The watchdog body says this raises concerns both domestically and internationally.

Amnesty International’s Southern African regional director Deprose Muchena says those challenging the government in the election campaign face devastating consequences including abduction, arbitrary detention and physical attacks.

These vulnerable groups include church leaders. They’ve been menaced  and attacked since reporting critically on the  municipal elections last year.

Several journalists say they have received death threats.

Muchena says all political parties and candidates should take seriously his report on human rights violations and stand against them as they go to the polls.

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Defense for the the rapper and members of a book club now behind bars say they’ll appeal the sentences ranging between two-and-a-half and eight-and-a-half years.

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Amnesty International’s Deprose Muchena says the 17 activists and the rapper have been wrongly convicted in a deeply politicized trial.

Adding that they are the victims of a government determined to intimidate anyone who dares to question its repressive policies.

Thor Halvorssen of the Human Rights Foundation says 17  young men and women have been punished for holding a book discussion about the nonviolent resistance tactics of heroes like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

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