Zimbabwe

Provides a listing of articles on restorative justice developments in Zimbabwe. Articles appear in the order in which they were added to the site with the most recent appearing first.

Better not bitter says activist Mukoko

By Taurainashe Manonge in The Zimbabwe Telegraph: Abducted and tortured activist Jestina Mukoko, has said that the pain and trauma she experienced in the hands of state officials last year, has left her Better and not bitter. Speaking on December 17, 2009 at a meeting organised by the Zimbabwe Human rights forum to celebrate her City of Weimar Human Rights Award, Mukoko also director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, said it was inner strength and the knowledge that people all over the world were rallying alongside with her that kept her going. “I believe there was a purpose in all this. It might have been a nasty experience but looking at how I now deal with people who have been tortured I have a different perspective to it.”

Capito, Benjamin and Goredema, Charles and Fundira, Bothwell and Goba, Ray and Munyoro, Joseph and Banda, Jai. Confronting the Proceeds of Crime in Southern Africa: An Introspection

The six authors all address money-laundering in Southern Africa, with each author concentrating on a different country. Banda describes legislation in Malawi designed to fight money-laundering. Munyoro posits that there is still much work to do in Zambia and then considers what areas specifically need improvement. Fundira examines three scenarios that have particular application to Zimbabwe. Goredema reviews what South Africa has done to stop money-laundering and financing terrorism. Goba analyzes the state of money-laundering in Namibia. Capito explores what measures have been implemented in Mozambique.

Ford, Jolyon and du Plessis, Max. Justice and Peace in a New Zimbabwe. Transitional Justice Options.

The second round of Zimbabwe’s presidential election is scheduled for the end of June 2008. There has been a sharp increase in state sponsored violence since the first round in March (ICG May 2008), coming after almost a decade marked by violence, intimidation and impunity for which the state itself has been primarily responsible. One of the principal issues for any future political transition will be whether – and how – to formally and publicly deal with past systematic and widespread human rights abuses. This is moreover a core political issue now, not simply a collateral legal or moral one to be left until later. Part of the challenge is to map a way between sheer moral and legal principle and mere political pragmatism (Emmanuel 2007). One transitional justice option is to now flag, and then later establish, a truth and reconciliation commission which might give incentives to people at various levels to denounce violence and cooperate in peacebuilding, but which need not rule out criminal prosecutions where appropriate. Against the backdrop of an international legal and normative framework which may shape justice options, the first part of this paper addresses the question ‘why a truth commission?’ We suggest that Zimbabwe’s particular experiences necessitate a national truth commission as a viable or necessary option in providing sure conditions and foundations for a peaceable future. The second part of the paper then addresses some considerations relating to how to establish such a formal process, drawing on others’ experience. Of course, the question ‘how might a commission look?’ is (or should be) inextricably linked with the question ‘why have a commission anyway – what exactly is it for?’ (excerpt)

Garwe, Paddington. The Zimbabwe community service scheme

Community service as an alternative to incarceration came into existence in Zimbabwe following an amendment to the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act in 1992. In this address, Justice Paddington Garwe first discusses conditions regarding incarceration in general in African countries; then he turns specifically to the Zimbabwe community service scheme. He examines its background, structure, supervisors, coordination and supervision of community service orders, guidelines for magistrates, the role of the judiciary and the public, and problems that affected the scheme.

Kuperus, Tracy. Building a Pluralist Democracy: An Examination of Religious Associations in South Africa and Zimbabwe

Observers who comment on South Africa's democratic experience concentrate mainly on the domestic factors that have contributed to or are contributing to South Africa's democratic successes. Case studies from neighboring countries, however, provide important insights, and in this sense, Zimbabwe offers poignant lessons for South Africa. Although Zimbabwe sustained a transition in 1980, its experimentation with regime change led to a restrained democracy, or more accurately, a de facto one-party state. How will South Africa's consolidation phase differ from Zimbabwe's, and what can it learn from Zimbabwe's experiences? (excerpt)

McCandless, Erin. The case of land in Zimbabwe: Cause of conflict, foundation for peace

As land ownership has been and continues to be a major source of conflict in Zimbabwe, the question of land reform raises intense issues: how can land or other resources be redistributed in a just manner and toward just ends, fostering reconciliation and promoting sustainable human development? To deal with these issues, McCandless begins by examining aspects of reconciliation and justice theory on protracted social conflict, especially as such theorizing proposes a hybrid justice-reconciliation conceptual framework. He then applies these ideas to the case of land reform in Zimbabwe: post-independence policy; the government's approaches; the international community's role; challenges and opportunities as presented by stakeholders; the work of non-governmental organizations; and land redistribution toward a sustainable just peace.

National Healing and Reconciliation in Zimbabwe: Challenges and Opportunities

(author's abstract) The purpose of this paper is to critically examine issues concerning transitional justice in Zimbabwe after a decade of politically motivated intra-conflicts. The Zimbabwean case highlights the importance of critically examining the relevance of instituting transitional justice systems with a view to making informed choices about achieving a balance between comprehensive processes of restorative justice and retributive justice systems. The paper argues that whatever form of transitional justice is chosen, there is need for a clear and credible account of the past involving acknowledgement for past violations as a process of facilitating individual and national healing and reconciliation. The paper further argues that it is only after truth-seeking initiatives have taken place, that willingness to seek justice based on people’s understandings of what happened to them can be achieved. Thus, it is important that the state takes concrete policy actions to demonstrate a break with the past and build a future based on respect for human rights and rule of law.

National reconciliation and healing in Zimbabwe: Challenges and opportunities

from Pamela Machakanja's monograph for the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation: For national healing and reconciliation to achieve the desired objective of uniting the fractured social and political groups, certain factors must be present.

Penal Reform International. Community service as an alternative to custody

This leaflet explains community service and outlines its introduction as an alternative to custody in Zimbabwe. (publisher's abstract)

Penal Reform International. Le travail d'interet general: une alternative à l’incarcération

This leaflet explains community service and outlines its introduction as an alternative to custody in Zimbabwe. (author's abstract)

Stern, Vivien. An Alternative Vision; Criminal Justice Developments in Non-Western Countries

Vivien Stern begins this article by remarking that criminal justice policy in the United States and many other Western countries appears to be taking a punitive and exclusionary direction. Yet, she continues, there are different and encouraging developments in countries of the former Soviet Union, South Asia, and Africa. To substantiate her perspective, Stern surveys statistics on incarceration in the U.S. and other countries, which she then compares with criminal justice alternatives being developed and tried in Canada, countries of the former Soviet Union, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe: Calls for restorative justice must be heeded now

from an entry on Kubatana.net: This becomes a strong case for the open discussion of what evil has been spawned by political violence and the need for a truth and reconciliation commission so people can move on with their lives. Yet some people in their wisdom think the past can take care of itself by natural processes of time and have been arrogant to calls for a naming and shaming of people behind the raping and killing of wives and mothers since independence. The question for many is that what really can be expected from the people who are accused of heinous political crime and still control state apparatus that would in essence be in charge of letting the law take its course? So does the nation wait for that epoch when they are no longer in government and then they are tracked and shot down like rapid dogs?

van der Merwe, Hugo. Reparations in Southern Africa

This one is among the first comparative studies of reparation in the light of transitional justice in Southern Africa largely unexplored, save of course for South Africa. At the core of the South African transformation is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) considered by some to be "the most far-reaching and the most effective of its genre". Similarly, South Africa's Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee of the TRC is the source of scholarly and policy debates in transitional justice circles worldwide. Yet, despite its popularity, South Africa's transitional process merits critical examination especially needed with the reparation issue which generated controversy and acrimony. This study seeks to add to the growing literature on reparations to victims of human rights abuses in the context of a political transition, by examining the experiences of South Africa, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Mozambique in developing official, non-judicial reparation programmes for victims/survivors of human rights abuses. For each country, the study explores: the nature of the political transition; the nature of the human rights violations or political atrocities that took place; the identifiable needs arising as consequences from human rights violations; programmes (if any) aimed at providing "reparation" and their targeted beneficiaries; factors accounting for the development (or non-development) of these programmes; and the consequences of the reparation programmes. Any debate on overcoming an unjust past ultimately has to deal with the issue of reparation, which should not be confused with reconstruction or reconciliation. (excerpt)