human rights activists and members of opposition political parties, despite promises by the post-2017 and post-2018 elections Zanu PF government, to break with the ills of the era of former President Robert Mugabe. For instance, journalist Hopewell Chin’ono was arrested twice during the course of the year on two separate charges and denied bail at the Magistrates Courts, in the process enduring long detention periods at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. For each of the separate charges, Chi’nono only managed to secure his freedom after being granted bail by the High Court. It is against these retrogressive developments, that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, noted in a report during the year under review, that Zimbabwe was suffering from political polarisation and poor governance. The Special Rapporteur noted then, that civic space continued to deteriorate, re-establishing an environment of fear and persecution. Political Context and Key Events The above scenario came at a time when the country continued on its socio-economic and political meltdown, a situation likely to be worsened by the global COVID-19 pandemic which saw Zimbabwe imposing its own lockdown measures in March 2020. Inflation remained high at 471% in September 2020, down though from 761% in August and 836% in July the same year. This came at a time when the cost of living for a family of five had risen to Z$20,000 and Z$4,000 per person as of end of October from Z$15,570 in July, according to official statistics The working age population is 8,1 million persons, constituting about 57% of the country’s 14,2 million population, according to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) 1. Several journalists were caught in the crossfire of the implementation of the 21-day national lockdown imposed at the end of March 2020, with several of them being harassed assaulted or detained by the police and soldiers despite the media being declared an essential service in terms of the COVID-19 regulations. 1 https://www.newsday.co.zw/2020/11/mthuli-piles-more-misery-on-zimbos/ 4