Zimbabwe
Immediately halt the practice of implementing internet shutdowns and take steps to reduce the cost of internet access and ensure its affordability for under-served groups.
Zimbabwe is located in Southern Africa and has a population of 15.3 million people. Its Constitution of 2013 provides for the rights to privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of the media, access to information and other fundamental rights. Despite these constitutional guarantees and Zimbabwe’s obligations under international treaties to protect these rights–both offline and online– violations continue. These Include attacks on media practitioners, internet shutdowns and indiscriminate surveillance. Journalists, activists, human rights defenders and individuals criticising President Emmerson Mnangagwa face arrests, assaults and judicial harassment under repressive legislation, most notably the Criminal Code. Internet access remains prohibitively expensive for large segments of the population.
50%
Households with internet access in 2020
29%
Individuals using internet in 2020
1
Fixed Broadband Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2020
137/180
Press Freedom Ranking in 2022
Upr cycle
Zimbabwe was last reviewed in January 2022.
Digital Rights and Free Expression Recommendations
Resources
Partner organisations
Over a hundred local and international human rights organisations are part of the wider Uproar programme. You can find them listed here.
Zimbabwe cluster
The country clusters are a local working group in each Uproar target country made up of our partner organisations. The clusters are organised by local lead organisations, who then coordinate local civil society and human rights defenders with digital rights expertise to engage in national-level advocacy and campaigning.
