HARARE – A Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) youth chairman was abducted and tortured in the small hours of Wednesday by suspected state security agents, a human rights group said.
Blessing Kanotunga was seized by five armed men as he slept in his home in Mufakose, where he is the local youth leader of the MDC.
Earlier, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights reported the abduction and torture of Tatenda Mombeyarara, a human rights activist, by six men armed with AK47 rifles.
The increasing repression comes ahead of a series of planned anti-government protests by the MDC, starting in Harare on Friday.
“Five unidentified armed men abducted Kanotunga from his house and assaulted him with blunt objects indiscriminately, he was later dumped near Chitungwiza,” the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum said.
The Forum said Kanotunga was “interrogated about the August 16 protest” – a reference to a huge demonstration planned for Harare by the MDC to force President Emmerson Mnangagwa to collapse his government.
The MDC, which does not recognise Mnangagwa as president, accuses the 76-year-old Zanu PF leader of election fraud last year. The opposition party wants Zanu PF to cede power to a broad-based “national transitional authority” that will implement key reforms ahead of fresh elections in 2023.
A failing economy and increasing hardships for most Zimbabweans a year on from Mnangagwa’s controversial election victory has fueled resentment against his regime, which now fears being overthrown in popular uprisings.
Deputy defence minister Victor Matemadanda vowed on Monday that the MDC street marches “will not happen”. He previously said soldiers would be deployed to crush the protests.
