A related critical point worth underlining is the inheritance of the Rhodesian culture of impunity and the normalisation of the Lancaster house precedent of judicial amnesia. This is exemplified in the way in which the state dealt with human rights violators after the Matabeleland atrocities. After the unity accord of 27th March 1987, an amnesty for dissidents was deemed imperative for the sake of peace. However, to date there are unanswered questions about the deaths of some alleged dissidents, including Lookout Masuku, a senior ZAPU official who was detained in 1982 and died in 1986. In June, this amnesty was extended to the army and other state actors. Seventy–five security force members who had either been sentenced or were awaiting trial for several human rights violations and four Fifth Brigade soldiers who were on death row for committing murder in Matabeleland are some of those who escaped justice. A pattern of impunity was thus set for the current era. II 1989-1999 If there was ever a time when Zimbabweans enjoyed a semblance of peace, it was during the period from 1990 to 1996. After the state of emergency ended in 1990, the government ratified a number of international conventions and even collaborated with non-governmental organisations in providing human rights training to the police and prison officers. However, the culture of impunity still manifested itself on some three occasions, when the government was faced with allegations of human rights violations by its state machinery. Firstly, this was through the granting of amnesty to alleged perpetrators of human rights abuses after the 1990 and 1995 elections, which were considered to be marred by state –linked political violence. Secondly, in the wake of the 1998 food riots, the government ignored human rights organisations' calls for the creation of an independent inquiry, which would look at the reported abuses. Similarly, the United Nations Human Rights' Committee's recommendations that an impartial inquiry be set up were not acted upon. Thirdly, when faced with a court action initiated by domestic human rights organisations in 1999 compelling the release of the report on the 1983-1987 Matabeleland atrocities, the government simply stated that the document had been misplaced. Nevertheless, in 1999, a formidable opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was born and ZANU PF ceased to be politically secure. It became extremely hostile to both human rights organisations and the opposition party as it saw them as vicarious agents of foreign ideologies. It thus stopped making any pretences at taking responsibility for alleged 24 The Second International Conference on Transitional Justice in Zimbabwe