In the year 2001, discussions started around the Matabeleland Massacres: for example, the Amani Trust in Bulawayo convened a ‘Truth and Justice Conference’, which focused specifically on the situation in Matabeleland, but, in the light of increased state repression, nothing much seemed possible. The government was struggling to contain discontentment. Democratic forces continued to push for accountability despite hostility from the government. As the 2002 presidential elections drew nearer, the campaign of violence increased. The Forum reported 54 deaths, 945 cases of torture, 214 kidnappings, 229 cases of intimidation, 143 cases of unlawful detention, 29 disappearances, 99 cases of unlawful arrests among many other violations. 70 000 people were displaced from their homes.17 Thus the 9–11 March 2002 Presidential election further deepened the crisis in the country. It was from this crisis that negotiations to break the impasse between ZANU(PF) and MDC began. The atrocities committed during the elections were so gross that civil society renewed calls for accountability. In its report on the March 2002 Presidential elections, ZESN recommended setting up of an independent body to investigate the political violence and facilitate reconciliation and rehabilitation. ZESN also called for a re-run of the Presidential election after an agreed transitional period during which constitutional and electoral reforms conducive to a free and fair election were put in place.18 9. Civil Society and Justice in Zimbabwe Despite the call by civil society for democratic reforms, the government remained resolute and unreformed. The independence of the judiciary was compromised and the legal system in Zimbabwe could no longer be trusted to address the ever-increasing violations. Against this background, the civil society organizations in Zimbabwe decided to develop their own positions on how to redress the abuses, using both domestic and international legal and institutional mechanisms. This led to the holding of a symposium in Johannesburg on Civil Society and Justice in Zimbabwe from 11 to 13 August 2003. The Symposium was attended by leaders from over 70 civil society organizations from Zimbabwe, colleagues from South Africa and several international experts on transitional justice. The main purpose of the Symposium was to explore how best to achieve justice in the broadest possible sense for the many victims of past and present human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. It also aimed at promoting an understanding of transitional justice mechanisms and various options available to Zimbabwe. The Symposium made the following recommendations: 1. That human rights abuses of the past – both during the colonial and post-colonial eras – must be redressed. 2. That mechanisms be put in place to guarantee that human rights abuses never again occur in Zimbabwe. 3. That blanket amnesties for human rights abusers should not be allowed; and specifically that there should be no further general amnesty for human rights abusers. Taking Transitional Justice to the People – Outreach Report 9