rights violations by setting up commissions of enquiry. In other cases the government responded to these problems by giving clemency to perpetrators of violence. For example, government pardoned Gukurahundi2 perpetrators that included soldiers of the 5th Brigade alleged to have committed serious atrocities. Key leaders of waves of politically motivated violence (which resulted in deaths, mass displacements, rape, torture and other human rights violations) ahead of successive elections between 2000 and 2008 have also been pardoned.3 After the disputed presidential election of June 2008, the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriot Front (ZANU-PF), led by Robert Mugabe and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations, one led by Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC-T) and the other then by Arthur Mutambara (now led by Welshman Ncube) signed a “Global Political Agreement” (GPA) that led to the creation of an “Inclusive Government”. The GPA required the government to give consideration to the setting 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”. This objective was not, however, realized since Organ for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration (ONHRI) which took up this function failed to achieve tangible results that could bring lasting peace, for a number of reasons, which included lack of political will and a limited mandate. The formation of the NPRC brings new expectations for the country to effectively deal with its violent past and build a new culture of peace. It is against this background that the Forum, IJR and THIGJ organised this conference which brought together commissioners, civil society activists and academics to share best practices (with examples from Commissions from four country case studies - Guatemala, Kenya, Sierra Leone and South Africa), to come up with recommendations and to consider the requirements and conditions for an effective commission that can potentially fulfill its constitutional mandate. 2 Gukurahundi is a traditional Shona word, which means 'the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains.' It is the word used to describe a military operation against a civilian population in the Midlands and Matabeleland regions of Zimbabwe during the 1980s, see http://www.sokwanele.com/articles/sokwanele/gukurahundiinzimbabwe_29May2007.html, (Accessed on 27 May 2014). 3 Mugabe's power to grant pardons was derived from Section 31(I) of the old Constitution (entitled 'Prerogative of mercy'), to the following effect: “(1) The President may, subject to such lawful conditions as he may think fit to impose – (a) grant a pardon to any person concerned in or convicted of a criminal offence against any law…” This power was found in the 1953 Constitution to the extent that the governor and later the head of state could grant a pardon to a person convicted of a crime. The prerogative was widened in the 1969 Constitution to allow the head of state to grant clemency to those “concerned in” criminal activities, that is, to allow pardons prior to conviction, thus precluding prosecutions of those covered by the clemency. Since 1987 the President has issued a series of “Clemency Orders” covering both the Gukurahundi period and political violence during electoral periods. For example, Clemency Order No. 1 of 2000, published as General Notice 457A of 2000 in the Government Gazette Extraordinary on 6 October 2000 granted pardon for 'politically-motivated crimes' which were defined as 'any offence motivated by the object of supporting or opposing any political purpose and committed in connection with the Constitutional Referendum…or the general Parliamentary elections…whether committed before, during or after the said referendum or elections.' In terms of this order a free pardon was granted to every person liable to prosecution for any politicallymotivated crime excluding murder, robbery, rape, indecent assault, theft, possession of arms and any offence involving fraud or dishonesty. Truth Commissions: the Best Practices iii