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Jubilant crowds filled the streets of Zimbabwes cities on Tuesday, after the countrys speaker of parliament announced that President Robert Mugabe had resigned after decades in power.

Just shy of a week ago, Zimbabwes military took power in the capital and detained Mugabe in his home. Since then, the military and the ruling ZANU-PF party steadily increased pressure on the longtime ruler to leave office until it seems he finally relented.

But while Zimbabweans express their joy and relief over what appears to be the end of Mugabes 37-year authoritarian rule, the nature of his downfall and the ruthless past of his successor are troubling signs for a country that has seen years of repression.

Video: Incredible scenes outside #Zimbabwe Parliament as crowd hears #Mugabe has gone. pic.twitter.com/5KpfLJTpZd

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Video: Incredible scenes outside #Zimbabwe Parliament as crowd hears #Mugabe has gone. pic.twitter.com/5KpfLJTpZd
Richard Gaisford (@richardgaisford) November 21, 2017

These People Were Mugabes Enforcers

The military and ZANU-PF will soon install Mugabes former deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, as Zimbabwes new president. The development has human rights groups deeply worried, as both Mnangagwa and the military that backs him have been key players in the countrys past abuses.

These people were Mugabes enforcers for the last 37 years, said Dewa Mavhinga, the Southern Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

In the 1980s, Mnangagwa served as national security minister and controlled the Central Intelligence Organization under Mugabe. Mnangagwa has long-standing ties to the army as a result, including sharing culpability for some of the governments worst atrocities.

The military has been implicated in some of the most serious human rights abuses in Zimbabwes past, Mavhinga said.

Mnangagwa was security minister at the time of Mugabes Gukurahundi campaign that, from 1983 to 1987, saw security forces kill thousands of people whom the ruling government perceived as political opponents or accused of fostering dissent.

In 2008, the military launched yet another crackdown in which armed forces killed or disappeared at least 200 opposition supporters during the countrys election. Mnangagwa is reported to have been a key go-between for the military and ZANU-PF in orchestrating those attacks.

There has been no accountability for these abuses, according to Mavhinga, and since many of the officials active or complicit in carrying them out now stand to rule Zimbabwe, it seems extremely unlikely that they will answer for their actions anytime soon.

Its a change in leadership of individuals, but the authoritarian system remains intact, Mavhinga said.

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These People Were Mugabes Enforcers