Zimbabwe police manned checkpoints on many main roads on
Saturday, searching vehicles for protesters involved in recent anti-government
demonstrations.
The crackdown by security forces has been fiercely
criticised by the UN human rights office, with allegations of shootings,
beatings and abductions of opposition figures, activists and ordinary
residents.
Police road blocks were a notorious feature of daily life
under former president Robert Mugabe.
But they largely disappeared after he was ousted by the
military in November 2017 and his former deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa took power.
"We want to tell members of the public that... we have
already set up security checkpoints where police officers and other security
institutions will be checking," police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told
Saturday's state-owned Herald newspaper.
The aim, she added, is to catch suspected looters and
recover property stolen during protests that erupted after Mnangagwa last
weekend announced a 150-percent increase in petrol prices.
The Herald said 700 people had been arrested since the
violent protests, which it blamed on the opposition MDC party and trade unions.
Police were in action at checkpoints on Saturday in the
capital Harare and the second city Bulawayo, AFP reporters witnessed.
In Bulawayo, police officers armed with assault rifles
manned roadblocks on every major road, conducting "stop and search"
operations.
In both cities, customers seeking to stock up on basic
goods tentatively returned to shops that opened for the first time since the
protests started on Monday.
Long queues formed to buy bread and petrol, which are both
in short supply due to Zimbabwe's long-running economic crisis.
"Nothing has changed after the fuel price
increase," said one motorist in a queue who identified himself only as
Sonny.
In Bulawayo, soldiers escorted fuel tanks delivering
supplies to petrol stations.
A complete internet shutdown was lifted on Friday. "The
internet was the tool used to coordinate the violence," presidential
spokesman George Charamba told state TV.
"There is no way you expect us to sacrifice a national
good for the sake of internet. If they want uninterrupted internet, let them
abide by the law."
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum said it had recorded at
least 12 deaths, 78 gunshot injuries and more than 240 incidents of assault and
torture.
The United Nations human rights office on Friday urged
Harare to "stop the crackdown", voicing alarm over the security
forces' "excessive use of force" which included reports of them using
live ammunition.
And it called on Zimbabwe's government "to find ways
of engaging with the population about their legitimate grievances".
The army and police held a joint press conference late
Saturday to deny any misconduct, saying some assailants were wearing official
uniforms to pose as security personnel.
"We want to warn those bent on causing mayhem that the
law will be applied without fear or favour," defence forces spokesman
Overson Mugwisi said.
Mnangagwa, 76, is trying to drum up investment on an
overseas tour that started in Russia on Monday and will end with him mixing
with world leaders at the Davos summit in Switzerland next week.
Mugabe, now 94, ruled Zimbabwe with an iron fist for 37
years from independence from Britain until he was ousted in November 2017.
The military, fearing that Mugabe's wife Grace was being
lined up to succeed him, seized control and forced him to resign before
ushering Mnangagwa to power. AFP
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