With the coming in of the new government, under President Mnangagwa which has conveniently been
dubbed the “Second Republic” with a motto that depicts Zimbabwe as “Open for Business”, the state of
human rights, justice and democracy remains in limbo. Victims of all manner of human rights
violations committed by state agents continue to suffer humiliation as they see their perpetrators remain
in their jobs even though they hold legal judgments that obliges the state to pay compensation at the
least and at the most to imprison the accused. For instance, the government has continued conveniently
to hide behind the State Liabilities Act, a law that has worked in its favor over the years to dissuade
would be litigants from attaching government property in pursuit of compensation for their violations.
The report goes further to discuss Zimbabwe's domestic, regional and international legal obligations
towards victims of state sponsored and politically motivated violence. Zimbabwe's 2013 Constitution
provides clear protections for civil and political rights, economic as well as social rights. Zimbabwe is
also party to SADC, African Union and the United Nations human rights protocols that oblige the state
to protect, respect, and fulfill citizens' human rights at any given time. However, this report chronicles
several incidents and instances in Zimbabwe's broken past and present where state security agents and
private actors acting with the acquiescence of the state have violated citizens rights and the state has
turned a blind eye.
In addition to the obligations mentioned above, this report calls for a return to a rights-based approach
to policing and security matters in Zimbabwe. To achieve this, there is need for public policy that
ensures that human rights in Zimbabwe are based on key principles that seek to achieve clear
deliverables benchmarked on justice to be delivered to citizens on key principles that ensure the
following: availability, accessibility, affordability and adaptability of the justice mechanisms.
This report reiterates the position held in international law that Zimbabwe's obligations to uphold
human rights correspond to a set of rights for all citizens regardless of what political party, ethnicity or
political views they hold. The rights are outlined as follows:
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the right of the victim to see justice done,
the right to know the truth;
an entitlement to compensation and to non-monetary forms of restitution;
and a right to new, reorganized and accountable institutions.
The report goes further to chronicle and lament the negligent, ignorant practices as well as the toxic
attitudes of Zimbabwe's state security agents in their performance of duty. For example, where the state
security agents have been fingered in human rights violations, the Forum has noted regrettable trends
especially in the police, military and intelligence security officers' behaviors. For example, the most
common excuses used by the state security agents have ben that: (i) they were following superior
orders; (ii) that they were ignorant of the law and human rights obligations (iii) politicians instruct and
interfere with their work and generally that (v) the environment in the security sector is pervasively
toxic and encourages rogue behavior.
With the above factors in mind, the report questions whether accountability can be attained in a political
system like Zimbabwe's. Several approaches to achieving justice such as prosecutions for serious
violations, holding the senior commanders accountable or even prosecuting the actual perpetrators are
discussed with the pros and cons of such mechanisms also put onto the table.
In addition to the above the report delves further into a discussion around what sort of remedies would
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Anti-Impunity Report