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Civilians beaten and abducted in major Zimbabwe crackdown
Source: The Guardian
Civilians beaten and abducted in major Zimbabwe crackdown
Activists tell of abductions and beatings during unrest linked to food and fuel shortages
Jason Burke Africa correspondent
Wed 16 Jan 2019 16.45 GMT
Police and military have launched a massive crackdown in Zimbabwe after what appears to be have been a widespread breakdown of public order linked to food and fuel shortages in the impoverished country.
Access to the internet and social media was shut off for most of Wednesday, and armed soldiers were patrolling the streets of major cities as unidentified men were reported to be sweeping through poor neighbourhoods of Harare, the capital, and beating people “at random”.
Activists, lawyers and other citizens described a wave of abductions in and around Harare. In some poor neighbourhoods, groups of young men set up roadblocks and were stoning the few vehicles on the roads.
Police cells across the city are “full to capacity”, packed with large numbers of men and children.
“The internet shutdown has been (used) to cover up a massive operation of repression,” said Doug Coltart, a lawyer who spoke to more than 30 detainees at the Harare’s central prison on Wednesday. Some were children.
-snip-
Activists tell of abductions and beatings during unrest linked to food and fuel shortages
Jason Burke Africa correspondent
Wed 16 Jan 2019 16.45 GMT
Police and military have launched a massive crackdown in Zimbabwe after what appears to be have been a widespread breakdown of public order linked to food and fuel shortages in the impoverished country.
Access to the internet and social media was shut off for most of Wednesday, and armed soldiers were patrolling the streets of major cities as unidentified men were reported to be sweeping through poor neighbourhoods of Harare, the capital, and beating people “at random”.
Activists, lawyers and other citizens described a wave of abductions in and around Harare. In some poor neighbourhoods, groups of young men set up roadblocks and were stoning the few vehicles on the roads.
Police cells across the city are “full to capacity”, packed with large numbers of men and children.
“The internet shutdown has been (used) to cover up a massive operation of repression,” said Doug Coltart, a lawyer who spoke to more than 30 detainees at the Harare’s central prison on Wednesday. Some were children.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/16/authorities-launch-major-crackdown-amid-protests-zimbabwe
