Transitional justice without transition in Zimbabwe?
cc The July 2008 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Zimbabwe African Nationalist Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) offered the first glimmer of hope in resolving the longstanding crisis in Zimbabwe. With the signing of the MoU, the parties began to negotiate a settlement to the crisis under the mediation of Thabo Mbeki, the then South African president. However, it is still unlikely that the current negotiations will lead to a political transition in Zimbabwe. The current regime will remain in power and block meaningful efforts at accountability for past violations. Though a political transition remains highly unlikely any time soon, it is important to consider the form that transitional justice could take in Zimbabwe if ZANU-PF were to lose political power. This essay discusses what shape transitional justice could take if some form of transition were to occur, while recognising the immense challenges to this becoming a reality.
LIMITATIONS OF NEGOTIATED TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE
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[1] See, for example, Enough Project, ‘Seeking justice for Zimbabwe: a case for accountability against Robert Mugabe and others 1981-2008’, July 2008, http://www.enoughproject.org/node/986
[2] See for example Du Plessis M. & Ford J., ‘Justice and Peace in a new Zimbabwe: Transitional justice options’, ISS paper 16, 4 June 2008 http://www.iss.co.za/dynamic/administration/file_manager/file_links/PAPER164.PDF?link_id=3&slink_id =6195&link_type=12&slink_type=13&tmpl_id=3
[3] See UN report of the fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe to assess the scope and impact of Operation Murambatsvina by Anna Tibaijuka http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/zimbabwe/zimbabwe_rpt.pdf 4 The late Joshua Nkomo was the ZAPU leader who negotiated the Unity Accord in 1987 to end the Matabeleland atrocities; an era that saw the murder, torture and violations of a large majority of the Ndebele ethnic group in Zimbabwe. Nkomo became one of the two Vice Presidents and Zimbabwe has had two Vice Presidents since.
[5] See ‘The agreement between the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Formations on resolving the challenges facing Zimbabwe’, signed on 15 September 2008.
[6] See, Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, ‘An analysis of Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Legal Cases 1998-2006’, June 2006.