Dewa Mavhinga

Dewa Mavhinga (1979 – 4 December 2021) was a lawyer and Southern African Director of Human Rights Watch.[1]

He died of suspected COVID-19 complications.[2]

Education

Mavhinga attended Sandringham mission and then studied law at University of Zimbabwe (LLB) and University of Essex (LLM). In Zimbabwe, he was elected president of the Student Representative Council (SRC) and it was through his student activism that his interest in human rights deepened. For his postgraduate studies, he received a Canon Collins Trust scholarship.[3]

Career

After university, he joined the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition as a Regional Coordinator based in Johannesburg, South Africa.[4] He then co-founded the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute, a public policy think-tank based in Harare, Zimbabwe. Mavhinga was an on the ground human rights practitioner who spent most of his career working within communities in southern Africa in countries such as Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, and Zimbabwe as a representative of the Human Rights Watch.[5] In a short career, Mavhinga, is celebrated as one of the most tireless defenders of human rights from his generation.[6]

Controversy

He is often criticised for his testimony before the US Congress in support of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, which the ruling ZANU PF party in Zimbabwe blames for the country's economic woes.[7] The act was created as a deterrent and reaction to the Mugabe regime's infamous land grab programme resulting in a group of politicians placed under targeted sanctions. This earned Mavhinga the ire of the Zimbabwe government who considered him to be an 'enemy' and 'puppet' of the west.[8][9]

Personal

He was married to Fiona Muchembere, his college sweetheart, and they had four children: Gamu, Mufaro, Hondo and Makaita.[10]

References
  1. "Dewa Mavhinga". Human Rights Watch. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  2. "Tributes pour in for Human Rights Watch's Dewa Mavhinga following his sudden death". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  3. "Dewa Mavhinga". Canon Collins Educational and Legal Assistance Trust. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  4. "Crisis Coalition Mourns the Untimely Death of Dewa Mavhinga | Kubatana". kubatana.net. 5 December 2021. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  5. R. I. P Dewa Mavhinga I HRW Southern Africa director and human rights activist passes away, retrieved 2022-01-01
  6. TateguruTv (2021-12-08). "Remembering Mavhinga's contribution to the Zimbabwean story". Tateguru TV. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  7. Rights, United States Congress House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human (2011). U.S. Policy Toward Zimbabwe: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, First Session, November 2, 2011. U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-16-090766-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. Herald, The. "My hands are clean: Mavhinga". The Herald. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  9. Herald, The. "Existing US policy on Zim are sanctions, stupid!". The Herald. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  10. ""Is there a divinity that shapes our ends?" – The life & times of Dewa Mavhinga". Nehanda Radio. 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
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