6. Truth seeking and Truth Commission for Zimbabwe Sessions on this topic sought to introduce the idea of truth seeking, truth commissions, challenges faced and how the people thought they could deal with such processes. In transitional justice discourses, truth recovery represents another key approach to finding out the truth about what happened to victims. Aryeh Neier notes that: ‘ By knowing what happened, a nation is able to debate honestly why and how dreadful crimes came to be committed. To identify those responsible, and to show what they did, is to mark them with a public stigma that is a punishment in itself, and to identify the victims, and recall how they were tortured and killed, is a way of acknowledging their worth and dignity.’ 38 Hayner adds that far beyond simply finding and stating the truth, official truth bodies have often been given a wide–ranging mission in conformity with the international norms discussed above. In a number of cases, they have become the most prominent government initiatives dealing with past crimes and the central point out of which other measures for accountability, reparations and reform programs are developed. The stated reasons behind setting up a truth commission have differed between countries. For example, some stress national reconciliation and the need to close the book on the past; others have framed it as a step toward prosecutions that will follow; yet others see an inquiry into the past as a means to distance the new government's policies from the former regime and to highlight a new rights–respecting era. Discussions around coming up with a truth commission were held in the various meetings. The participants noted that a truth commission could establish the truth about what happened during Zimbabwe's dark past and recommend steps toward victim reparations. The participants noted that for the case of Zimbabwe, the establishment of a truth commission could address the dual victim/perpetrator identities since most of the post independence perpetrators are themselves victims of the colonial past including Mugabe and his top security men who are accused of perpetrating violations. The participants were concerned and noted that any truth seeking exercise had to be comprehensive and not only attempt to punish or seek revenge because the majority felt this would alienate victims of earlier generation victimization especially from the liberation war. Given the moral significance of individual accountability, most participants felt the identity of individual perpetrators should be brought to light. There is also what has been called emotional truth – knowledge concerning the psychological and physical impact on victims and their loved ones of rights abuses and the threat of such abuses. Just as important is less individualized and more general truth, such as reasonable interpretations of state actions and those of its opponents, as well as causal explanations of the chain of command, institutional structures and economic problems that resulted in rights violations. 38 A Neier, 'What Should Be Done About the Guilty?', (1990) 37 New York Review Books at 32. 21