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The Legal Monitor - Issue 14
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
September 29, 2009

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Mass trial for victims of looting

Eighty-eight villagers in Nyanga will stand trial today at the local Magistrates Court for demanding the return of their property stolen by ZANU PF supporters during the run-up to the sham June 2008 presidential election.

The villagers, who are out of custody on bail, were arrested early this year after they allegedly approached some ZANU PF supporters in Chifambe Village under Chief Katerere, Nyanga North, demanding back their property.

The villagers claimed that their goats, chickens and grain were looted from them to feed political activists and militia camped at various campaign bases set up by ZANU PF around Nyanga.

At one such base, called "Chamagonahapana" in Ward 2 of Katerere and surrounding areas the villagers were beaten and ordered to give up their goats, chicken and maize crop to feed the very same people that unleashed violence against them.

Police simply ignored reports made by the victims at the time.

Since the signing of the Inter Party Agreement (IPA) last September, and the formation of the transitional government in February, attempts to reconcile perpetrators and victims of political violence have been undermined by the arrest and malicious prosecution of the same victims whom the law failed to protect after the electoral violence.

In several of these criminal cases, villagers who lost their property now face charges that include armed robbery and extortion while Magistrates have refused to preside over the villagers' matters, citing undue external interference.

Prosecutors have acknowledged orders from "above" to deny bail at all costs.

Meanwhile, the Magistrates' Court in Nyanga is also expected to preside over a pre-trial conference in which 16 Nyanga villagers filed civil claims against named ZANU PF supporters seeking compensation for property forcibly taken as 'fines' for supporting the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

The villagers are seeking US$853 as damages for sunflower seeds, goats, maize, sorghum, guinea fowls, chicken, groundnuts, beasts and sheep.

The villagers named Tichaona Kadyamusana, Gibson Nyakuba, Loveness Nyakabobo, Martin Njanji, Chenjerai Mukoko, Peter Masenza, Fungai Nyakurega, Mike Kadyamusuma, Obert Kadyamusuma, Courage Kadyamusuma, Rhodah Biasi, Paul Teta, Samuel Sanyamwera and Richard Bulawayo as the alleged culprits.

If the civil claims are successful, they will set a precedent for other people who faced similar violations during the politically charged period last year. Although Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe have since formed a coalition government, issues of transitional justice and national healing remain emotive and unresolved. The establishment of a Ministry of National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration to address the tensions has not assisted in resolving such issues as victims have largely been ignored.

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