The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission accused the country's troops of using “systematic torture” against the protesters, who took to streets in the capital, Harare, last week after a sharp hike in fuel prices.
Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa averted a run-off vote by securing just over 50 percent votes while opposition leader Nelson Chamisa bagged 44.3 percent of the total 4.8m votes cast.
The U.N. and former colonial power the U.K. have called on Zimbabwe to exercise restraint in dealing with protesters who took to the streets against the ruling Zanu-PF party over alleged vote-rigging in Monday’s elections.
Incomplete official results from Zimbabwe’s election show that the country’s ruling Zanu-PF party is headed for a comfortable majority in the parliament amid claims of vote-rigging by the opposition MDC Alliance.
Nearly 5.5 million voters in Zimbabwe will be heading to the polls with a fresh hope to elect a leader that can steer the country out of four decades of the economic and political rut it faced under strongman Robert Mugabe.
Zimbabwe’s ousted vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa is likely to take over as the country’s new president after Robert Mugabe announced his resignation amid mounting pressure to step down.
The political upheaval in Zimbabwe descended into confusion on Thursday after President Robert Mugabe, under house arrest for last two days, was photographed shaking hands with the military official who led the takeover.
