OCTOBER 2019
ANALYSIS | PROFILES | NEWS | RECOMMENDATIONS |
PARTICIPATION
About this Briefing
This Briefing was presented to the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) on the 17th of October, 2019
drawing from the engagements done by NTJWG in the second quarter and the views it obtained from stakeholders who
care about the national peace and reconciliation process in Zimbabwe. The brief was compiled through a network of
stakeholder organizations across the country.
Stakeholders, through various platforms have been doing media and environmental scanning, taking note of all matters
relevant to transitional justice in Zimbabwe. In this Briefing, the NTJWG looked at the outreach program, establishment of
peace committees; NPRC’s reporting obligations, civil society interventions, inclusion of survivors, among other key
developments in the establishment of the NPRC.
This brief constitutes a summary of the issues presented to the NPRC, the responses given by the NPRC and an update of its
activities given by the NPRC.
Outstanding Reports
NTJWG welcomed the appointment of the Media and
Communications Officer for the Commission and hopes this
will go a long way towards making the work of the
Commission more visible and ensure greater compliance with
reporting obligations. The NTJWG highlighted the issue of the
NPRC Annual Report which remains outstanding. Officially
the NPRC became operational on 5 January 2018, following
the promulgation of the National Peace and Reconciliation
Commission Act (10:32). According to section 323 of the
Constitution, the NPRC should present its annual report to
Parliament describing fully its operations and activities not
later than the end of March in the year following the year in
which the report relates. This means that the 2018 Annual
Report for the NPRC became due by the last day of March
2019. This is both aConstitutional and a statutory obligation.
Section 16 (7) of the NPRC Act obliges the NPRC to further
make public, the Annual Report and any other reports
expected to have been presented to Parliament, within thirty
days. Beyond the law, this is a good practice as it will quell
accusations against the NPRC carried in the media to enable it to
inform the people of Zimbabwe of the work it is undertaking.
The NPRC Commissioner agreed that the Commission needs to
be more visible and indicated its intention to have a media blitz
to inform the public of its work. The NPRC also highlighted its
plans to train journalists and editors on reporting on peace
issues.
The NPRC’s Interventions in Support
of Survivors and Victims
The NPRC is mandated by section 252 to deal with past conflicts
to ensure post-conflict-justice, healing, and reconciliation.
Since its establishment, several conflicts have happened in
Zimbabwe, created many victims. These include the 1 August
2018 shootings, January 2019 shutdown atrocities and the 16
August 2019 violations. These are major conflicts on the national
radar to warrant the attention of the NPRC. NTJWG encouraged
the commission to establish a mechanism for tracking these
upcoming conflicts and finding a way to interventions in line
with its mandate. The survivors and victims of these conflicts
have high expectations for redress. The NPRC Strategy highlights
a victims-centric approach to healing and reconciliation and
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REF PS09/2019NTJWG