3) The History of Violence
To those in the know, there is nothing new or surprising about the killing of innocent unarmed civilians by the state. The only difference is that the 1st of August killings happened in front of international cameras.
Zimbabwe has a long and perilous history of state sponsored, state sanctioned and state protected violence against civilians. The MDC and other civic organisations have kept records of these footprints of torture and brutality that Zimbabweans have had to endure.
At each and every turn, the State comes up with flimsy and unfounded allegations to justify harassing and killing citizens for political reasons.
We have seen this established culture from –
– The mass murders of civilians in Matabeleland in the 80s in what is commonly known as the Gukurahundi
– The cold blooded murder of democracy activists such as Tonderai Ndira, Tichaona Chiminya, Gift Tandare, and others by state security agents who are known but protected by the state.
– The shooting of Former Gweru Mayor the late Patrick Kombayi by known perpetrators who were later pardoned by the head of state Robert Mugabe.
– The brutal daylight attacks of many democratic movement leaders including MDC President Nelson Chamisa.
– The mass and brutal killings of civilians following the MDC electoral victory in 2008 which closely resembles the 1 August killings.
– The forced disappearance of democracy activists such as Itai Dzamara at the hands of the state.
These are just examples of documented state brutality. The 2008 killings in particular, again show how the state behaves in the face of Zanu-PF electoral defeat. There is nothing new about what happened on 1 August. History tells us that when Zanu-PF loses elections to the MDC, they employ brutal tactics by abusing state security agents to silence dissent and suppress the true expression of the people’s will.
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