Mugabe and his government advocated for at independence. Thus, on Independence Day in 1980, Mugabe told the nation: Henceforth you and I must strive to adapt ourselves intellectually and spiritually to the reality of our political change and relate to each other as brothers bound one to the other by a bond of comradeship. If yesterday I fought you as an enemy, today you have become a friend and ally with the same national interests, loyalty, rights and duties as myself. If yesterday you hated me, today you cannot avoid the love that binds you to me and me to you. Is it not folly, therefore, that in these circumstances anybody should seek to revive the wounds and grievances of the past? The wrongs of the past must now stand forgiven and forgotten.⁸ This Mugabe strategy cast a veil over the human rights violations of the Rhodesian secret service, army and police. It was at the same time, appreciated by the leaders of the liberation movements because it meant also closing the books on their violence against civilians in Rhodesia and against their rivals in the training camps in Mozambique and Zambia.⁹ Clemency Order of 1998 The amnesty initially conceived to gloss over human rights abuses of the liberation war period fueled a culture of impunity that became a driving force in the independence era. A Clemency Order of 1998 pardoned all violations committed by all parties from 1982 up to the end of 1987 – thus inclusive of the atrocities committed in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces. Clemency Order of 1995 Clemency Order (1) of 1995, officially excused the politically-motivated beatings, burning of homes, and intimidation perpetrated by supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF party during the 1995 elections, by granting amnesty to those liable to criminal prosecution for, or convicted of, these crimes. Clemency Order of 2000 This set a further precedent for yet another presidential pardon for political violence, Clemency Order (1) of 2000, which was declared after the violent June 2000 parliamentary elections. Once again, those involved in human rights violations - such as kidnapping and torture, but excluding murder, rape and fraud could not be held accountable for criminal or civil claims through the justice system. Contentious questions arise from these situations. Pardons after 2000 Since the year 2000, more egregious human rights violations were committed by the Mugabe-led regime using the security officers and para-military groups aligned to ZANU-PF. Invariably, Mugabe invoked the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act¹⁰ to pardon perpetrators or to refuse to pay for damages arguing that the government was facing economic challenges. Annual Presidential pardons Zimbabwe's Lancaster House Constitution provided for the President to pardon criminals each year, just as the new 2013 Constitution provides in Section 112.¹¹ This provision in Zimbabwe's laws is ⁸ “Zimbabwe: A Final Priceless Reward”, Newsweek, 28 April 1980, in „Foreword‟, B Raftopolous and T Savage (eds), Zimbabwe Injustice and Political Reconciliation (Cape Town, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, 2004). ⁹ See NJ Kriger, Zimbabwe Guerrilla War: Peasant Voices, (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992) at 156 ¹⁰ Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act Chapter 10:20 Act 1/1986 ¹¹ Constitution of Zimbabwe, Amendment (Number 20) Act 2013, Section 112, Power of Mercy. Anti-Impunity Report 11