Taking Transitional Justice to the People: Challenges for Civil Society in Zimbabwe

The politics of knowledge in the emergence of the transitional justice industry in Zimbabwe: the case of the Taking Transitional Justice to the People Programme, 2009–10

“…These include a symposium held in Johannesburg in 2003 that was organized by civil society organizations from Zimbabwe and South Africa (Lesizwe, 2004). The symposium explored issues of redress, amnesty and impunity, and made strong recommendations for the establishment of a truth, justice and reconciliation commission (Chitsike, 2012 particularly by civil society organizations, have been directed mainly towards documenting human rights abuses, offering humanitarian and legal assistance to victims, and advocating for legal, constitutional and institutional reforms (Njeru, 2018). Discussions on transitional justice in Zimbabwe were also high on the agenda during the 2008 talks between the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations (MDC-Tsvangirayi and MDC-Ncube) that were initiated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) (Chitsike, 2012).…”

“…In 2009, the Forum secured some funding to take forward an 18-month programme on introducing transitional justice to the people. It was an exemplar in the sense that it was the only transitional justice project in Zimbabwe at the time (Njeru, 2018). The Forum had also noticed the lack of a national plan, policy or vision for transitional justice.…”