbabwe’s hollow efforts at reform. Its actions often end in what citizens have come to know as ‘catch and release’ — a cycle where high-ranking suspects are detained briefly for show and then quietly released without consequence.
The same rot infects Zimbabwe’s prison system. Overcrowded and chronically underfunded, these facilities are a humanitarian crisis. Inmates endure frequent food shortages, lack clean water, and face a severe shortage of medical care. The Harare Remand Prison stands out as a particularly grim example, with former inmates reporting routine beatings by guards and the spread of disease due to inhumane conditions. The situation is even worse for children under four, who live in prison with their mothers and must share their meager food rations, leaving them chronically malnourished.
The state’s disregard for human rights is further exposed in its handling of political violence. The report outlines the murder of Persuade Mandara under suspicious circumstances involving the Zimbabwe Republic Police. Similarly, the abduction and killing of Citizens Coalition for Change activist Tapfumaneyi Masaya reflects a pattern of targeted violence that goes unpunished. The refusal to investigate these crimes signals a chilling message from the state — that political dissent is a punishable offense and that justice will not be served to victims.
During election periods, the manipulation of voters by shadowy groups linked to the Central Intelligence Organisation becomes rampant. These operatives masquerade as exit poll agents, but their real mission is intimidation and coercion, directly undermining the democratic process.
Human rights defenders are routinely harassed and vilified. NGOs are accused of being foreign agents, while lawyers like Doug Coltart and Tapiwa Muchineripi have been arrested simply for doing their jobs. Their only crime is defending victims of abduction and torture, a role the government appears to view as treasonous.
This damning report confirms what many Zimbabweans already know — that state institutions serve the interests of the few and not the many. Until real reforms are enacted and accountability becomes more than just a buzzword, Zimbabwe will remain trapped in a cycle of abuse, fear, and injustice.
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