CONCLUSION This report on the findings of the transitional justice survey conducted by the Forum provides an interesting perspective on the discussion of transitional justice in Zimbabwe by recording recommendations from victims as well as from perpetrators of political violence on how the process should be carried out. Apart from providing recommendations for a transitional justice process, the survey also gave respondents an opportunity to name those they thought were responsible for the violence and also provided a glimpse into their level of confidence in public institutions. All of these aspects are important in designing a credible transitional justice process. Among the key findings of the survey was that 18 per cent of the respondents reported an encounter with violence. A large number of the respondents, 75 per cent, were not aware of the existence of the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration. This was a cause for concern because it showed that very little had been done on a national scale to create awareness of the work of the Organ in local communities where violence was believed to be prevalent. From these findings it is clear that much more work needs to be done at community level to create awareness of the Organ and its work if any credible activity is to be initiated or carried out by it. The level of bitterness in the victims of the violations was also a cause for concern. Of the total number of respondents who identified themselves as victims of political violence, 76 per cent were still either feeling bitter or struggling to cope with the fact that their concerns had never been appropriately addressed. The country has low healing potential. Forty-one per cent of the respondents believed that victims of political violence could not be healed. This is a serious concern for a country that needs healing to forge ahead. It also emerged that 41 per cent of the respondents believed that the perpetrators of political violence could never repent. These percentages show an urgent need to deal with past politically motivated violence and bring perpetrators to account. The respondents believed in a broad-based truth, recovery and reparation programme as the lasting solution to the national problem: 49 per cent of the respondents called for the compensation of victims, while 22 per cent opted for truth recovery and 21 per cent wanted reparations for the victims of violence. Prosecutions were prioritized by 14 per cent of the respondents. The responsibility for providing compensation was placed on the government’s shoulders, with 55 per cent saying that the government in power at the time should take the responsibility. It is interesting to note that, while there was a high preference for the government in office to meet the costs of compensation, in terms of the administration of the process a different preference was expressed, although the difference was statistically marginal. A fairly large number of the respondents agreed that the churches and government could lead a credible transitional process: 30 cent chose the churches, while 29 per cent preferred a process led by the government. However, the Organ and civil society were not preferred choices, as shown by the respective 3 and 12 per cent ratings. 24 Transitional Justice Survey – A Report of the People’s Perceptions and Recommendations