Peace is not the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice
Martin Luther King

This report is not just a history. It tells the story of continued suffering for thousands of people. It may appear on the surface that there is peace in Zimbabwe, and that people have forgotten and forgiven the past. However, talking to over a thousand Zimbabweans in Matabeleland has shown that this is not the case. People still feel deep rooted fear, anger, and distrust. Their wounds have not healed: indeed they are festering and need to be acknowledged and cured if peace is to be guaranteed in the future.

In order to facilitate this, the report makes the following recommendations:

1.  National acknowledgement: we need the truth of what happened to be revealed, so that reconciliation can begin. There are large parts of Zimbabwe which have no idea of what happened in the western part of the country, while they were enjoying the early fruits of Independence. We therefore recommend:

• that this report be published and be made available to the public;
• that the Chihambakwe Commission report be made available to the public;
• that the Government appoints a fact-finding committee if they dispute the truth of this report;
• that nation-wide discussion across all ethnic groups be encouraged to promote reconciliation.

2.  Human Rights Violators: all those who committed human rights violations, whether security forces or dissidents, are immune from prosecution because of the amnesty of 1988. However, we recommend that:

• known human rights violators should be removed from positions of authority which may enable them to violate human rights again in the future.

3.  Legal Amendments: there are currently no legal mechanisms through which those who suffered from damage in the 1980s can claim compensation. The victims of the 1980s are therefore in a different position to those of the 1970s, who can claim through the War Victims Compensation Act. There are also problems surrounding birth and death certificates which arise directly from these years. At the same time, the Government undertook in its report to the United Nations in 1996 that it would pay compensation to families of persons who disappeared during the 1980s, but has yet to do so. We therefore recommend the following:

• that the Government publicise its undertaking to pay victims, as stated to the UN in 1996;
• that the Government should devise mechanisms to process claims by victims;
• that the War Victims Compensation Act should be amended to include those who suffered during the 1980s;
• that there should be an inquiry into the Births and Deaths Act to find a policy making it easier to register births and deaths for those families affected by the disturbances;
• that the Government should amend the Agricultural Finance Corporation Act to cancel debts incurred by farmers during the years of disturbance, where it can be shown that such debts were the result of human rights violations which occurred before 22 December 1987.

4.  Human remains: it has been noted that there are many unmarked graves and graves of missing persons in regions affected by the disturbances. Communities need to be consulted to find out what their wishes are in respect to this issue. We therefore recommend that:

• a neutral team of anthropologists and psychologists conduct research to determine the desires of communities affected by such graves and human remains.
• Government undertake to protect such grave sites pending the outcome of this research
• Government should not hinder or prevent qualified teams from helping the process of identifying human remains and reburying them, if this is the wish of communities.

5.  Health: it is clear that entire communities have suffered and are still suffering severe psychological trauma. Those who perpetrated crimes may also be suffering psychological pain as a result. Psychological healing is an essential component of reconciliation. We therefore recommend that:

• Government and donors provide the necessary financial and logistic support to enable professional teams of counsellors/psychologists/health practitioners to work in affected areas
• those non-governmental organisations already doing work in the field of psychological rehabilitation, send teams to work in affected communities forthwith

6. Communal Reparation: Reconciliation/Uxolelwano Trust: individual compensation for everyone is now an impossible task, although some could be eligible if certain laws were altered as recommended above. Government cannot afford to compensate all individually. In any case, entire communities were targeted and entire communities could begin healing if Government acknowledged their role in the suffering. Reparation to whole communities could take the form of development in strategic areas. There would need to be a body that was accountable for identifying what communities wanted and overseeing development projects, to prevent abuse of funds. We therefore recommend that:

• a trust be formed called the "Reconciliation/Uxolelwano Trust" to facilitate the process of communal reparation

7. Constitutional safe-guards: Zimbabweans need guarantees that human rights violations on such a massive scale can never take place again. We therefore recommend that:

• citizens of Zimbabwe and the Government begin a debate to consider what safeguards we need to add to the constitution to prevent human rights violations ever occurring again.

8. The Future: this report is a starting point in what should become a serious debate surrounding what happened in Zimbabwe in the 1980s and why. This will require sensitivity and restraint from all parties concerned. We therefore recommend: