CHIREDZI NORTH 1. CONSTITUENCY: CHIREDZI NORTH 2. PROVINCE: MASVINGO 3. VENUE: SAVE TRAINING CENTRE 4. DATE: 30 SEPTEMBER 2009 5. PARTICIPANTS: No.: 46 Sex: 50% female Age: 19–36, average 29 years From: school children, school leavers, traditional leaders, women, informal traders, entrepreneurs, youth, church representatives and government employees 6. RECOMMENDATIONS i. Restoration of fundamental freedoms • There is too much fear in society to begin talking about healing without addressing the fear of the people and the lack of freedom [general discussion with participants]. • The teachers in the schools are being constantly harassed and threatened with further violence. All rights must be fully restored. Everyone must be free to associate with whomever they wish, to join associations they feel adequately represent their aspirations, and to express themselves without fear [government employees]. • Politicians must leave the Church alone. They must stop forcing them to toyi-toyi and sloganeer because it is contrary to their beliefs and to the law. The Church must be free to preach the Gospel [church representatives]. ii. Truth recovery • Chiredzi, as a multicultural community, has suffered abuses from all angles – economic, cultural, tribal, political and religious angles. In that regard, the normal legal process has no capacity to address these problems. General law does not appreciate this diversity. So it is recommended that a commission must look into the matters [women and youth’s groups]. • Some of the problems include tribalism by leaders, and minority groups being forced to participate in cultural activities like circumcision [women and youth groups]. • In addition to these, there is political violence, intimidation and dispossession of ancestral property. All these need a special body which could help society deal with such challenges [women and youth groups]. • There cannot be any way forward when the truth is not known. Once the real truth is known, then the people can proceed to the next step of building peace [all participants]. • Although there is a government-initiated national healing programme, it will not have any effect on the community and most of the victims because people are not yet free to speak. There cannot be any healing when the victims have not been accorded the opportunity to speak out their experiences and concerns [government employee]. • Victims and survivors of past atrocities must be part of the commission. The commission Taking Transitional Justice to the People – Outreach Report 93