A Decade of Silence in Itai Dzamara Disappearance

On
the
morning
of
9
March
2015,


five
men
abducted
Dzamara
from
a
barber
shop
in
the
capital
Harare’s
Glen
View
suburb.
The
men
accused
him
of
stealing
cattle
before
handcuffing
him
and
driving
off
with
him
in
a
white
truck
with
concealed
number
plates.
All
attempts
by
relatives
and
human
rights
lawyers
to
establish
his
whereabouts
have
been
unsuccessful.

“Itai
Dzamara’s
family
and
loved
ones
have
endured
ten
years
without
answers.
The
authorities
have
ignored
calls
for
information
and
investigation,
including
from
his
wife
Sheffra
Dzamara,”
said
Tigere
Chagutah,
Amnesty
International’s
Regional
Director
for
East
and
Southern
Africa.
“Zimbabwean
authorities
must
urgently
carry
out
an
effective
investigation
into
what
happened
to
Itai
Dzamara
and
end
their
official
silence
on
his
case.” 

Dzamara
was
a
leader
of
the Occupy
Africa
Unity
Square,
a
pro-democracy
protest
group.
Two
days
before
his
enforced
disappearance,
Dzamara
addressed
an
opposition
rally
where
he
called
for
mass
action
against
Zimbabwe’s
deteriorating
economic
conditions. 

“Itai
Dzamara’s
family
and
loved
ones
have
endured
ten
years
without
answers.
The
authorities
have
ignored
calls
for
information
and
investigation,
including
from
his
wife
Sheffra
Dzamara,”

–
Tigere
Chagutah,
Amnesty
International
Regional
Director
for
East
and
Southern
Africa

Immediately
after
Dzamara’s
abduction,
his
wife
filed
a
missing
person
report
at
Glen
Norah
Police
Station
in
Harare.
The
next
day,
Zimbabwe
Lawyers
for
Human
Rights
approached
the
High
Court
to
try
to
force
the
state
to
expend
all
available
resources
to
investigate
and
locate
Dzamara. 

The
High
Court
of
Zimbabwe
ordered
police
and
state
security
agents
to
search for
Dzamara
and
report
on
their
progress
every
two
weeks.
However,
according
to
his
lawyer,
none
of
the
security
services
have
fully
complied
with
the
order.
Police
have
reportedly
not
given
any
substantial
information
on
the
details
of
their
supposed
investigation
when
they
submitted
reports
to
the
court,
and
have
stopped
submitting
reports. 

“Authorities
have
yet
to
conduct
any
credible
inquiry
into
Itai
Dzamara’s
fate
or
whereabouts,”
said
Tigere
Chagutah.
“It
is
time
for
the
authorities
to
stop
pretending
and
get
serious
about
finding
Itai
Dzamara
and
holding
accountable
whoever
is
suspected
of
responsibility
for
his
enforced
disappearance.” 

Dzamara’s
enforced
disappearance
followed


months
of
persecution
after
he
submitted
a
petition
calling
on
Zimbabwe’s
then-President,
Robert
Mugabe,
to
resign
and
pave
the
way
for
elections. 

In
November
2014,
anti-riot
police
beat
Dzamara
until
he
lost
consciousness
while
he
was
engaging
in
a
peaceful
protest
in
Harare. In
hospital,
Dzamara
collapsed
and
had
to
be
resuscitated
and
treated
in
the
intensive
care
unit. 

It
is
time
for
the
authorities
to
stop
pretending
and
get
serious
about
finding
Itai
Dzamara.

–
Tigere
Chagutah,
Amnesty
International
Regional
Director
for
East
and
Southern
Africa

One
month
later,
unknown
men
abducted
Dzamara
and
two
other
activists,
allegedly
took
them
to
an
office
of
the
ruling
ZANU-PF
party
and
severely
beat
them
with
metal
rods
before
bringing
them
to
a
police
station.

The
police
let
the
abductors
go
free
without
charge.
Dzamara
and
the
two
activists
required
hospitalization
for
injuries
inflicted
during
the
abduction. 

Since
Dzamara’s
enforced
disappearance,
many
other
activists
and
human
rights
defenders
in
Zimbabwe
have
suffered
harassment,
intimidation
or
torture.
In
the
last
two
years
alone,
at
least
ten
opposition
activists
have
been
abducted. 

Six
people
were
abducted
after
disputed
elections
in
2023,
including
opposition
activist
and
church
leader
Tapfumaneyi
Masaya
whose
body
was
later
found
dumped
on
a
farm.
Others
were
allegedly
tortured,
some
reported
being
injected
with
an
unknown
substance. 

With
the
perpetrators
of
Itai
Dzamara’s
enforced
disappearance
enjoying
complete
impunity,
it
should
be
no
surprise
that
similar
human
rights
violations
continue
in
Zimbabwe.

–
Tigere
Chagutah,
Amnesty
International
Regional
Director
for
East
and
Southern
Africa

Last
year,
amid
a


massive
crackdown
on
dissent
before
a
regional
summit
held
in
Harare,
security
agents
pulled
four
activists
off
a
plane
and
reportedly
tortured
them
for
up
to
eight
hours. 

Authorities
have
not
conducted
investigations
into
any
of
these
cases. 

“With
the
perpetrators
of
Itai
Dzamara’s
enforced
disappearance
enjoying
complete
impunity,
it
should
be
no
surprise
that
similar
human
rights
violations
continue
in
Zimbabwe,”
said
Tigere
Chagutah.
“Zimbabwe’s
government
must
protect
human
rights
defenders,
activists
and
opposition
political
parties
to
ensure
they
are
able
to
do
their
work.”