March 2011
ISBN: 1-56432-742-6
Perpetual Fear
Impunity and Cycles of Violence in Zimbabwe
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 1
Methodology.................................................................................................................... 18
I. Background ................................................................................................................... 19
A History of Impunity ..................................................................................................... 19
Impunity in the Context of Elections .............................................................................. 19
II. Impunity and International Law .................................................................................... 21
III. Impunity through Amnesties and Clemency ................................................................. 24
IV. Failure to Investigate and Prosecute Serious Political Crimes....................................... 26
V. Failure to Investigate Torture by State Agents ............................................................... 31
VI. Response of the Power-Sharing Government ............................................................... 35
Recommendations............................................................................................................ 38
To the Government of National Unity ............................................................................ 38
To the Member States of the Southern African Development Community ...................... 39
To the European Union and the United States ............................................................... 39
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 40