Research and Discussion Paper on a TJ Framework for Zimbabwe Why is a special procedure like transitional justice necessary to deal with past human rights violations? The answer is that human rights and freedoms are in general individual rights. If there is a violation an individual can approach the courts to get redress. Transitional justice, on the contrary, deals with large-scale, serious ,gross, systematic human rights violations; many people and whole communities are usually affected and perpetrators have often been part of the governing system. In these cases, as identified by ICTJ, the domestic, “normal” justice system does not have the necessary structures to deal with these cases and special procedures and measures are needed. , ad rights violations, including provide an adequate response. 2.2.Definitions of Human Rights Violations The different UN human rights bodies have various definitions for human rights violations which the Vienna world conference on human rights summarized by stating that gross and systematic violations and situations include:6 • • • • • • • • • • • • torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, summary and arbitrary executions, disappearances, arbitrary detentions, all forms of racism, racial discrimination and apartheid, foreign occupation and alien domination, xenophobia, poverty, hunger and other denials of economic, social and cultural rights, religious intolerance, terrorism, discrimination against women, lack of the rule of law. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has stated7 that there is no uniform definition of gross human rights violations in international law, however it concludes that the following practices are included in the various definitions: • • • • • • • genocide, slavery and slavery-like practices, summary or arbitrary executions, torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary and prolonged detention, systematic discrimination. 6 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the world conference on human rights on 25 June 1993 in Vienna, point 30; https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/vienna.aspx 7 The corporate responsibility to respect human rights - an interpretive guide, OHCHR publications, HR/PUB/12/02 © 2012 United Nations 7 DRAFT