250 Homes Burned by Zimbabwean Armed Police

The evicted families, estimated to be around 250 people, have no other options but to return to the settlement at Gunhill; at present they are living in the open without access to shelter.

Courtesy: visitbulgaria.info

(HARARE / PORTLAND) - Amnesty International (AI) is demanding Zimbabwean government take immediate action to protect 250 people who were forcibly evicted from their homes on 25 August.

The residents of Gunhill, a suburb of Harare were awakened in the night, given ten minutes to gather belongings and were forced from their homes. The stood in silence as they watched their homes and possessions set alight by an unjust, armed police force.

Residents tell AI the members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) raided the informal settlement armed and accompanied by dogs. Residents received no notice of the eviction and were given just ten minutes to gather themselves, their families and possessions before being ordered into police vehicles.

When asked by AI, police gave no information as to why the eviction was being carried out or at whose instigation. “Driving people forcefully from their homes in the middle of the night cannot be justified in any circumstance,” said Michelle Kagari, deputy Africa director at AI. “The brutality with which this forced eviction was carried out is alarming.”

Zimbabwean police have a history and pattern of harassing the Gunhill community. The residents have been arbitrarily raided, community members randomly arrested and detained then subsequently released without charge.

Following the most recent eviction, AI told Salem-News.com “Fifty five residents, including five children, were taken to Harare Central Police Station and detained without access to lawyers. Lawyers who attempted to attend their clients at the police station were not informed why they had been detained. All 55 detainees were released without charge later in the day”.

The evicted families, estimated to be around 250 people, have no other options but to return to the settlement at Gunhill; at present they are living in the open without access to shelter.

“Amnesty International is calling on the Zimbabwean authorities to provide those made homeless with emergency shelter,” said Michelle Kagari. “They must also ensure that the victims receive adequate reparation, including adequate alternative accommodation and compensation. The unity government must end the deplorable practice of forced evictions and give the Gunhill community assurances that this terrifying ordeal will not be repeated,” he continued.

The residents have been prey to the Zimbabwean government for many years. A large percentage were part of the first mass eviction in 2005, Operation Murambatsvina (Restore Order), in which an estimated 700,000 people lost their homes. Gunhill settlement was a result of the 2005 expulsions. July 2009 saw them targeted again, however, following campaigning by AI and a coalition of Zimbabwean organizations the threat was subsequently withdrawn by the Mayor of Harare.

“The government has repeatedly failed to compensate or relocate the victims of Operation Murambatsvina. Hundreds of thousands of people continue to survive in deplorable conditions, and many face an ongoing threat of repeated forced eviction,” said Michelle Kagari.

Zimbabwe has a national and international responsibility to the residents of Gunhill. AI told Salem-News.com “Forced evictions are evictions that are carried out without adequate notice or consultation with those affected, without legal safeguards and without assurances of adequate alternative accommodation. As a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international human rights treaties which prohibits forced eviction and related human rights violations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Zimbabwe has an obligation to stop forced evictions and to protect the population from forced evictions”.

*Sources: Amnesty International