The Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) has condemned the police’s use of brute force in the recent eviction of 15 villagers from Arnold Farm in Mazowe to pave way for First Lady Grace Mugabe.
BY VENERANDA LANGA
The families last week had their homes burnt, as they were forcibly removed from the farm and dumped by the roadside amid reports that Grace wants to turn the farm into a private wildlife conservancy.
“ZimRights condemns the continued harassment of families at Arnold Farm in Mazowe in Mashonaland Central, whose homes are being callously destroyed in a bid to evict them without alternative shelter,” the rights body said in a statement.
“The fact that the evictions that violate human rights are allegedly being spearheaded by the First Lady, Grace Mugabe, is a serious abrogation of the rule of law, accountability, constitutionalism and democracy in the country.
“The fact that the police, who are supposed to uphold the Constitution and the rulings of the courts, are in the forefront of violating them, is a travesty of justice. ZimRights calls upon the police to respect the Constitution, which expressly outlaws arbitrary eviction of people without a court order, and must stop such denial of the right to shelter and destruction of property.”
Several human rights and civil society groups have also described the move as callous and inhuman.
