Political Violence in Mberengwa
November 17, 2000
Contents « Nature of human right violations Conclusions »Amnesty for human rights violations
The declaration by the President on 6 October 2000 of a formal amnesty for the gross human rights violations clearly has profound implications for these victims. Although the general amnesty will require prosecutions for murder, rape, statutory rape, indecent assault, robbery, and theft, it will excuse torture (assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and common assault), psychological torture (intimidation, threats, forced attendance at meetings), kidnapping, arson, and property destruction.
The declaration of a general pardon for these very serious human rights violations has rightly been condemned by all responsible organisations and a number of international bodies, including Amnesty International. The declaration of such an amnesty is clearly contrary to the intent behind all international human rights conventions, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Zimbabwe is a signatory. Furthermore, torture is proscribed under our own Constitution.
As can be seen from the table above, 31% of the sample knew their perpetrators, whilst nearly 90% had witnesses to their ordeals. This means that criminal prosecutions could have been pursued in a significant number of cases, and this was clearly the wish of the people in the sample, where over 70% wished to take legal action against their perpetrators. The general amnesty will be a devastating blow for these victims.
It is even more shocking to observe the practical effect of the amnesty. In Mberengwa East a total of 617 allegations of crimes was made by people in the sample group. The amnesty would render 570 cases (92%) ineligible for investigation and prosecution. In addition, it should be borne in mind that, prior to the declaration more than 200 arrests had been made by the Zimbabwe Republic Police. These arrests had considerably restored the increasingly poor reputation of the ZRP amongst the general public. The release of these arrested people will lead to a complete lack of faith y the victims in the criminal justice system.
Clearly, the effect of the amnesty, in Mberengwa East, completely subverts all justice,
leaving all these victims with only the option of civil suits for damages. This will be an
extremely lengthy, and expensive way for very poor people to obtain justice. In many cases
the perpetrators will not have the financial capacity to pay appropriate compensation to
the victims. TOP