Teachers: Some of the preferred victims of political violence

By Anna Villumsen, Afrika Kontakt

”You are going to lose your jobs if you support opposition political parties in the presidential election. As civil servants, you have to be loyal to the government of the day. You can even be killed for supporting the opposition and no one would guarantee your safety.”

This is a quote from the Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Stan Mudenge addressing students and staff at a teachers’ college in Masvingo in July 2001.

It is also the first lines in the new report from Research and Advocacy Unit 'Every School has a Story to Tell:A Study into Teacher’s Experiences with Elections in Zimbabwe. The report is based on findings from a national survey on teachers conducted between April and June 2011.

All teachers are regarded with suspicion
The main findings of the report show that teachers are a preferred target for the 'war veterans, youth militias and the Central Intelligence Organisation. This is not necessarily because teachers are in opposition to the government, but simply because they are teachers.

”Teachers, whether differing by political or Union affiliation, are all regarded with suspicion in society. Some teachers were attacked because of roles they played in such activities as office bearers in trade unions that are deemed to be anti-ZANU PF or because they were perceived to be politically active in opposition political parties, but the majority were attacked simply because they are teachers.” the report concludes.

More than half of the teachers (51%) had experienced political violence and 55% had been forced to vote for a particular party because of violence or threats of violence.

The most frequent violations directly experienced were; being forced to attend political meetings (79%); being threatened (77%); extortion (41%); assault (33%); torture (31%); disqualified from voting (30%); forcibly displaced from their work station and community (24%).

Violence witnessed by children
The report also concludes that over 60% of all the violations witnessed by the teachers in the survey could easily have been witnessed by children as well because most of the violations happened at the schools during working hours (47%) and at home (15%).

”This is an exceedingly disturbing possibility, and points strongly to the need for research into the effects of the violence of the past decade on children. It also points even more strongly for the need for schools to be made politically neutral zones, and both teachers and pupils protected from political violence.”, the report states.

Download and read the full report here