Amnesty International issued a follow-up Urgent Action on August 7, 2026, calling on Zimbabwean authorities to drop all charges against human rights defender Bhekimpilo Mbedzi. Mbedzi was arrested on July 15 after posting a video on Facebook urging the public to join a demonstration planned for July 31 against Constitutional Amendment Act No. 3; authorities say he appeared holding a placard reading “NO TO 2030” and mobilised participants without giving the required notice, and charged him with incitement to conduct an unlawful gathering, an offence carrying up to seven years’ imprisonment. The High Court granted him bail of USD $200 on August 3, but the prosecution continues, and Amnesty argues he is being targeted solely for peacefully exercising his rights to expression and assembly. The appeal situates the case in the contested passage of the amendment itself, which President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed into law on July 7 and which extends presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years, replaces direct presidential elections with selection by Parliament, widens executive influence over judicial and prosecutorial appointments, and abolishes bodies such as the Zimbabwe Gender Commission. Civil society and legal experts described the mandatory public consultation period as inadequate, citing intimidation, procedural irregularities and the silencing of critics, and prominent opponents of the bill — among them constitutional lawyer Lovemore Madhuku, former finance minister Tendai Biti, and lawyer Douglas Coltart, who was assaulted after trying to make submissions in Harare — were reportedly arrested, detained or attacked. Amnesty asks supporters to write to Zimbabwe’s Prosecutor General, Loice Matanda-Moyo, urging an end to the prosecution, with the action open until February 7, 2027.

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