Transitional justice is a priority
Zimbabwe’s national association of NGOs (NANGO) recently published a statement calling for transitional justice in Zimbabwe “as a critical remedy to the massive human rights violations, ingraining fear, insecurity and mistrust in Zimbabwean society today.”
IRIN has also just published an article entitled Reconciling the past for a stable future in which they cite a research paper by the South African think tank, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). The research paper, Justice and Peace in a new Zimbabwe: Transitional Justice Options is authored by Max du Plessis, an associate law professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and Jolyon Ford, of the Centre for International Governance and Justice at the Australian National University. According to the authors, “the formation of a truth commission should be at the forefront of Zimbabwe’s negotiations, considering the levels of alleged state brutality, the politicisation of the judiciary.”
Today the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) also issued a statement asking us to remember the brutal attacks on trade unionists on 13th September 2006. The ZCTU statement lists the injuries that activists sustained during their peaceful protest in Harare. These injuries include lacerations, bruises and fractures. The ZCTU reminds us that Robert Mugabe approved of the excessive force by the Zimbabwe Republic Police, saying
“If you want an excuse for being killed, be my guest go into the streets and demonstrate. The police were right in dealing sternly with Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions leaders during their demonstration . . . because the trade unionists want to become a law unto themselves. We cannot have a situation where people decide to sit in places not allowed and when the police remove them, they say no. We can’t have that, that is a revolt to the system. Vamwe vaakuchema kuti tarohwa, ehe unodashurwa. When the police say move, move. If you don’t move, you invite the police to use force.”
The politicians negotiating the future of Zimbabwe must not place the issue of transitional justice on the back burner if Zimbabwe is to find any kind of peace at all.