38 Chapter 4. Transitional Justice – A View from Victims of Torture in Zimbabwe Introduction: Zimbabwe has an unenviable history of violence. From the military occupation of Matabeleland and Mashonaland in the 1900s to the present day, and, especially during the past three decades, gross human rights violations have formed a significant part of the political landscape57. This has been relatively well-described in human rights reports, military histories, and the general history, but reporting during these times of violence has not always been easy58. The recent history of human rights violations, however, is not unknown or shrouded in secrecy, and indeed reporting on the human rights violations continues to date, even in the context of the ongoing low-intensity conflict since 200059. Perhaps no current political crisis, and the concomitant human rights violations in the world, is as well documented as the Zimbabwe crisis. In considering Zimbabwe’s history of human rights, it is perhaps unreasonable to refer to the early colonial times as a period in which gross human rights violations were committed: it is clearly the case that the definitions of gross human rights violations are obviously the product of a post Second World War re-appraisal of international relations. Whereas political interest or imperial design were the basis of much of the colonial project, underpinned by the philosophical certainties of the capitalist programme60, human rights and democracy are undoubtedly the child of the latter part of the 20th century. Hence, it will always be the case that the events of the 19th Century and of the first part of the 20th remain relevant to the human rights discourse in Africa; and, in the case of Zimbabwe, are a highly problematic context to the current problems. Colonialism and land are increasingly relevant domains for discussion, especially in Southern Africa, and bedevil any attempt to view the current crisis in Zimbabwe as purely revolving around issues of governance and human rights61. However, as much as it is impossible to discuss current human rights violations in Zimbabwe without invoking the past, it is equally impossible not to back project the modern conceptions of organised violence and torture on to the same history. It is clearly illogical to demand that the colonial period be seen through a human rights lens, and then excuse current human rights violations as inevitable 57 58 58 60 61 Here see Reeler, A.P, Sticks and Stones; Skeletons and Ghosts, in D. Harold-Barry SJ (Ed), Zimbabwe: The Past is the Future. Rethinking Land, State and Nation in the Context of Crisis, HARARE: WEAVER PRESS. Human rights groups documenting gross human rights violations were certainly less common in both the 1970s and the 1980s, and, in both decades were subjected to political pressure and intimidation. Here see CCJP(1975), The Man in the Middle, SALISBURY: CATHOLIC COMMISSION FOR JUSTICE & PEACE; See also CCJP (1976), Civil War in Rhodesia, SALISBURY: CATHOLIC COMMISSION FOR JUSTICE & PEACE. See also CCJP/LRF (1997), Breaking the Silence. Building True Peace: A Report on the Disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands, 1980 to 1988, HARARE: CATHOLIC COMMISSION FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, & LEGAL RESOURCES FOUNDATION; See also ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION (1999), Choosing the Path to Peace and Development; Coming to Terms with Human Rights Violations of the 1982-1987 ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION. The pressure felt by the Mugabe regime is undoubtedly acting as some restraint here, and it is even the explicit reason for the promulgation of the NGO Act. See Hobsbawm, E (1975), The Age of Capital, 1848-1875, LONDON: ABACUS. See A. Hammar, & B. Raftopoulos (2004), Zimbabwe’s Unfinished Business: Rethinking Land, State and Nation in the Context of Crisis, HARARE: WEAVER PRESS. Also see B. Raftopoulos (2004), Nation, race and history in Zimbabwean politics, (unpublished paper). IDASA: Zimbabwe at the Cross-Roads: Views of Zimbabwean citizens on democracy and transitional justice.