Harare Polytechnic College student and ZINASU member, Valentine Ziko, was recently abducted, beaten, and interrogated amidst a police raid while organizing Student Representative Council elections at the Chinhoyi University of Technology. The government has refused responsibility and claims the aggressors of Ziko are third-party actors attempting to tarnish the government’s image. The Committee is concerned with the violent abduction of a university student exercising freedom of expression.
https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/report/2023-12-11-chinhoyi-university-of-technology/
January 31, 2024
His Excellency, Cde Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa
Office of the President
Private Bag 7700
Causeway
Munhumutapa Building
Corner Second Street/Samora Macheal Ave, Harare
Republic of Zimbabwe
Email: info@opc.gov.zw
Dear President Mnangagwa,
The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers, and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world.
We are writing in regard to Valentine Ziko, a student at the Harare Polytechnic College. On December 11, 2023, while visiting Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) to help the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) organize a Student Representative Council election, a police raid transpired during which he was blindfolded, abducted, physically beaten, and interrogated for information on ZINASU colleagues and Citizens Coalition for Change. He was then left by a bridge with no means of returning home.
The Committee is concerned that what happened to Valentine Ziko was a series of politically motivated actions to silence free speech on university campuses, and that the incident also reflects a pattern of the government pressuring academic institutions within your country that do not match the governmental political viewpoints.
We write to urge your administration to investigate these violent offenses transpiring on university grounds. Otherwise, the reputation of the universities in your country as bastions of academic freedom is under threat. Thank you for your attention to this serious matter. We will be closely following developments in this case.
Sincerely,
CC:
Tadeous Tafirenyika Chifamba
Ambassador of the Republic of Zimbabwe to the United States
1608 New Hampshire Avenue Northwest
Washington D.C., USA
20009
Phone: (202) 332-7100
Email: tchifamba@zimembassydc.org
Website: https://zimembassydc.org/
Pamela M. Tremont
Chargé d’Affaires of the United States to the Republic of Zimbabwe
2 Lorraine Drive, Bluffhill
Harare, Republic of Zimbabwe
Phone: +263-867-701-1000
X: https://twitter.com/usembzim