ZIMBABWE- HARARE - There is widespread outrage over the abduction of Jestina Mukoko by Zimbabwean security forces from her home in Norton in the morning of December 3 at approximately 5:00 am.

 

Jestina Mukoko is the Project Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), an organisation monitoring and documenting violence and human rights abuses across the country through a network of peace observers.

 

 

Aproximately fifteen armed men in plain clothes, driving four Mazda Familias with no registration plates, surrounded the home of Jestina Mukoko on Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

 

Four of them broke in threatening the guard with guns and abducted Mukoko, while still in her nightdress.

The abductors are suspected Central Intelligence Officers (CIO) and police agents. Mukoko´s son, who witnessed the abduction, reported the kidnapping to human rights organisations who are searching for her in police stations around Harare. As yet, her whereabouts remain unknown.

 

Over 50 civil society groups in Harare issued a statement Thursday demanding the unconditional and immediate release of Mukoko.

Civic groups said the abduction of Jestina Mukoko may be a result of her legitimate work in defence of human rights, in particular her work in documenting violence and torture in Zimbabwe.

Jestina Mukoko, a former news reader for ZBC, who left the State broadcaster to join independent radio station VoP, before going into civil society, has compiled human rights reports detailing rights abuses by the Mugabe regime. Civic groups demanded that the authorities in Zimbabwe clarify the whereabouts of Jestina Mukoko and release her immediately.

They also wanted a thorough and impartial investigation into her abduction and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards.

Media rights groups have also condemned the abduction of the veteran broadcster saying it was an affront to the recently signed power-sharing agreement.

Lawyers said they have checked all police stations and her whereabouts are still unknown.
There are widespread fears for her safety.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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