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