THE STATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT |ZIMBABWE I 2017 the need to address the legacy of violence through various transitional justice processes. Key among these processes is the establishment of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) established to ensure post-conflict justice, healing and reconciliation. Central to the transitional justice mechanisms established by the Constitution is the need to realize the right to know for society and the victims, ensuring the healing and rehabilitation of victims and survivors, and guaranteeing nonrecurrence of past violations. This is in line with the African Union Transitional Justice Policy Framework, which is a practical and actionable tool at the regional level. The United Nations also emphasises compliance with transitional justice processes and mechanisms as specified in international norms and standards. The normative foundation for the work of the UN in advancing transitional justice is the Charter of the UN, along with the Joint principles against impunity, which were approved by the UN in 1997. These principles are; the right to know, the right to justice, the right to reparations and non-recurrence. These principles can be found in various sections of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. This section reports on to what extent such provisions of the Constitution have been complied with.72 Implementation of the provisions relating to the Ethics and Integrity Committee The institution of traditional leadership predates the current Constitution and indeed the current state. It is acknowledged by the Constitution in Chapter 5. However, since the advent of colonialism, the institution has been adulterated and manipulated by political leaders of the day. During 38 years of ZANU-PF rule, traditional leaders have been reduced to tools of violence. An example of this manipulation is Chief Kasekete of Muzarabani, whose name is Faxwell Mutinhima who led a brutal campaign of violence that resulted in the death of more than 22 MDC-T supporters in 2008. 73 It is this manipulation of traditional leaders that led to section 287 of the Constitution providing for an Act of Parliament to provide for the establishment, membership and procedures of an Integrity and Ethics Committee of Chiefs to among others, deal with complaints against traditional leaders. Five years later, this provision of the Constitution has been totally ignored by the government, in violation of section 324 of the Constitution, which obliges the government to implement constitutional provisions with speed and diligence. Implementation of the relating to the NPRC provisions Implementation of the provisions relating to the Independent Complaints The government’s implementation of section 251 to 253 of the Constitution establishing the NPRC Mechanisms has been at a snail’s pace. Established in 2013, the Commissioners of the NPRC were only appointed towards the end of 2015 and the relevant law only introduced in Parliament in 2016 but the law was rejected for being too defective and out of sync with the expectations of the people of Zimbabwe. 2017 saw the revision of the law, which was only passed in the National Assembly on 3 October 2017. The NPRC Act was only signed in February 2018, five years from the year the NPRC was constitutionally established. By any standards, a five-year delay in operationalizing such a vital constitutional body is unacceptable and qualifies to be deemed a violation of section 324 of the Constitution which states that all constitutional obligations must be performed diligently and without delay. 72 73 Zimbabwe’s security sector has been implicated in human rights violations for the past century. All gross human rights violations of the post-independence era have had one common denominator – the security sector. This is true of Gukurahundi, Operation Murambatsvina, the 1998 Food Riots and the bloody election related political violence. This legacy of an unaccountable security sector has necessitated section 210 of the Constitution which establishes the Independent Complaints Mechanism which makes provision for an Act of Parliament to establish such an institution for purposes of receiving and investigating complaints from the public against security services and remedying the harm caused. During and post the November 15, 2017 military coup, such complaints against the security services have increased. Five years Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act 2013. See Hall of Shame by Nehanda Radio. http://nehandaradio.com/2013/05/01/zimbabwe-wall-of-shame-chief-kasekete/ 58