Police ruthlessly crush protest by youth activists

Zimbabwe Youth Forum
October 27, 2008

Thousands of youth gathered around the Harare International Conference Centre the venue for the SADC Troika meeting which was supposed to conclude the power sharing talks between Zanu PF and the MDC with the intention of handing over a petition to the negotiating parties and the SADC troika. The petition was meant to compel the SADC troika to come up with a logical and balanced power sharing agreement that will bring an end to the political and socioeconomic crisis crippling the country. The petition was also highlighting the need for SADC and the AU to exert pressure on Mugabe to agree to share power equitably with the MDC leader. However the venue was barricaded by heavily armed police. However this did not deter the youth from marching towards the venue but however the peaceful march was violently crushed by the police who fired shots in the air as well as tear smoke. The police also beat up the protesters as well as ordinary citizens who were either queuing at the banks or moving around town. Hundreds of the demonstrating activists were arrested at the scene and many others were injured. There are also reports of more than twenty youth activists who were abducted close to the venue of the negotiations by militias who were moving around in white trucks marked Zanu PF. The youth have however vowed not to rest until real change has come and they have declared that in the event that there is no meaningful conclusion to the negotiations the struggle will be taken to all townships of the country and there will be civil unrest.

The demonstration was organized and led by the Youth Agenda Trust and it involved other youth movements like the Youth Forum, community youth based organizations as well as student movements such as ZINASU and Student Christian Movement of Zimbabwe.