Zimbabwe – Abduction of human rights defender, Ms Jestina Mukoko

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports received of the abduction of Ms Jestina Mukoko by Zimbabwean security forces from her home in Norton Harare in the morning of 3 December 2008, at approximately 5:00 am. Jestina Mukoko is the Project Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), an organisation monitoring and documenting violence and human rights abuses across the country through a network of peace observers.

Further Information

On 3 December 2008, at around 5:00 am, approximately fifteen armed men in plain clothes, driving a Mazda Familia with no registration plates, surrounded the home of Jestina Mukoko. Four of them broke in threatening the guard with guns and abducted Jestina Mukoko, while still in her nightdress. The abductors are suspected Central Intelligence Officers (CIO) and police agents. Justine Mukoko´s son, who witnessed the abduction, reported the kidnapping to human rights organisations who are searching for her in police stations around Harare. As yet, her whereabouts remain unknown.

Front Line believes that the alleged abduction of Jestina Mukoko may be a result of her legitimate work in defence of human rights, in particular her work in documenting violence and torture in Zimbabwe. Front Line is concerned about the recent increase in the harassment of human rights defenders in Zimbabwe and is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Jestina Mukoko.