transparent and should go beyond resolving immediate issues such as reimbursement for the money victims spent for medical assistance and the damage to property business incurred during the mayhem. According to the NTJWG Guiding Principles for Transitional Justice Policy and Practice in Zimbabwe (2015) ‘reparations should be proportional to the gravity of the violations and the harm suffered. It must also uphold and promote accepted religious, individual, community and traditional transitional justice mechanisms.’ Following the release of the Commission of Inquiry’s report, the NTJWG urges the Government of Zimbabwe, to respect the mandate of the NPRC to seriously consider the report and findings and to implement the recommendations by the Commission of Inquiry in their entirety. The Government must investigate in an open and transparent manner the actual perpetrators of the shootings. Furthermore, this must be done transparently and the process must be victimcentred. The Government is encouraged not to choose to implement some of the recommendations and leave others. Establishment of the Independent Complaints Mechanism Closely linked to the above, the NTJWG encourages the Government to expeditiously facilitate the establishment of the Independent Complaints Mechanism as provided for under Section 210 of the Constitution which stipulates that, ‘an Act of Parliament must provide an effective and independent mechanism for receiving and investigating complaints from members of the public about misconduct on the part of members of the security services and for remedying any harm caused by such conduct.’ The Working Group feels that this is long overdue. Against the background of the human rights violations that have occurred between 1 August, 2018 and after the #shutdown protests, it is high time that a platform for victims of violence is created on which they can report their experiences which will facilitate truth-telling, truth-seeking and hold perpetrators to account. Observance of the Mandate of the NPRC The NTJWG welcomes the government’s efforts to assist victims of the Gukurahundi massacres with exhumation, issuance of birth certificates for children of the deceased and the accompanying economic developments in the Matabeleland region. However, the NTJWG implores the Government to ensure that there are clear regulations to guide the process. In addition, the NTJWG urges the NPRC to take lead in the process to ensure there is no interference with the work which the NPRC is constitutionally mandated to do, given that the intervention of the government coincides with the 21 day outreach programme of the NPRC. The Lifespan of the NPRC The NTJWG welcomes the decision by the High Court of Masvingo that the lifespan of announcement by the government of the NPRC beyond 2023 after ZLHR filed and won a court case on behalf of a client which ruled that the President should extend the mandate of the NPRC by 10 years effective from 5 January 2018 when the Act became law. The NTJWG is encouraged that the Government of Zimbabwe has decided to respect the Court Order to and the outcome. The NTJWG calls upon the President to make a formal pronouncement, through a Government Gazette, acknowledging the ruling extending the lifespan of the NPRC. 3 EXECUTIVE BRIEFING: JANUARY - MARCH 2019

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