Zimbabwean doctors protesting alleged abduction of a union leer were stopped by a line of baton-wielding police in capital on September 18 as fears grow about government repression. Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association has said its president, Peter Magombeyi, was abducted on Saturday after calling for a pay strike. Members of Association say y will t return to work until he is found. sourn African nation’s health care system has largely collapsed in recent years along with ecomy. government w says it is deploying military medics and doctors to help fill gap at hospitals.

Several government critics in recent weeks have been abducted from ir homes, tortured and warned by suspected state security nts to back off from anti-government actions. Some in Zimbabwe have expressed concern that government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa is becoming more repressive than that of longtime leer Robert Mugabe, who died earlier this month. Mugabe was accused of using abductions to silence critics, and some have never been found.

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Doctors March to Parliament

Several dozen doctors chanted and sang on Wednesday as y tried to march to Parliament from country’s biggest hospital, Parirenyatwa, in Harare. Police insisted that y seek approval for demonstration first. health workers also have been holding candlelight vigils for Magombeyi. ir association represents hundreds of newly qualified doctors doing ir residencies. Health professionals at or government hospitals across Zimbabwe have gone on strike in solidarity, union leers told Associated Press. But it carries risks.

secretary-general of Zimbabwe Nurses Association, Nhema Edwick, said he h received anymous death threats for bargaining for more pay for nurses. “ government should stop targeting us as union leers. All we are asking for is a living w. I am also living in fear,” he told cheering demonstrators.

Senior doctors said y have stopped working in solidarity with ir juniors. “It is much easier to produce one person (Magombeyi) than to convince us to return to work. Peter, work,” said Bothwell Mbuwayesango, a pediatric surgeon.

Zimbabweans left without health care expressed concern.“We are ones who are suffering, y should just release doctor,” said Munei Ndlovu, sitting on Parirenyatwa Hospital grounds. She said she h been told hospital was attending to critical emergencies only. Concerns are rising as Magombeyi has been held longer than those abducted in recent weeks. “We are w t even sure wher he is alive or de. We are praying he is still alive,” said Harry Magombeyi, a family spokesman.

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More than 50 leers have been abducted in Zimbabwe: US Embassy

U.S. Embassy on Monday said more than 50 civil society, labour and opposition leers have been abducted in Zimbabwe since January, and called on government “to take action and hold perpetrators of se human rights violations accountable.” Most abductees, including during Mugabe’s time, were released after days or weeks of torture, at times following intervention of courts. However, some people such as journalist and activist Itai Dzamara, who was abducted in 2015, are still missing. State Security Minister Owen Ncube and Health Minister Obiah Moyo on Tuesday said y h tasked security nts to locate Magombeyi. Or officials blamed a “third force” linked to Mugabe for abductions, asserting that y are bid to tarnish president’s im abro and hurt efforts to have sanctions imposed by West removed.

country’s biggest representative organization for churches, Zimbabwe Council of Churches, on Tuesday questioned “third force” explanation, asking why only perceived government critics are being targeted.

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