Commissions Watch Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry Report 31 Jan 2019 Few if any of these recommendations have been implemented. The Government has set up an ad-hoc Cabinet Committee to assess damage caused during the recent disturbances – but not to compensate victims of the 1st August riot. The National Peace and Reconciliation Commission has announced a “multi-stakeholder consultative dialogue process” to find ways out of the current economic and political situation, but this seems to have been prompted by the recent disturbances rather than the Motlanthe Commission’s report. Some opposition politicians are being prosecuted, but not for crimes arising out of the 1st August riot. None of those responsible for the killings have been brought to book. If more of the Commission’s recommendations had been implemented, some of the killings, beatings and human rights violations perpetrated in the recent disturbances might have been prevented. Something must be done to end the cycle of impunity. Comment on the Report The Commission’s report identifies extreme political polarisation as one of the root causes of the disorder, and it is hard to quarrel with that. Out of the polarisation came the distrust of ZEC, as well as the false news and hate speech, which were more immediate causes of the post-election disturbances. The Commission laid blame for the violence on the MDC Alliance since the demonstrations which gave rise to it were “pre-planned and well organised” by that party. The commissioners reached this conclusion from their assessment of the evidence given to them, and whether they were correct in doing so is open to debate. Unfortunately, an objective assessment of the evidence is difficult for Zimbabweans because of the extreme political polarisation noted in the report. There are however some points on which the report is clearly open to criticism: • Right to demonstrate: The report does not mention that section 59 of the Constitution gives everyone the right to demonstrate peacefully. Commissioners apparently assumed that because notice was not given under section 25 of POSA, the demonstration was unlawful and the Police were entitled to break it up. That is not so: section 25 does not say that demonstrations become unlawful simply because the convenors have not notified the Police. • Right to life is sacrosanct: Section 86(3) of the Constitution says that the right to life cannot be limited or violated by any law. Hence any killing by the Police or Army, in whatever circumstances, is illegal. The report makes no mention of this, even though Veritas sent a written submission to the Commission pointing it out.