civil matters in which customary law would appear to be applicable provided that the defendant is a resident of the area in which the court operates or that the defendant agrees to be tried by that court. 7. DISCUSSING ZIMBABWE’S TRADITIONAL JUSTICE MECHANISMS In addition to the traditional justice mechanisms discussed above, Zimbabwe has rich customs which are well engrained in its society and capable of dealing with different types of crimes committed in communities. These mechanisms can as well be used to rectify the wrongs and human rights violations of the past and contribute to transitional justice efforts. These mechanisms are steeped in humanism and the spirit of Hunhu/Ubuntu which has been discussed earlier. Some of the mechanisms have attracted criticism from different religious groups as being archaic and barbaric. This criticism is unfair and is often made by people from other cultures that treat anything that does not conform to their culture as not modern and prehistoric. It is ZIMCET and HZT’s wish that the nation takes stock of these long held traditions and interrogate how they can assist in rebuilding the nation, communities and its peoples to achieve much needed justice, healing and reconciliation. The following exposé discusses the different mechanisms that are practiced by many Zimbabweans and which ZIMCET and HZT have been engaging with communities to seek reconciliation and justice. 7(i) Kurova guva/Umbuyiso The spirit of Hunhu/Ubuntu in Zimbabwe enjoins citizens and communities to value human life even in death. It is taboo for one to take the life of another as much as it is in Western criminal justice systems. In the traditional sense, it can even be more challenging dealing with such cases because as for Zimbabweans, they value their dead to the point that they have to be “brought” back home to continue looking after their families after a period of one year after their demise 14. 14 D Summerfield “Raising the Dead: War, Reparation, and the Politics of Memory‟, (1995) British Medical Journal, 311 at 495 9