Towards transitional justice in Zimbabwe: the role of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission and Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission

Abstract

Transitional justice (TJ) in Zimbabwe can be gleaned as a maze of detached filaments mainly championed by civil society organisations. Though the origins of TJ as a discipline are polemic and debatable, going as far back as Athenian times, TJ was visibilised in the 1990s during the third wave of democratisation, when it developed globally as a self-consolidating field and transdisciplinary concept which focused on outcomes such as prosecution, truth-telling, guarantees for non-recurrence, vetting, and the payment of reparations for victims of conflicts. The traditional focus of TJ was largely template-based or some kind of one-size-fits-all concept which focused on truths and reconciliation concepts. Significantly for victims of violent conflicts, repressive rule and serious human rights abuses, the emerging approach to TJ at the United Nations (UN) and regional institutions such as the African Union (AU) and institutions such as African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) has been to focus on country-specific, localised, and holistic approaches that enhance transformative transitional justice in countries striving to find lasting solutions to deep problems caused by armed conflicts or serious human rights violations. While there is a robust nexus between human rights, democracy, and TJ, the link is weaker for TJ as it remains an elusive concept in Zimbabwe. Besides, TJ efforts yield different considerations and impacts on racialised, ethnicised, politicised, and institutionalised challenges in Zimbabwe. In most cases, the elusive nature of TJ is felt by victims, their family members, community dwellers, community-based organisations, and faith-based organisations than alleged perpetrators. TJ is perceived in this thesis to be a critical concept that should be properly aligned with internationalised and localised responses. This thesis shows that international agencies now recognise and essentialise the important roles that national institutions (formal or informal), can play in preventing the occurrence and/or recurrence of conflicts and can also play in fostering sustainable cultures of human rights. Specifically, the thesis covers examination of how institutional complementarity between two independent institutions supporting democracy in Zimbabwe; the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) can be innovatively used to enable the Zimbabwean society to formalise transitional or post-conflict justice using the Constitution and international normative frameworks. The overarching research question in this thesis is: what are the main challenges/limitations and opportunities/openings for the ZHRC and the NPRC to advance TJ in Zimbabwe? The specific research questions are 1. What does the international and national TJ normative framework entail and what is its theoretical force? 2. What constitutes a genuinely contextualised and holistic transitional justice in Zimbabwe? 3. How innovative have the NPRC and ZHRC been in making TJ a reality in Zimbabwe? 4. How can the Zimbabwean TJ framework be improved constitutionally, statutorily, and in practice? In this milieu, adherence to the normative principles of domestic constitutionalism, rule of law and human rights is essential to advance TJ and in identifying victims and most affected groups. The NPRC and ZHRC should thus be innovative in utilising international normative frameworks and aligning them with their constitutional mandates that speak to TJ. Sadly though, the NPRC and ZHRC are yet to align their mandates or work to international frameworks. The thesis concludes with an emphasis on the need for a coherent and transformative TJ policy that is informed by the root causes of societal problems in Zimbabwe: racial, ethnic, economic, political, doctrinal, pandemic-induced and so forth. Through constitutionally-established institutional independence, the NPRC, ZHRC and other Chapter 12 institutions supporting democracy in Zimbabwe must thrive on public legitimacy, confidence, and trust to promote dialogic democratisation and democratic consolidation which also recognise that the victim’s voice in TJ initiatives must be prioritised. Lethargic governance, toxic politics and confidence deficits should be addressed from a human rights as well as transformative TJ perspective. Ultimately, the TJ outcomes expected in this thesis should help Zimbabweans fully reconcile, achieve total peace, and move towards permanent healing. A context-sensitive and coherent TJ should be seen as a precious fruit of the normative frameworks espoused by the Constitution and regionalised or globalised TJ frameworks. Keywords Independent institutions, reconciliation, healing, peace, human rights institutions, holistic approaches, context-sensitive transitional justice, transformative justice.