Southern African governments committed serious human rights violations throughout 2025, reinforcing cycles of abuse and impunity, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2026. The organization urged regional bodies to press governments to respect human rights and ensure accountability for violations.
According to the report, security forces in Angola, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe used excessive and, in some cases, lethal force against protesters. Authorities also carried out arbitrary arrests and detentions, imposed severe restrictions on freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and targeted journalists and human rights defenders. Human Rights Watch said neither the African Union nor the Southern African Development Community (SADC) took sufficient action to address these violations or ensure member states complied with regional human rights obligations.
Human Rights Watch highlighted the failure of governments to investigate and prosecute alleged abuses. While Angola announced investigations into protester deaths and Mozambique opened hearings into police conduct following post-election violence, the outcomes of these processes have not been made public. In Eswatini, there has been no accountability for the violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2021.
The report also documented growing insecurity in the region. Renewed tensions in Angola’s Cabinda exclave and the escalating Islamist insurgency in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province led to increased displacement, child abductions, suspension of humanitarian operations, and deterioration of health services.
Freedom of expression and media freedom were under pressure in several countries, including Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, where journalists, human rights defenders, opposition figures, and government critics faced detention, judicial harassment, and what Human Rights Watch described as fabricated charges. In South Africa, the report noted failures to protect human rights defenders and whistleblowers, some of whom were killed.
Access to health care and other basic services remained a serious concern in Eswatini, Malawi, Zambia, and South Africa. Governments failed to stop vigilante groups from blocking foreign nationals’ access to education and health care, while unsafe mining practices continued to harm communities in Zambia.
Human Rights Watch called on the SADC to place greater emphasis on human rights in its engagement with member states and to strengthen mechanisms for monitoring compliance with regional human rights standards. The organization stressed that without meaningful accountability, abuses are likely to continue.
