ZIMBABWE is in desperate need for truth and healing from the past horrors, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) has said.
In statement issued for the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations (International Day of Truth) commemorations, the human rights watchdog said Zimbabwe was bedevilled by many cases of gross human rights violations in which over 80 000 people were killed in the last half a century.
ZimRights also said past atrocities such as the Gukurahundi massacres required a credible truth recovery process to achieve nation healing.
National Peace and Reconciliation Commission recently tried to convene public hearings on Gukurahundi, but its mandate has been usurped by the government which imposed on a select group of traditional leaders to carry out that function.
“The nation is in desperate need for truth and healing from past horrors. These include the Gukurahundi atrocities, police brutality from the 1998 food riots, the political violence that has characterised our elections, Operation Murambatsvina in 2005, June 2008 electoral bloodshed, the 1 August 2018 killing of civilians by the military, the economic atrocities documented in various reports, the 2024 unlawful evictions, among many other documented and undocumented violations,” ZimRights said.
“Without a credible truth recovery process, the full extent of these atrocities and their impact on the nation may never be known.”
The human rights watchdog said if these past atrocities were not addressed, they would continue to influence the present.
“There is, as it stands, no acknowledgement and no accountability for these atrocities which will continue to haunt Zimbabwe’s elusive quest for peace, healing and national cohesion. Without a clear commitment to the truth of the past, any hope of building peace in Zimbabwe will remain an illusion.”
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ZimRights implored the government to take steps to comply with its obligations under the right to the truth about gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law.
ZimRights also urged civil society actors to remain in principled solidarity with victims and survivors of human rights violations, and resist any capture or threats that compromise the cause of truth, justice and accountability.
“That the Parliament of Zimbabwe, in establishing the Independent Complaints Commission pays close attention to the role of the security services in past human rights violations and puts in place persons of integrity who will ensure that the ICC works for truth and justice for victims and survivors of past atrocities perpetrated by the security services.”
