'Pattern of disappearances and torture'

Their rearrest came as the United Nations expressed its concerns over what it calls a "reported pattern of disappearances and torture that appear aimed at suppressing protests and dissent" in Zimbabwe.

"Government does not engage or permit any of its agencies and institutions to use any methods such as torture, forced disappearances or abductions," Zimbabwe's home affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe said at a press conference last week.

"Zimbabwe's failure to decisively deal with cases of abductions disappearances and torture severely undermines the standing of the country within the international community," said Human Rights Watch Southern Africa Director Dewa Mavhinga.

In early 2000, rights violations resulted in the sanctioning of political leaders in Zimbabwe, then ruled by Robert Mugabe.

Failure to do so undermines the country's reengagement efforts with the international community," Dewa Mavhinga told DW.