The Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) has claimed that 10 of its members were injured when armed anti-riot police raided their private meeting at the ZESA Training Centre in Belvedere, Harare on Wednesday, 24 July.

Speaking to CITE, ZINASU Harare Provincial Chairperson Tatenda Kudzai said they were holding a meeting when police descended on the venue and brutalised some of the students. Said Kudzai:

The notorious anti-riot police officers invaded our meeting and started beating up students, leaving a dozen with injuries.

As we speak right now, our President, Emmanuel Sitima, has been taken and is held captive and treated like a terrorist at the Harare Central Police Station.

According to student activist Vital Maronjese, the protesters were conducting themselves peacefully when they were brutally assaulted by the police. Said Maronjese:

When they arrived, they appeared like people who wanted to understand our meeting. Little did we know that the indiscriminate brutal assault was about to begin. We started running in different directions, and amid the chaos, I was injured.

However, Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the police intervened after being called to attend a violent situation that had erupted among the students.

Nyathi said police were not responsible for the violence but were called in to maintain law and order.

The 44 arrested students were taken to Harare Central Police Station, where they were made to pay a US$20 fine each before being released.

However, ZINASU leader Emmanuel Sitima remained in police custody.

Heal Zimbabwe Trust Advocacy Officer and former ZINASU Secretary Tapiwanashe Chiriga said:

A paranoid state is out to get every dissenting voice in the land at the slightest convenience.

The government of Zimbabwe has de facto banned the right to free association and assembly in Zimbabwe as part of its SADC preparations.

The disruption, assault, and arrest of the ZINASU General Councillors is another window into the state of human rights in Zimbabwe.

We cannot suspend life and our constitutional rights because we have a SADC summit.

The arrests came just two after Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe issued a warning to citizens to “behave” or face consequences.

Speaking at the burial of Brigadier General Michael Chaminuka on Monday, Kazembe said:

Those who are going to misbehave will be unfortunate and will have themselves to blame.

Zimbabwe is set to host the 44th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government on August 17, 2024, in Harare.

More: Pindula News