Pursuant to the broad principles set out in the follow-up meeting, particularly the need for a victim-centred
and participatory process, the Forum proposed to have training and consultative meetings with individuals
in selected constituencies to canvass opinions on what the people of Zimbabwe would want to see in a
Transitional Justice Process.3
The Forum is convinced that any discussion on Transitional Justice should begin with the people of
Zimbabwe. The debate around transitional justice options in Zimbabwean civil society is very well
developed but it remains largely confined to a small grouping of non-governmental organisations. The
credibility and legitimacy of transitional justice mechanisms is often measured by the extent to which
victims and survivors oppose or support them and the degree to which they are able to participate in and
benefit from them. This places a premium on communication and consultation, both with what might best
be described as 'organised' civil society (i.e. structures and organisations such as NGOs, churches, etc.), as
well as the general public and other groupings that are not organised.
The Forum is convinced that the normative framework and basis for any groundwork on transitional justice
in Zimbabwe has now been set in motion by the signing of the political agreement by ZANU PF and the two
MDC formations. Civil society has been discussing issues on transitional justice for over ten years now and it
is imperative that these discussions be broadened to include the general public and other groupings.
Article 7.1 (c) of the GPA of September 15, 2008 states in no uncertain terms that the new government
“shall give consideration to the setting up of a mechanism to properly advise on what measures might be
necessary and practicable to achieve national healing, cohesion and unity in respect of victims of pre and post
independence political conflict”.
In light of these developments, the Forum proposed to conduct a series of public consultative meetings in
selected House of Assembly constituencies with the Zimbabwean public at large and formally canvass their
views on what they would want to see in any transitional justice process or clauses that will be put into the
proposed new constitution.
3
It must be noted here that on previous occasions the Human Rights Forum has used the mandate from its membership,
information from its clients, information contained in the various databases operated by the Research Unit and the expertise of its
staff members to propagate views on what would need to be done in a transitional justice process. However, since the political
conditions have changed it would be prudent that civil society actors reengage Zimbabweans and get their views on what they
would want to see in any transitional justice programme that would be rolled out in Zimbabwe.
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