11. Towards Transition On 8 and 9 September 2008, members of civil society met at a workshop organized by the Forum and agreed that given the history of human rights abuse in pre- and post-independence Zimbabwe, there was need for transitional justice mechanisms which would follow these fundamental principles: • victim-centred; • comprehensive, inclusive, consultative participation of all stakeholders, particularly the victims; • the establishment of the truth; • acknowledgement; • justice, compensation and reparations; • national healing and reconciliation; • non-repetition (never again); • gender sensitive; • transparency and accountability; and • nation-building and reintegration.24 The organizations present at the workshop, having agreed on the principles, also agreed on several non-negotiable minimum demands for a transitional justice process, which included: no amnesty for crimes against humanity, torture, rape and other sexual crimes and economic crimes such as corruption; no extinguishing of civil claims against the perpetrators or the state; comprehensive reparations for victims of human rights violations; no one should hold an official office who has been responsible for gross human rights violations and corruption; a credible and independent truth-seeking inquiry into the conflicts of the past which holds perpetrators to account and which provides victims the opportunity to tell their story; independent monitoring and reform of the operations and structures of the police, army, paramilitary, security co-ordination, administration of justice, food distribution and other organs of state involved in the implementation of the transition.25 Five days after the workshop, on 15 September 2008, the three leaders of Zimbabwe’s main political parties signed an Agreement known as the Global Political Agreement (GPA). Civil society was relieved to note that there were no guarantees of amnesty in the Agreement. Of particular importance to the discussions around justice and accountability was article 7. While the drafters of the document avoided using the phrase “transitional justice”, they talked of “national healing, cohesion and unity in respect of victims of pre and post independence political conflicts”.26 In 2009, the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration (the Organ) was formed with the aim of finding ways to implement article 7 of the GPA. Three ministers were appointed to lead the Organ: John Nkomo (ZANU(PF)), Sekai Holland (MDC–T) and Gibson Sibanda (MDC–M). The Organ began consultations with traditional leaders, the churches and civil society on how to bring about national healing. While the capacity of the Organ may be strictly limited, its presence and current efforts spell a world of difference from the previous government policies in which no other stakeholders were 12 Taking Transitional Justice to the People – Outreach Report