HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa has turned Zimbabwe into a “failed state” where citizens live in constant fear of abductions and state-sanctioned sexual abuse among other human rights violations, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has charged.

The workers’ union says Mnangagwa’s regime uses kidnappings to punish opponents who increasingly find themselves “sexually abused and unlawfully detained” pre-trial.

“Under Mnangagwa’s military junta, there has been a suspension of all political and civil rights and the situation is now worse,” ZCTU president Peter Mutasa said Thursday during Save Zimbabwe Campaign commemorations hosted by the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition.

Mutasa urged Zimbabweans to continue prosecuting a fearless but peaceful struggle to regain their political, social, and economic freedoms.

“For us to be free politically we need to free ourselves from fear. You cannot face the junta using violence, that is their territory,” the trade union leader warned.

“You cannot face the military government with arms and catapults when they are holding tankers. That would be catastrophic.”

Speaking at the same event, government critic and cleric Bishop Ancelimo Magaya called on citizens to unite against repression by Mnangagwa and stand up for one another.

“I want to assure you that the system knows that. It is persistent, resilient, and readiness to die. Now, how do you crush somebody who is ready to die?” Magaya asked rhetorically.

“We need to come to a point where we are saying we are ready to die when one of us is arrested. When [Hopewell] Chin’ono is arrested, when [Takudzwa] Ngadziore is arrested, they should arrest us all.

“That is one thing these guys are afraid of,” added Magaya.

Human rights defenders say Zimbabwe saw an increase in the violation of civil liberties last year as Mnangagwa’s government used the Covid-19 lockdowns to immobilize opponents.

The United States of America extended its punitive sanctions on Mnangagwa and his inner circle last month saying the president “has not made the necessary political and economic reforms” and that he continued to undermine the country’s “democratic processes.”

Mnangagwa denies any human rights violations, often accusing Western governments and local critics of conniving in attempts to topple him from power.