When the Parliamentary committees were holding public hearings in April
2016 in Bindura, the public hearing was held at a venue that had been
used as a torture camp in 2008. This stirred a lot of emotions among
victims who were asked to come back to the 'torture camp' to discuss the
law on healing. They even went on to allege that some of the MPs present
were perpetrators.
These two unfortunate incidences illustrate the importance of paying
attention to the choice of office space and venues for meetings. In our
Minimum Standards, we have said that the offices of the NPRC must be
accessible to the public. It follows that public participation is enhanced
when the commission is easily accessible. On outreach meetings, including
local communities to determine which spaces to use for meetings can be
very helpful.
2.10 Speaking the language of the community
The NPRC should be conversant in the language of the communities that
they are going to engage. As a general principle, it would be better if the
Commission and its secretariat reflected the diversity of the country. As a
minimum standard, the Commission must ensure that its Secretariat,
speaks the language of the communities that it will work in. When the
Organ on National Healing Reconciliation (ONHRI) went to hold a public
meeting in Bulawayo, they were met with a public demonstration. Inside
the emotive meeting, residents complained that ONHRI was coming to
them speaking in ‘foreign languages’. Some languages, while being
national languages, in certain communities, are regarded as ‘the language
of a perpetrator’. Even where translation services are available, it would be
ideal if the lead facilitators did not need translation because many things
are ‘lost in translation’. The Commission in order to get the best out of the
process and to enhance public participation should be fluent in the
language of the communities.
2.11 Being Alert to the Cultural sensitivities of different communities
The Commission, in addition to being fluent in the language of the
communities, that is going beyond the language of speech, it must
understand the cultural sensitivities in certain communities and harmonize
its practices with such. Working with local organisations, the Commission
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THE CODE OF INCLUSION
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