The death of Hilton Tafadzwa Tamangani, who was brutally assaulted by the police and died while in prison, last Friday, is testimony to the fact that the real crisis in Zimbabwe is State-sanctioned human rights abuses on innocent Zimbabweans under the Mnangagwa regime.

Since the stolen election of July 2018, 25 people have died in State sanctioned murders at the hands of rogue elements in the police and the army while hundreds others have been assaulted, tortured and abducted by State security agents.

Tamangani, a vendor was part of a group of 11 vendors arrested last week in a choreographed case involving the purported discovery of helmets at a building in Harare, which the police are strangely trying to link to the MDC.

Tamangani died on Friday night at Harare Remand Prison after the State denied his application for treatment at a private hospital. In a week where the illegitimate Zanu PF regime is trying to create some drama on the issue of sanctions, Tamangani’s brutal assault and resultant death while in custody is the clearest evidence that State-sanctioned human rights abuses are at the centre of the crisis in Zimbabwe.

His murder comes at a time when the police have proscribed the MDC from exercising its Constitutional right to hold peaceful protests against the deteriorating situation in the country while selectively allowing Zanu PF supporters to demonstrate.

Tamangani’s murder adds to the long list of innocent citizens who have lost their lives since the Mnangagwa regime stole last year’s elections. Barely hours after the stolen election in July 2018, the Mnangagwa regime killed six people and a further 19 people lost their lives at the hands of State security agents in January 2019.

Tamangani’s death brings to the fore the facts that it is State-sanctioned human rights abuses, and not sanctions, that are the centre of the crisis in Zimbabwe.

Luke Tamborinyoka
Deputy National Spokesperson