STAKEHOLDERS CONFERENCE on TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE PRINCIPLES IN ZIMBABWE CONFERENCE REPORT AUGUST 2015 transformation, reconciliation, healing, reintegration and reconciliation. 3.2 Presentations on the Draft Guiding Principles 3.2.1 Presentation on Draft Principles for Institutional Reforms Following the opening session, Mr. Tony Reeler made a presentation on the draft principles on institutional reforms. He emphasised that the processes Zimbabwe is engaging is unprecedented, never seen anywhere else in the world because the country is not in a state of transition. The state, he said, is still a predatory state hence the need for tact in tackling transitional justice issues. He went through some principles that may be considered in guiding institutional reforms. Plenary Discussion The issue of adversarial relationship versus cooperation was raised and it was noted that even though political settlements have been made since 1980 and it was important to address the issues as they bore a mutual benet for both potential partners of engagement and the perpetrators. It was also suggested that an agreed national vision could be the basis from which transitional justice processes could depart. Further questions were raised on making the Parliament more democratic and empowering it effectively play its oversight role in the face of a powerful executive. Delegates emphasised the need to activate public participation in trying to ensure Parliament become more accountable. There was a call to ensure the judiciary plays a more useful role in human rights protection. There was a call for reform of the partisan judiciary. It was recommended to concentrate on dealing with the past without discrimination. The plenary asked how well Zimbabwe could address gender issues within an institutional reform framework. Gender was made a cross-cutting theme in all transitional justice issues. It was decided that there was need to have an accurate documentation of the history of what happened in place of the existing narrow narrative. 18