Press freedom groups have expressed concern over the abduction of freelance photojournalist Shadreck Manyere and attempted abduction of Obrian Rwafa, a reporter with the state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC). These incidents happened just 10 days after the abduction of journalist and human rights activist Jestina Mukoko, who is still missing.
“Whoever was responsible, these kidnapping were clearly designed to sow terror among Zimbabwe’s journalists, whose investigative work is more indispensible than ever in the current social, economic and public health situation,” Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said. “The authorities must do everything possible to identify the perpetrators and instigators and bring them to justice.”
Also known as 'Saddam', Manyere was seen last at a garage in Norton, 40 km west of Harare, on December 13. Sources close to Manyere said he had received a phone call from someone asking to meet him. As he readily agreed, it is believed he knew the caller. His family has not heard from him since then and his mobile phone has been turned off. His wife said that the day after his disappearance, a group of police officers went to the family’s home and ransacked it.
"We believe that Shadrack Manyere has been illegally abducted and is in the custody of Harare police," said Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Africa Programme Coordinator Tom Rhodes. "We hold the Zimbabwe government responsible for his safety and well-being, and demand his immediate release." A spokesman for the national police, Oliver Mandipaka, told CPJ that he could not confirm whether Manyere was in police custody and would inquire into the matter. Police at Harare Central Police Headquarters told CPJ that they were unaware of Manyere's case.
Rwafa told RSF that he was outside his home on December 13 when unidentified individuals accused him of lying about the situation in Zimbabwe, began hitting him and forced him into a white car, which then drove off. By wrestling with the driver, Rwafa forced the car off the road and managed to escape. He said the attack seemed to have been politically motivated as his assailants did not try to rob him. He is currently in hospital with head injuries and bruising.
George Charamba, the permanent secretary for information and publicity and President Robert Mugabe’s spokesman, has meanwhile twice threatened journalists working for foreign news media, which he accuses of waging a propaganda war against the government.
In an interview for ZBC on December 12, he accused the local bureau of foreign news media of quoting President Mugabe of out context when they reported that he said the government had “arrested” the cholera outbreak. Charamba said the government was not obliged to accredit foreign news organisations under the press law, called the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
He repeated his threats the next day in a column in the state-owned daily the Herald, accusing news agencies Reuters, AP and AFP, and the France 24, BBC and Al Jazeera TV news stations of “rewriting” the news copy provided by their local staff to “suit their nations’ agendas.” There would be a “robust response,” he added
