Chihuri Bans Senior Police from MDC rallies

HARARE – No serious efforts are being made by the new Zimbabwe government to reform the partisan security forces. Police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri has recently issued a directive that no police officer above the rank of inspector will attend political rallies except those addressed by President Robert Mugabe.

In a notice circulated to police stations across the country, all senior police officers have been warned against attending rallies addressed by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
“With immediate effect, no officers of or above the rank of inspector will attend political rallies. Officers will only attend those rallies addressed by his Excellency the State President Cde R. G. Mugabe,” the circular dated 20 July 2009 reads.

Human rights organizations say there has been no clear indication from the government as to whether, how or when institutional reform – particularly of the police, army and security forces – will take place.
Rights group Amnesty International has said that the Global Political Agreement (GPA) provides a framework for change, but commitment to its implementation is not consistent within government.

“As head of state, commander in chief of the armed forces and leader of the country for the last three decades, Mugabe and those around him have a special responsibility to rise to the challenge of delivering on the GPA and particularly on the hard core human rights issues,” Amnesty secretary-general Irene Khan said in a recent visit to Zimbabwe.
“We see no progress on security sector reform,” Khan said. “Reform of the security sector is urgently needed yet we have got no clear indication from the government as to whether, how and when such reform will happen. This lack of clarity has led to many human rights activists and ordinary Zimbabweans to fear that should violence erupt again, the State security apparatus will fail to protect them and might even be used against them.”

Additional Reporting: The Zimbabwean