Rights NGOs Caution Gvt Against Pardoning Political Killers And Political Rapists’

RIGHTS NGOs have cautioned the State against pardoning those who have killed and raped in the name of politics.

The NGOs said this in recommendations drawn under their umbrella National Transitional Justice Working Group (NTJWG), a convergence of 48 NGOs selected to play watchdog to government efforts to restore peace.

The NTJWG insists murder and rape ranked among international offences which warrant full trial and the punishment of perpetrators.

“While acknowledging the role of amnesties in persuading perpetrators to cooperate, these must not apply to perpetrators of international crimes, crimes against humanity, murders and sexually related crimes,” said the NTJWG.

“The process should not end up benefitting the perpetrators while urging a revisit to past amnesties granted to perpetrators.”

The said Guiding Principles for Transitional Justice Policy and Practice in Zimbabwe, published in a booklet, follows a meeting of the groups convened earlier this year to draw a template for transitional justice in Zimbabwe.

In its guidelines, the NTJWG further called for the exclusion of known rights violators from any current and future initiatives to restore peace in the strife-weary country, coupled with the demilitarisation of public institutions.

“Public employees who are personally responsible for gross human rights violations or serious crimes under international law must be excluded from public service to re-establish public trust and re-legitimise public institutions,” said the NGOs.

“A comprehensive process must be undertaken to demilitarise civilian institutions like the Ministry of justice, the judiciary, and parastatals.”

Zimbabwe has a dark history of state sponsored killings and forced disappearances mostly on President Mugabe’s opponents, their followers as rights activists.

The mass killings of an estimated 20,000 civilians in the country’s western provinces by a North Korea trained army unit in the 1980s has stood out as the darkest epoch of the country’s post-independence history.

The opposition MDC also claims over 300 of its followers were killed 2008 by the military assisted by President Mugabe’s militant supporters, during a widely condemned two month operation designed to punish villagers who had voted the opposition.

Meanwhile, speaking at last Thursday’s launch of the transitional justice guidelines, NTJWG chair Aleck Muchadehama said he was optimistic the government would welcome group’s recommendations.

“We are not imposing our views on anyone, we are simply providing a platform for engagement,” Muchadehama said.

“We want to believe that government has an open door policy by which we can approach them by way of our principles.

“We remain positive that because these are objective principles that have been drafted by various stakeholders, there is going to be a buy in by the government.”

President Mugabe’s regime has been reluctant to embrace any local peace building initiatives.

The country has a human rights commission which has largely been a ceremonial entity while national healing minister and Vice President Phekelezela Mphoko has largely been ineffective.

The current government has also failed to domesticate international statutes aimed at promoting peace in the globe.

President Mugabe has resolutely led a push among African countries to pull out of the International Criminal Court arguing the Netherlands based tribunal was targeting Africans at the expense of westerners. source-newzimbabwe

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