Justice and peace in a new Zimbabwe

The paper examines the necessity and design of a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in Zimbabwe to address decades of state-sponsored violence and impunity. It weighs the tensions between retributive and restorative justice, arguing that while political pragmatism may require conditional amnesties to secure a transition, a formal process is essential for victim redress and national healing. The authors provide a framework for a potential commission, covering its mandate, timing, and the complexities of addressing historical violence, including the 1980s gukurahundi campaign.

• The authors argue that Zimbabwe's history of human rights abuses—characterized as serious, widespread, persistent, deliberate, and systemic—necessitates a formal truth commission to arrest the pattern of impunity and provide foundations for a peaceable future.
• The document identifies three primary categories of recent violence that a commission should address: political violence and intimidation since the February 2000 constitutional referendum, state-sponsored invasions of white-owned commercial farms starting in 2000, and the 2005 Operation Murambatsvina, which displaced approximately 700,000 people.
• Addressing the gukurahundi campaign of 1983-4 in Matabeleland and the Midlands is identified as a critical but risky necessity; while it remains an 'unprocessed' source of disunity involving up to 20,000 deaths, including it in an initial mandate could reopen ethnic fault-lines in a fragile setting.
• The paper emphasizes the need to balance 'restorative justice' (focusing on victim vindication and bottom-up processes) with 'retributive justice' (criminal trials), noting that the choice depends heavily on the balance of political power during the transition.
• The authors suggest that a Zimbabwean commission should have the power to grant conditional amnesties based on fixed criteria to incentivize truth-telling, particularly for low-level perpetrators like youth militias, while avoiding blanket amnesties.
• The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) 2008 policy proposes a 'Truth and Justice Commission' based on the communal right to know and the right to reparations, though it suggests a preference for criminal trials for those who do not voluntarily cooperate.
• The document argues that international involvement, such as sponsorship by the UN or AU, would be beneficial to ensure the commission's operational independence, credibility, and funding.
• The authors caution against relying on the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a primary strategy, noting its limited jurisdiction (post-July 2002) and the risk that selective international prosecutions could undermine local peace efforts.
• Regarding reparations, the paper notes that previous public compensation schemes in Zimbabwe were subject to 'abuse and looting,' suggesting that a new commission should recommend needs-based services or communal reparations rather than just direct monetary payments.

APA

du Plessis, M., & Ford, J. (2008). Justice and peace in a new Zimbabwe. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper 164 final PDF.pdf

Chicago

du Plessis, Max, and Jolyon Ford. Justice and peace in a new Zimbabwe. Institute for Security Studies, 2008. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper 164 final PDF.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=du Plessis |first1=Max |last2=Ford |first2=Jolyon |title=Justice and peace in a new Zimbabwe |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=June 2008 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper 164 final PDF.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{duplessis2008justice, author = {du Plessis, Max and Ford, Jolyon}, title = {{Justice and peace in a new Zimbabwe}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2008}, month = jun, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper 164 final PDF.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }