Time for accountability 31 Endnotes On 15 September 2008, Zimbabwe’s three main political parties, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front led by Robert Mugabe, and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, signed an agreement to form an inclusive government. This follows the mediation process facilitated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that started in March 2007. The agreement signed by the parties is meant to address the Zimbabwean political and economic crises that have been developing since 2000. Article 7.1 (c) of the agreement commits the parties to “setting up of a mechanism to properly advise on what measures might be necessary and practicable to achieve national healing, cohesion and unity in respect of victims of pre and post independence political conflicts.” The form this ‘mechanism’ will take is not clear and yet to be defined. 2 See Updated Set of principles for the protection and promotion of human rights through action to combat impunity, UN Doc. E/CN.4/2005/102/Add.1, 8 February 2005. At the regional level, the Constitutive Act of the African Union, Articles 3(h) and 4(o), expressly condemn and reject impunity. Zimbabwe is a member of the African Union (AU) and has subscribed to the AU Constitutive Act. 3 UN Doc. A/54/426, 1 October 1999. 4 Some of the people calling themselves “war veterans” did not necessarily participate in the 1970s war for Zimbabwe’s liberation, but nevertheless work with ZANU-PF leaders and a faction within the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, in their violent campaign against MDC supporters. Some of these “war veterans” are too young to have participated in the war. 5 Human right defenders are people who act to promote and protect human rights. They may be victims and survivors of human rights violations themselves, or friends or relatives of victims of human rights violations seeking to redress the violations suffered. They may be journalists, lawyers, members of human rights organizations or politicians who speak out against government repression, who are working for the promotion and protection of human rights for all. They are human rights defenders because of what they do, not because of their job or profession. 6 The right to an effective remedy for victims of human rights violations is set out in, for example, Article 2 (3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. See also Article 11, Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law. 7 ZANU-PF won 62 seats while the MDC won 57 seats and ZANU-Ndonga won 1 seat. 8 IRIN, ZIMBABWE: Military rattle sabres in support of Mugabe, www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=77254 accessed 2 October 2008. 9 Address by Dr Gideon Gono, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, to the Extraordinary Session of ZANU-PF Congress in Harare, 14 December 2007. 10 Ibid. 11 Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), states must ensure the rights of everyone within their jurisdiction without discrimination, including on the grounds 1 Amnesty International AI Index: AFR 46/028/2008