investigate the allegations.36 This investigation is still ongoing, but with little evidence of any
progress.
In another action, various groups, such as the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC), the
Zimbabwe Exiles Forum and the South African History Archive, made applications to the
South African courts for the South African government to make public the reports of two
investigatory missions on the conduct of elections in 2002 and 2008. The former, the report
of Justices Moseneke and Khampepe, was finally successful, and the report was made public
in 2014,37 but, despite strenuous efforts, the latter has never been released. However, the use
of the courts did again provide strong corroboration of the allegations of gross human rights
violations outlined in the plethora of human rights reports by Zimbabwean organisations.
Similarly, victims and families of victims of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe have also
approached US courts using the American Alien Claims Statute.38 The victims and survivors
have instituted prosecutions against President Mugabe and other senior ZANU PF officials
for serious international crimes committed in Zimbabwe.
Thus, whilst there have been several uses of foreign courts with great success, there has also
been the use of other bodies, such as the ACHPR and the UN Human Rights Committee, to
expose the human rights record of the Zimbabwe government, and together these initiatives
have resulted in widespread condemnation of the government. Together with the numerous
reports, both from Zimbabwean and international human rights organisations, all of this
exposure has been a contributory factor in the pressure applied on the Zimbabwe government
by the Commonwealth, the European Union and the US. This bears testimony to the sterling
work done by Zimbabwean organisations, and, after 2008, is probably also a reason for the
improved human rights climate and the diminished violence.
4.7.6 Vetting
It seems obvious that vetting was more common in the post-transition period of the countries
sampled than it was in the pre-transition period. Vetting in the pre-transition period, only took
place in four countries, Algeria, Honduras, Hungary and Peru, but, post-transition, took place
in 20 countries. It would thus be expected that this would be the case for Zimbabwe, and is in
fact so.
Immediately after Independence in 1980, there was a slow re-structuring of the state
agencies, but this did not involve vetting of personnel because of their involvement in gross
human rights violations, apart perhaps from the disbanding of the Selous Scouts. The Scouts
were likely exempted for political reasons because of their iconic identification with the
former regime rather than their involvement in gross human rights violations, because, as
pointed out before, most military units in all sides of the civil war were complicit in these
violations.
36
National Commissioner of the South African Police Service v Southern African Human Rights Litigation
Centre
and
Another
[2014]
ZACC
30.
[http://www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org/1/wpcontent/uploads/2012/11/Judgment.pdf]
37
Report on the 2002 Presidential Elections of Zimbabwe. [http://cdn.mg.co.za/content/documents/2
014/11/14/reportonthe2002presidentialelectionsofzimbabwe.pdf]
38
Chiminya Tachiona v. Mugabe, 216 F. Supp. 2d 262 (S.D.N.Y. 2002) U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York - 216 F. Supp. 2d 262 (S.D.N.Y. 2002) August 7, 2002
42
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