The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, has called on the Zimbabwean government to respect people’s rights, saying the international organisation was “closely monitoring the country’s situation”.
This comes as Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis is deepening, with people taking to the streets demanding President Robert Mugabe’s immediate resignation.
Police have unsuccessfully tried to quash the protests by brutally attacking protestors.
Responding to journalists during a briefing at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday, the organisation’s secretary-general Ban Ki Moon’s spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric expressed concern over police brutality in Zimbabwe.
“We’re obviously watching the situation in Zimbabwe very closely.  We urge the authorities, the government of Zimbabwe, to ensure that people’s right to peaceful protest and assembly be fully respected,” he said.
“Steph, the Zimbabwe police today (Friday) put down violently a court-sanctioned protest calling for electoral reforms. Part of those petitions are that the UN observe elections in 2018. What are your thoughts on how the police reacted to that, to this protest?” a journalist had asked Dujarric.