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Declaration of the Civil Society and Justice in Zimbabwe Symposium
August 13, 2003

The symposium
A symposium was held from 11-13 August 2003 in Johannesburg. Its theme was Civil Society and Justice in Zimbabwe.

This symposium brought together leaders from numerous civil society organizations in Zimbabwe, colleagues from civic organizations in South Africa and a number of experts from other jurisdictions.

The main purpose of the symposium was to explore how best to achieve justice in the broadest possible sense for the many victims of past and present human rights abuse in Zimbabwe.

The symposium noted that civil society organizations are non-partisan and are independent of any particular political party. Their main functions are to bring about a culture of human rights, justice and social and economic improvement and to promote and advance the interests of marginalized and victimized people.

In this document persons affected by human rights abuses are referred to as victims/survivors.

The process
The Zimbabwean participants of this symposium compiled this document and agreed upon the recommendations contained in it.

The Zimbabwean participants recognized they had initiated a process aimed at achieving justice for victims. They undertook to engage in wider consultation within their own organizations, other civic bodies not represented at the symposium and the general public. They will then incorporate these views into a final action plan. The civic organizations which endorse this plan and agree to participate in its implementation will present the plan to the political parties and other actors and demand that that it be fully taken into account in all deliberations relating to political transition. These civic organizations will monitor the political discussions pertaining to political transition to ensure that the needs of victims are fully met in the transitional and post-transitional periods.

Preamble
1. Mindful that a political solution is urgently required in order to overcome the serious and rapidly worsening crisis in Zimbabwe that has resulted in such widespread suffering;

2. Requiring that the Zimbabwean people and civil society organizations be given a full opportunity to make an input into the process taking place to bring about transition to a new political order to influence the human rights content of any settlement that may be reached, not the political outcome of the negotiations.

3. Recalling the United Nations General Assembly resolution 53-144 of 9 December 1998 which outlines the rights and responsibilities of individuals, groups and organs of society to promote and protect universally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms.

4. Emphasizing the important role that individuals, civil society organizations and groups play in the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

5. Fully accepting that historical social and economic imbalances must be remedied in order to achieve social and economic justice in Zimbabwe;

6. Insisting that strategies must be pursued that will cater for the needs of victims of violence and that the victims will be consulted about their needs and what the victims perceived as being the most appropriate mechanisms for satisfying their needs;

7. Understanding that lasting peace can only be achieved where human rights abusers are held accountable and meaningful steps are taken to try to heal the grievous wounds the violators inflicted on their victims and the society;

8. Recognising that it is imperative to preserve and fully and accurately record the past history of human rights violations.

Based on these general considerations, the Zimbabwean participants resolved as follows:

The abuses in the past
Throughout colonial occupation, black Zimbabweans were oppressed by the regime and denied all civil and political rights. They were deprived of their land and socially and economically marginalized. From 1960 until 1980 they suffered even more widespread and systematic gross human rights violations. These violations and the subsequent impunities created the foundations for the human rights abuses experienced in subsequent decades.

In the 1980s large scale human rights violations occurred in the southern and western regions of Zimbabwe during military operations ordered by the government. These again were widespread, systematic and planned.

From 2000 onwards there have been increasing levels of violence resulting in pervasive human rights abuses. All available evidence indicates that the government has engaged in a widespread, systematic, and planned campaign of organized violence and torture to suppress normal democratic activities and to unlawfully influence electoral process. The government has also created and the law enforcement agencies have vigorously applied highly repressive legislation. These measures were directed at ensuring that the government retained power rather than overcoming resistance to achieving equitable land redistribution and correcting historical iniquities.

The human rights abuses, social and economic injustices suffered by the people are not merely the product of colonial injustices, but also the product of misgovernance, and massive corruption and asset stripping by state officials, persons within the private business sector, and others.

Accountability
The delegates noted that during the pre- and post-independence periods there have been successive amnesties and Presidential pardons for many of the persons who committed gross human rights violations. The failure to punish these violators and to hold them accountable created a culture of impunity and the potential for the re-emergence of violence and abuse of human rights. The culture of impunity can only be ended if perpetrators of human rights abuses are held accountable for their abuses.

The participants noted and acknowledged that under international law and international humanitarian law gross human rights violations should never be ignored or be the subject of an amnesty.

Mechanisms for addressing the needs of victims
Victims of all past human rights abuses have the right to redress and to be consulted about the nature of the mechanisms that will be established to address their needs.

The mechanisms that are established must be victim-centered and must be capable of addressing the needs of victims in a meaningful way.

Prior to the establishment of these mechanisms there must be an extensive process of consultation with the victims and the broader community about the mechanisms and the sort of persons who should be made responsible for operating them. Civic organizations and the churches should assist in this process.

The main mechanism for dealing with past human rights abuses will be a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. This Commission will have the following functions:

Regarding the human rights abuses prior to 1960 the Commission’s main functions will be:

• to investigate human rights abuses that occurred prior to 1960 and compile a full and accurate record of these abuses;
• to determine the social and economic effects of these abuses;
• to establish the extent to which these historical abuses continue presently to negatively impact upon the rights of Zimbabweans;
• to make appropriate recommendations about remedial steps to address the needs of victims of these abuses and present injustices emanating from past injustices;
• to refer cases involving gross human rights violations to the Attorney-General for possible criminal prosecution.

Regarding the human rights abuses subsequent to 1960 the main functions of the Commission will be:

• to take steps to ensure the protection and preservation of evidence of human rights abuses;
• to investigate human rights abuses that have occurred between 1960 and the date upon which this Commission commences its operations, including violations during a transitional period and compile a full and accurate record of these abuses using available documentation, victim statements and testimony from perpetrators;
• to require persons accused of human rights violations but who deny that they committed such violations to appear before the Commission so that these cases can be fairly investigated and findings can be made;
• to require persons who admit to having committed human rights violations over this period to appear before the Commission, make full and accurate admissions about their involvement;
• to recommend that those found to have committed gross human rights abuses should be removed from any positions of power and authority that would allow them to commit further human rights abuses in the future;
• to recommend appropriate remedial steps to provide reparations to victims, including referral of cases for prosecution, non-repetition of abuse, rehabilitation, provision of monetary compensation to individuals or communities that have been particularly badly affected by grave human rights abuses, ordering perpetrators to pay monetary compensation or make other types of reparation to victims;
• to explore the desirability of facilitating genuine community reconciliation;
• to facilitate processes of community driven exhumation, reburial and memorialisation.

To be effective this Commission must be independent, credible, efficient, adequately resourced, accessible and victim-friendly.

Civic organizations should monitor and support the operations of this Commission.

Victims appearing before this Commission must be treated with sensitivity and respect and be given protection against reprisals.

There is need for a proper gender balance on this Commission and particular attention must be paid to the special needs of women and children victims.

The government formed after the transition must commit itself to co-operate with and to support the activities of this Commission and must give an unequivocal undertaking to implement its recommendations wherever possible.

The participants called for the conducting of a comprehensive people driven constitutional reform exercise that will lay emphasis on the protection of all human rights and the establishment of a number of Commissions to protect and promote these human rights.

There should be special Commissions to deal with land, gender issues and economic crimes such as corruption, asset stripping and debts incurred by previous governments in connection with human rights abuses.

The mandate of the Commission on economic crimes should include

• referral of cases to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution;
• in conjunction with other appropriate state agencies, taking of vigorous steps to recover misappropriated state assets:
• imposition of financial penalties upon those who were financial beneficiaries of human rights abuses.

A substantial portion of the assets recovered by this process should be devoted to compensating individuals and communities harmed by past human rights abuses.

All these Commissions must be given an explicit mandate to recommend measures aimed at redressing socio-economic injustices of the colonial and post-colonial periods.

The new Government must immediately establish a reparations fund to compensate victims of human rights abuses. Concerted efforts must be made to tap all possible sources of local and international finance for this fund, including assets recovered by the Economic Crime Commission. If financially feasible, full compensation should be paid to those who suffered the greatest harm as a result of grave human rights abuses and some more limited compensation should be paid to other victims. The fund should also be used to establish local development projects in areas particular badly affected by past human rights abuses.

All victims must be provided with free and proper health care and social support to deal with the lifetime disability that can arise from violations of their human rights.

Future human rights abuses
The decades of conflict and abuses human rights abuses have badly weakened the institutions that should provide protection against human rights abuses and provide remedies for those harmed by human rights abuses.

A culture of respect for human rights will need to be re-established in Zimbabwe. Existing institutions will need to be strengthened and other institutions established to institutionalize this new culture. The justice delivery system should be re-designed in a way that will allow for accessible remedies for victims of human rights abuse.

The law enforcement agencies and prison service will need to be overhauled so that they once again become professional, politically neutral forces that respect the human rights of all Zimbabweans and enforce the law on a fair and impartial basis. Officers who planned and instigated or perpetrated particularly serious human rights abuses should be removed from law enforcement agencies and all law enforcement officers must be made to undergo thorough re-training focused on the protection of human rights.

Civic organizations should monitor law enforcement agencies to ensure that they do not commit human rights abuses and, when they do, to assist injured parties to obtain redress.

All militias and other irregular para-military forces must be immediately disbanded. There must be rehabilitation programmes to reintegrate members of these forces back into normal society.

The independence and impartiality of the judicial system and of the prosecution service has been undermined and public confidence in this system will need to be restored.

There must be effective constitutional mechanisms to ensure that judicial appointments are made on the basis of professional competence and suitability and that there is no political interference in the judicial process.

The human rights protections contained in the Constitution must be strengthened and made to conform to international standards on human rights.

A Constitutional Court should be established to ensure the enforcement of human rights and credible, politically neutral and competent judges should be appointed to this court.

A number of Commissions should be established to ensure the observance of human rights and provide accessible means of redress to those harmed by human rights abuse. These should include a Human Rights Commission, a specific Commission on Gender Rights and a Land Commission.

International remedies for victims
The new government should take steps to facilitate access by Zimbabweans for human rights abuses.

The new government should try to make effective use of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

It should enable all Zimbabweans to rights and protections of all regional and international rights instruments by becoming a State Party to such treaties as the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It should also make a declaration under Article 14 of the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The provisions of all of these treaties must be incorporated into domestic law.

Conclusions
Over many years innumerable Zimbabweans have fallen victim to human rights abuses. All Zimbabweans earnestly look forward to a new era in which there is peace and stability that will allow for equitable economic growth and development and in which the fundamental rights of all Zimbabweans are respected.

As is stated in the preamble to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Rights "Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world."

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