1. BACKGROUND Emmerson Mnangagwa was inaugurated as President on 26 August 2018, following a highly contested election in which opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC) petitioned the outcome of the July 30, 2018 poll.5 On 24 August, the Constitutional Court declared that MDC had failed to prove allegations of fraud and declared Mnangagwa the duly elected winner.6 Political tensions between MDC and Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) heightened following the poll and on 1 August, protests erupted in the capital Harare over delays in releasing election results.7 Authorities deployed armed police and military personnel to stop the protests. Armed police and military personnel used live ammunition and beat up protestors, using batons, boots and sjamboks8 leaving six people dead and 35 others badly injured.9 On 2 August, international election observers released a statement in which they denounced the excessive use of force to quell protests and urged the police and army to exercise restraint.10 In the euphoria that followed his ascension to power as president in 2017, President Mnangagwa promised a new Zimbabwe in which everyone was “free to campaign, speak their mind and to express themselves however they choose.”11 He further implored his supporters to “Let the people see a new face of our party through our good deeds, language and positive energy as we inspire them towards a better tomorrow, towards the Zimbabwe they want.”12 But despite these lofty promises, Zimbabweans have witnessed a rise in human rights violations and the 1 August 2018 excessive and deadly response to protests was a precursor of worse things to come. The recent human rights violations observed in the context of the January protests are rooted in Zimbabwe’s protracted economic problems which have grown critical in recent times. Zimbabwe appears to have reached unsustainable levels of debt. On 22 November 2018, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mthuli Ncube said the public debt statutory limit of 70 percent was likely to be breached by the end of 2018.13 As of August 2018, Zimbabwe’s debt stock stood at 17.6 Billion with over USD 8 billion of this owed to external creditors.14 Local analysis explains that low levels of production and productivity across On 10 August, Nelson Chamisa filed a petition before the Constitutional Court to challenge the election that gave Mnangagwa 50.8 percent and Chamisa 44.3 of the election result, citing fraud and electoral malpractice 6 Constitutional Court 7 Widely reported across domestic and international news media 8 A Sjambok is a long stiff whip usually made of animal hide 9 Amnesty International documented the events and issued a statement condemning the violence on 1 August 2018 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/08/zimbabwe-investigate-the-army-conduct-in-post-election-killings/ 10 Joint Statement by International election observation missions to Zimbabwe’s harmonised election 30 July, signed by the African Union, Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), SADC, Parliamentary Forum, Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC Countries, The Commonwealth Observer Group, European Mission Election Observation Mission, Zimbabwe, 2018, Carter Centre, National Democratic Institute 11 Address to the ZANU-PF Central Committee in Harare on 8, June 2018 as reported by the News Day, https://www.newsday.co.zw/2018/06/lets-break-from-the-past-mnangagwa/ 12 Ibid 13 He said this when he delivered his 2019 Budget Statement in Parliament on 22 November 2018 14 Budget Statement by Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mthuli Ncube, delivered to Parliament on 22 November 2018. (USD9, 544.2 Billion in domestic debt and 8, 141.6 in external debt) Many analysts that we spoke to point to the government’s opaque borrowing practice. Amnesty International cannot confirm if the government’s debt acquisition was conducted in a transparent and participatory way as required by the country’s own procedures and in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Foreign Debt and Human Rights. In terms of the Guidelines, whose aim is not to supplant but supplement the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), every borrower State should conduct a transparent and participatory needs assessment, as part of its annual debt strategy 5 ‘OPEN FOR BUSINESS, CLOSED FOR DISSENT’ CRACKDOWN IN ZIMBABWE DURING THE NATIONAL STAY-AWAY, 14-16 JANUARY 2019 Amnesty International 5