Human Rights Archive Zimbabwe

Reverend Useni Sibanda opened the conference’s third day by assisting participants to reflect on first two days Symposium’s outputs drawing from various presentations and evidence by victims and survivors of the Gukurahundi atrocities.

Day 2 of the NTJWG Conference being in Bulawayo began with participants visiting different historical sites and heritage centres which depict Zimbabwe’s conflict history and community healing practices. Visited places include; the Entumbane Reintegration Camps sites, the Queen of Peace Roman Catholic Church and Amagugu International Heritage Centre.

From 21 to 23 November 2018, over 118 delegates converged in Bulawayo for the 2018 Transitional Justice Policy Symposium which was jointly convened by the National Transitional Justice Working Group (NTJWG) and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR). The theme of the symposium was, ‘Never Again: Setting the Transitional Justice Agenda for Zimbabwe.’

This report is the product of research that was undertaken in Zimbabwe during 2004 in the wake of the August 2003 symposium. In 2003, there was considerable speculation about the prospects of political talks, and even some sort of ‘negotiated settlement’ between the ruling ZANU(PF) and the opposition MDC.

This report captures the proceedings of the Second International Conference on Transitional Justice in Zimbabwe held from 9th to 11th October 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The conference discussed the prospects of establishing an effective National Peace and Reconciliation Commission in Zimbabwe, which meets the expectations of the people and is also in sync with international best practices.

An outline of the five primary focuses of transitional justice processes is provided, followed by brief descriptions of some of the key terms that are used to describe aspects of the process. The purpose of providing this information is to show that transitional justice does not have to be prescriptive.

Transitional justice is crucial in dealing with the past and in achieving reconciliation. The United Nations Secretary General’s report on the rule of law and transitional justice in conflict and post-conflict societies describes transitional justice as ‘the full range of processes and mechanisms associated with a society’s attempt to come to terms with the legacy of large-scale past abuses, in order to ensure accountability, serve justice and achieve reconciliation’.

This report carries a summary of the issued presented to the NPRC. In the briefing, the NTJWG raised several issues of concern to Zimbabwe’s transitional justice journey.

The work of the NTJWG in the period 2016 to 2017 has seen stakeholders pushing back on the government, rejecting the initial NPRC Bill and mobilising communities to voice their concerns. In early 2017, NTJWG invited stakeholders to a planning workshop in Harare. 37 organisations responded to that call and a comprehensive strategy was produced.

The reporting year 2017-2018 was characterised by groundbreaking activities for the NTJWG.The social,political and economic environment in Zimbabwe during the reporting period was also laden with a lot of developments.

This briefing was presented to the Special Advisor to the President on National Peace and Reconciliation. The briefing draws from the monitoring work done by NTJWG and the views obtained by NTJWG from Stakeholders who are concerned with the national peace and reconciliation process in Zimbabwe.

This briefing seeks to draw the Executive’s attention to the important developments in our country as they relate to transitional justice, healing and reconciliation.

This newsletter serves to keep you up to speed with transitional justice processes in the country.

This newsletter highlights activities carried out between February and March 2019