A civil society leader has urged colleagues to avoid being involved in politics as this usually results in ill-treatment at the hands of the government.
Addressing the media in Harare on Thursday, Zimbabwe Citizen Forum national coordinator said Taurai Kundishaya said:
We also encourage civil society organisations to stick to the mandate and purpose upon which they founded their organisations.
The moment they start meddling in politics, they will be exposing themselves to the game of politics and the kind of treatment one would get is political.
Kundishaya however, condemned brutality and violation of the human right of activists. He added:
But if there are forms of brutality and violation of human rights in civil society, as youths in these dialogue processes, we are against that.
If somebody commits a crime, there are proper procedures that must be followed…we do not tolerate brutalities or violation of human rights. Torture is very bad, it’s something we do not like.
Kundishaya’s remarks follow the arrest of seven civil society activists on their return from the Maldives. They were subsequently charged with treason and are still languishing in remand prison.
Recently, Amalgamated Rural Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe president, Obert Masaraure was abducted at night, beaten up thoroughly and left for dead.