|
Back to Index
Calls
grow for Gukurahundi justice
Alex Bell, SW Radio Africa
November 15, 2011
http://www.swradioafrica.com/2011/11/14/calls-grow-for-gukurahundi-justice/
Hundreds of
Zimbabweans over the weekend added their voices to calls for justice
for the Gukurahundi genocide, during the launch of a new lobby group
in South Africa.
The group, the
Gukurahundi Genocide Victims for Justice (GGV4J), was launched on
Saturday at the Hillbrow Recreation Centre in Johannesburg. Hundreds
of Zimbabwean exiles gathered to support the group, which aims to
lobby for the trial of perpetrators of the Gukurahundi massacres,
and the exhumation and reburial of the victims' remains.
Speaking at
the GGV4J launch the organisation's chairperson, Magugu Khumalo,
said the group would campaign for delivery of justice for the estimated
20,000 victims in the 1980s, which was only last year officially
classified as "genocide".
"How can
Gukurahundi be a closed chapter when the blood of our dead relatives
is still boiling, when the bones of our relatives are lying everywhere
without proper burial?" Khumalo said.
Khumalo continued
by saying that the GGV4J would campaign for the reburial of the
victims and pursue litigation against the perpetrators of the genocide.
"We need
to have those who died reburied; we need to bury our dear departed
according to our own customs. We need to identify and engage with
the survivors of Gukurahundi. There are a lot among us even here
now. We are going to set up a platform where these survivors will
come up-front and tell their stories to the whole world,"
she said.
The calls for
justice come as civil society is being urged to push the debate
for Transitional Justice in Zimbabwe, which analysts say is not
being prioritised by the government. A recent report on Transitional
Justice by the Zim
Human Rights NGO forum found that a significant portion of society
has experience violence, with almost complete impunity on the side
of the aggressor.
Independent
political analyst Leon Hartwell told SW Radio Africa that "the
biggest mistake that Zimbabweans can make is to assume that an election,
even if it is free and fair, will solve all your problems."
He said at this juncture, it was important to prioritise the transitional
justice debate and work on how to move that process forward, calling
it vital for the country's future.
"If you
don't link these processes of election and justice, it will
be difficult to imagine that Zimbabwe will experience long-term
stability," Hartwell said.
He added: "It
is important for civil society to push the transitional debate.
You can anticipate resistance and don't expect to please everyone
on what the final product will look like."
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
