ZIMBABWE Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) calls upon the government to implement measures that allow students to freely choose leaders and representatives of their choice without fear of being targeted for associating with a Union of their choice.
According to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and media reports, two Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) students namely Lindon Zanga and Malvin Madanda were allegedly abducted on 10 November 2025 in Chinhoyi in Mashonaland West province. Media reports stated that Zanga and Madanda were abducted by some unidentified people at a shopping centre in Chinhoyi at a time when they were conducting election campaigns to elect leaders of the CUT Students Representative Council and were later found on 11 November 2025 in Shamva in Mashonaland Central province after they were assaulted and tortured.
ZLHR condemns the abduction and torture of Zanga and Madanda, as such treatment is a violation of their fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution and in regional and international instruments.
ZLHR is greatly worried that students continue to be exposed to unsafe learning environments, where perpetrators can abduct and ill-treat them with impunity.
Under international law, abductions and torture are a crime against humanity and these violations impact several human rights including the right to liberty and security, the right to life, among other liberties, which are all guaranteed in the Constitution.
ZLHR takes note that the ZRP has indicated that it is investigating the abduction of the two CUT students and urges the law enforcement agency to thoroughly and expeditiously probe this incident and hold the perpetrators accountable for such unlawful conduct.
Abductions, torture and enforced disappearances cannot be justified by any circumstances, as such acts strip individuals of their dignity and remove them from safe and legal protection.
Apart from violating these fundamental rights, the abduction of Zanga and Madanda also violate their rights to education and academic freedom. Students deserve access to education in an environment where their dignity and safety are protected and guaranteed as they pursue a productive future.
Students’ quest for education must never become a risk to their lives. Universities and tertiary institutions must be places of learning and acquisition of knowledge and not zones of fear and terror.
Those responsible for the abduction and ill-treatment of the CUT students must be held to account in accordance with national and international standards.
ZLHR urges government to take necessary measures to advance students protection and to safeguard education facilities against violations and to guarantee the safety of students, uphold their right to education and their right to choose representatives of their choice.
ENDS
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Kodzero/Amalungelo House
No. 103 Sam Nujoma Street, Harare, Zimbabwe
Phone: (+263 8677005347, +263 242 764085/705370/708118
Email: info@zlhr.org
www.zlhr.org.zw
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