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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Truth, justice, reconciliation and national healing - Index of articles
Transitional justice national survey: A report on the people's
perceptions and recommendations
Zimbabwe Human
Rights NGO Forum
September 05, 2011
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Executive
Summary
This report
is a follow-up to the Taking Transitional Justice to the People
outreach project, which commenced in 2009, during which the Zimbabwe
Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) went to local communities across
the country to introduce the discussion on transitional justice.
In this survey,
the Forum conducted research between February and March 2011 to
capture the recommendations and perceptions of individual Zimbabweans
on transitional justice. This report highlights the most relevant
recommendations and perceptions, and summarizes the responses of
3 189 individuals to 23 questions administered from a previously
designed questionnaire. Through a series of tables as well as summary
notes, a picture of the views, attitudes, perceptions and recommendations
of Zimbabweans towards transitional justice is presented.
This report
is unique in that it presents the findings of the first national
survey on transitional justice in Zimbabwe, and it adds to the short
list of consultative-based positions on transitional justice in
the country. One of the main purposes of the report is to inform
policy on how to deal with past gross human rights violations in
Zimbabwe, thereby assisting in steering the country towards peace
and political tolerance.
Nine sections,
which address the various issues captured by the research, make
up the core of the report. These sections are as follows:
Understanding
of 'Transitional Justice' and related aspects
The first section
covers questions on people's knowledge and understanding of
the term 'transitional justice'. Responses to questions
about these issues are summarized, and from the analysis it is clear
that, while many Zimbabweans do not have a technical appreciation
of the concept of 'transitional justice', they are aware
of the core issues that speak to the term.
The
Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration and its
work
This section
speaks to the knowledge and perceptions of Zimbabweans about the
Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration. In this
context, 74 per cent of the respondents stated that they had never
heard of it, which indicates that the Organ's visibility and/or
effectiveness up to this point has been fairly limited.
Effect
of human rights violations
This section
captures responses to questions about how individuals have been
affected by politically motivated violence, either as a victim,
perpetrator or witness. It is noteworthy that only seven individuals
of the population sampled identified themselves as perpetrators
of political violence.
Responsibility
for human rights abuses
Responsibility
for human rights abuses is one of the key aspects that this research
project considered, and this is covered in the fourth section of
the report. Of those respondents who had experienced human right
abuses, 60 per cent blamed political activists for the violence,
while 12 per cent blamed militant groups.
What
the victims feel
This section
deals with the victims' needs as part of the transitional
justice process in the country. The statistics here indicate an
urgent need for healing and justice, as a combined total of 76 per
cent of respondents said they were still struggling to deal with
past violations.
Healing
and repentance
The views of
Zimbabweans on healing and reconciliation are summarized under this
heading. The questions capture respondents' views on the possibility
of repentance by perpetrators of political violence and of the healing
of the victims. Forty-one per cent of the respondents did not believe
that perpetrators of political violence would ever repent; 41 per
cent also believed that the victims of political violence cannot
be healed.
Recommendations
on the way forward
This section
outlines the respondents' recommendations for a transitional
justice process in Zimbabwe. The issues covered by the questions
include the rehabilitation of the victims, truth recovery, reparations,
accountability, administration of the transitional justice programme
in Zimbabwe and the time frame it should cover. A summary of the
key expectations of Zimbabwean communities in each key area follows.
How
far should we go back?
This section
considers the respondents' views on the period that should
be covered by a transitional justice process in Zimbabwe. There
were differences with respect to the responses from the ten provinces
to this question, which were especially notable between the Matabeleland
and Mashonaland regions: respondents in the former favoured looking
back to the period just after independence, whereas those in the
latter regions predominantly believed that the period of time from
2008 to the present should be covered. The responses given by the
different regions were in accordance with the periods during which
violence was at its peak in those areas.
Security
This section
records the personal security concerns of individuals about possible
future human rights violations, and who they thought might be responsible
for any threat to their security. The respondents were also asked
about the measures they would take if they were attacked. Fifty-three
per cent of the respondents stated that they lived in fear of violence;
52 per cent stated that political activists were the reason that
they were afraid.
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