Former Presidential Guard Commander Anselem Sanyatwe has been placed on the United States of America sanctions list.
Sanyatwe, a retired army general who has been appointed an ambassador to Tanzania, commanded troops accused of killing six civilians on August 1 2018.
According to the Associated Press, the listing of Anselem Sanyatwe signals U.S. frustration over the lack of accountability in the killings in the capital, Harare.
The government deployed soldiers in central Harare on August 1 last year to quell post-election violence. 6 civilians were shot and killed while fleeing the soldiers and at least 35 bystanders were seriously injured.
In a statement on Thursday, the United States of America State Department said:
Section 7031(c) of the FY 2019 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act provides that, in cases where the Secretary of State has credible information that foreign officials have been involved in significant corruption or a gross violation of human rights, those individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States.
The Department has credible information that Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe was involved in the violent crackdown against unarmed Zimbabweans during post-election protests on August 1, 2018, that resulted in six civilian deaths.
… Furthermore, there has been no accountability for the excessive use of force by Zimbabwean security forces on civilians in January and February this year, which reportedly resulted in at least 13 deaths, 600 victims of violence, torture or rape, and more than 1,000 arrests.
We again call on Zimbabwean authorities to hold accountable those officials responsible for human rights violations and abuses in Zimbabwe.