Former US President Jimmy Carter has taken the issue of Jestina Mukoko’s abduction by state agents in Zimbabwe to the United Nations. Carter made the disclosure in an interview with VOA journalist Blessing Zulu this week.
Carter who is part of the respected Elders Group condemned the abduction. Only last month a visit by Carter, Former UN Chief Kofi Annan and former Mozambican first lady Graca Machel was blocked by Zimbabwean authorities who claimed ‘the unemployed busy bodies were up to no good.’
Instead the group travelled to neighbouring South Africa where they assessed the situation from across the border speaking to various groups and exiles in the country. They later released a scathing condemnation of the situation in Zimbabwe. The latest abductions have higlighted just how desperate the regime has become.
On Monday two of Mukoko’s work mates were also kidnapped at their offices by six men in unmarked cars. One of the targeted workers managed to escape and has gone into hiding. Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Zimbabwe National Students Union, and the National Association of Non-Governmental Organizations confirmed the kidnappings.
Meanwhile NANGO has released a statement on the abductions saying it now worries for her life.
‘It is also day five since the arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention of thirty three Civil Society Activists in Gweru. Hundreds of other prisoners of conscience remain incarcerated in various centers around Zimbabwe. These prisoners are the victims of the State’s implementation of a host of repressive pieces of legislation that threaten not only democracy but the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms in Zimbabwe.’
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