(Johannesburg)
–
Authorities
in Zimbabwe have
intensified
their
crackdown
against
critics
of
an
effort
by
the
ruling
Zimbabwe
African
National
Union
–
Patriotic
Front
(ZANU-PF)
party
to push
forward a
constitutional
amendment
to
extend
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s
term
of
office,
Human
Rights
Watch
said
today.
The
proposed
amendment
has
attracted
considerable
opposition
from
those
who
consider
it
an
attack
on
the
country’s
democracy.
Under
the
constitution,
President
Mnangagwa
would
have
to
step
down
in
2028
after
serving
two
five-year
terms.
However,
following
a
controversial
ZANU-PF
resolution,
the
government
gazetted Constitutional
Amendment
No
3 on
February
16,
2026.
The
amendment
would
extend
the
term
of
office
for
both
the
president
and
parliament
from
five
to
seven
years,
effectively
postponing
the
2028
elections
until
2030.
“Zimbabwe’s
leaders
should
demonstrate
their
commitment
to
the
rule
of
law
by
respecting
the
country’s
constitution
and
international
human
rights
obligations
for
freedom
of
expression
and
assembly,”
said Idriss
Ali
Nassah,
senior
Africa
researcher
at
Human
Rights
Watch.
“Civil
society,
legal
experts,
and
ordinary
people
should
be
allowed
to
peacefully
express
their
views
without
fear.”
Over
the
last
few
months,
the
police
and
unidentified
armed
men
have
threatened,
harassed,
and
beat
up
several
people
who
are
opposed
to
the
proposed
constitutional
amendment.
On
March
1,
in
Harare,
about
5
to
10
armed
men
wearing
balaclavas
reportedly
forced
their
way
into
the
offices
of
the
National
Constitutional
Assembly
(NCA),
an
opposition
political
party.
According
to
Lovemore
Madhuku,
a
prominent
lawyer
and
leader
of
the
NCA,
some
of
the
men
assaulted
members
who
had
gathered
for
a
meeting,
including injuring Madhuku.
Madhuku
has
brought
a
constitutional
court case seeking
to
halt
the
constitutional
amendment
process.
Madhuku
told
Human
Rights
Watch
that
the
men
accused
him
of
“wanting
to
create
problems
in
the
country”
and
demanded
to
know
why
he
was
opposing
the
bill.
Madhuku
said
the
men
identified
themselves
as
police
officers
and
accused
his
party
of
holding
an
“unsanctioned
meeting.”
He
said
that
they
used
the
long
batons
commonly
used
by
the
police
to
beat
him
on
his
back
and
on
the
head
and
delivered
blows
to
his
face.
He
also
said
that
uniformed
officers
remained
stationed
outside
in
their
marked
vehicles.
After
the
attack,
Madhuku
said,
the
men
left
in
two
unmarked
vehicles,
followed
by
two
Zimbabwe
Republic
Police
vehicles.
A
police statement posted
on
X
said
that
its
officers
“were
not
involved
in
the
alleged
incident”
and
that
the
police
were
“keen
to
know
what
actually
transpired.”
Another civil
society group,
the
Constitutional
Defenders
Forum,
said
that
on
February
27
the
police
gave
them
a
letter
ordering
them to
stop their
opening
meeting
scheduled
for
the
next
day
because
it
did
not
comply
with
the
Maintenance
of
Peace
and
Order
Act.
The
Forum
is
a citizen-driven
initiative committed
to
defending
Zimbabwe’s
Constitution,
constitutionalism,
and
the
rule
of
law.
Under
the Maintenance
of
Peace
and
Order
Act,
groups
planning
a
meeting
must
provide
written
notice
to
the
police
seven
days
in
advance
of
processions
and
demonstrations,
and
five
days
in
advance
of
public
meetings.
The
Forum
maintains
that
it
did.
The
police
have frequently
and
selectively used
the
requirement
to
deny civil
society and
the
opposition
permission
to
hold
meetings
and
to
mobilize.
On
March
5,
the
Forum
posted
a
video
to
social
media
that
Human
Rights
Watch
geolocated,
showing
armed
police
officers
in
several
vehicles
at
the
Harare
law
offices
of
Tendai
Biti,
the
Forum
leader.
In
a
post
on
X,
the
Forum reported that
armed
men
besieged
Biti’s
premises,
assaulted
people
there,
and
issued
death
threats
against
him.
The police
admitted to
having
deployed
officers
at
Biti’s
offices
“for
the
maintenance
of
law
and
order”
but
denied
the
assault
allegations.
Biti
told
Human
Rights
Watch
that
authorities
had
decided
to
“unleash
violence
and
place
the
country
under
a
state
of
siege”
to
silence
alternative
voices.
On
October
28,
2025,
the
Southern
African
Political
Economy
Series
(SAPES)
Trust’s
offices
in
Harare
was
badly
damaged
in
a
suspected arson
attack.
The
assailants reportedly abducted
the
night
guard
and
locked
the
property’s
gates
with
new
padlocks
before
fleeing.
The
attack
took
place
just
hours
before
SAPES
was
to
host
a
dialogue
of civil
society and
opposition
leaders
in
response
to
ZANU-PF’s
effort to
extend President
Mnangagwa’s
term.
A
few
hours
later,
the
police
and
suspected
ZANU-PF
supporters
reportedly shut
down a
similar
event
focusing
on
“Constitutional
Crossroads:
Citizens
Respond
to
Zimbabwe’s
Constitutional
Crisis”
in
Bulawayo.
The
authorities
should
appropriately
investigate
all
of
these
alleged
attacks
and
prosecute
those
responsible
for
abuses,
including
any
members
of
security
forces,
Human
Rights
Watch
said.
More
generally,
Zimbabwe
should
reform
its
security
force
responsibilities
and
procedures
to
ensure
that
they
act
professionally
and
according
to
law.
Zimbabwe
should
respect
rights
to
freedom
of
expression
and
assembly
as
provided
by
the International
Covenant
on
Civil
and
Political
Rights and
the African
Charter
on
Human
and
Peoples’
Rights,
instruments
that
it
has
ratified.
“Members
of
the civil
society and
the
political
opposition
should
be
allowed
to
freely
operate
and
mobilize
against
the
government’s
proposals,”
Nassah
said.
“Constitutional
amendments
need
to
be
debated
fairly
and
openly,
without
fear
of
repression.”
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