By A Correspondent | The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) reports that it has unearthed evidence of the possible obstruction of justice by the Zimbabwe Republic Police in the murder of Tatenda Pasinyore.

Tatenda Pasinyore, who was only 29 years old, died at Gweru’s Mutapa Police Station on 28 February 2021 after he was brutally assaulted by police officers who had arrested him for purportedly being a public nuisance.

A post-mortem report showed that Pasinyore succumbed to hypovolemic shock, pulmonary laceration, and thoracic trauma, all signs of a brutal assault. The Forum is representing the Pasinyore family.

In response to the Forum’s request for the names of the police officers responsible, the Officer in Charge, Criminal Investigations Department Gweru, highlighted that “investigations carried out could not establish clues that could lead to the arrest of the accused (police officers) persons.” This is a precarious statement, given that Tatenda Pasinyore was arrested and assaulted by known police officers.
Impunity has remained one of the biggest drivers in State-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe. Civil society organisations have continuously provided evidence of brutality by law enforcement officers, such as in the case of Pasinyore, without any traction from authorities.

The State has been slow in operationalising Section 210 of the Constitution, which calls for establishing an Independent Complaints Commission to investigate acts of violence by law enforcement officers against civilians, the report says.

A Bill to operationalise the Independent Complaints Commission was only gazetted this year, seven years after the adoption of the Constitution, it continues.