The Zimbabwean government needs to put in place an independent complaints directorate where citizens can lodge complaints about abuse or misconduct by police, says Human Rights Watch Southern Africa.
Director Dewa Mavhinga said excessive use of force and police brutality appeared to be on the rise in Zimbabwe.
"It amounts to serious human rights abuses and should be strongly condemned.
"The most logical thing is to have strong, independent institutions that are impartial. In that way, anyone can lodge a complaint to do with human rights issues," he said.
"The constitution of Zimbabwe already provides for an independent complaints mechanism to receive complaints by the public regarding conduct of all the security forces, to investigate those complaints and provide remedies or appropriate corrective measures.
This mechanism should be established by an act of parliament and be independent from the structures of the security forces. The mechanism will have legal power to remedy harm caused by misconduct on the part of security forces," said Mavhinga.
In one recent case the family of vendor Hilton Tafadzwa Tamangani, 29, are demanding answers after he died in police custody on October 18.
Tamangani, who sold clothing on the streets of Harare, was arrested on October 13 together with 10 other vendors for allegedly assaulting a police officer.
The young men they are killing have wives and families to look after
— Terrence Bonde
He was later found dead in his jail cell.
His cousin, Terence Bonde, told the Sunday Times the family believes Tamangani was arrested because police suspected he was an MDC supporter.
"This is unfair because the young men they are killing have wives and families to look after," said Bonde.
Tamangani is survived by his wife and a nine-year-old son. Both of them will now become Bonde's responsibility.
In a statement announcing Tamangani's death, the ministry of information said he had been unwell when he was taken into custody. "Immediate medical care was sought for him and he was hospitalised," read the statement.
However, it has emerged that before he died, his lawyers wrote to the officer in charge of Harare Remand Prison, asking that he see a private doctor at his own cost, after his wounds became infected. He died before this could happen.
The death of 20-year-old Bruce Luka also raised questions. He died after being fatally wounded by police.
Just a day after the death of Tamangani, Luka had just finished taking a bath when police came looking for him.
That was the last time his wife and seven-month-old baby saw him alive.
184 - Human rights violations recorded by Zimbabwe Peace Project in September 2019.
67 - political activists abducted in August 2019.
— IN NUMBERS
A police officer allegedly opened fire and Luka died from a chest wound.
His mother, Yvonne Luka, said police claimed her son was on a list of wanted criminals. But to her, he made an honest living through informal work.
"It's still a shock that my son is gone. As a family we don't have much and we are struggling like most people, but my son was a decent young man and he didn't deserve to die like this. All I want is justice for his murder," she said.
Harare North MP Rusty Markham said he had struggled to get a response from the minister of home affairs & cultural heritage on the shooting, but would keep applying pressure until justice is done.
"The complaint against the policeman at the Zimbabwe Republic Police General Headquarters has been recorded, and we have the complaint registration number," said Markham.
"The police general headquarters should be reporting back to us about what they are doing, but it's now over a week and nothing has happened."
Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi did not respond to repeated requests for comment, and also failed to show up for a meeting he called at police headquarters in Harare.
For Julius Choto, the death of his son Kelvin in January during the fuel-hike protests still causes pain.
"I am a welder but I had to close my workshop because when I started following the case and doing my own investigations there was so much intimidation targeted at my family and I," said Choto.
Mavhinga said police are within their rights to break up illegal demonstrations, but there is no reason to use force when protests are peaceful.
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