Culture of violence still rife

Three days before the world marked the United Nations International Day of Peace, commemorated each year on September 21, intra-party violence reared its ugly head at a ZANU-PF women’s conference in a stark reminder that Zimbabwe has nurtured a culture of violence that is now deeply embedded in its body politic.
Last Friday, violence, reminiscent of past hostilities witnessed during ZANU-PF’s previous internal polls, erupted when differences emerged over the choice of candidates to fill the women’s assembly executive posts ahead of the party’s congress in December.
The violence also came against the backdrop of the inclusive government’s recently constituted organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Reintegration headed by two Ministers — John Nkomo (ZANU-PF) and Sekai Holland (MDC-T) as well as Gibson Sibanda (MDC-M), a consultant in the Deputy Prime Minister’s office.
In a statement to mark the International Day of peace this week, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum said even though there is a marked decline in violence since the formation of the unity government in February this year, the culture of violence has insidiously lurked in the shadows.
“Although the number of cases of politically motivated violence being recorded by the Forum have decreased, it is worrying to note that the trend and pattern of this violence have rem-ained predominately the same,” said the Forum.
“In light of this, the Forum calls upon the parties to the GPA to take positive measures to ensure compliance with provisions of the agreement,” the Forum added.
It is the Forum’s contention that lasting peace is not just the absence of overt violence, but also the presence of justice through equal opportunity, a fair distribution of power and resources, equal protection and impartial enforcement of law.
In his message, UN secretary-general, Ban Ki Moon, said the Intern-ational day for Peace is a global call for non-violence and ceasefire.
He added that most of the victims of conflict are the powerless as well as those who work to safeguard their interest including journalists and humanitarian workers.
The UN chief said with violence there is: “Little hope of escaping poverty.”
The chairperson of the Parliamentary thematic committee on Human Rights, Misheck Marava, said the best way to achieve lasting peace as part of the country’s national healing exercise is to ensure that Zimbabwe restores the rule of law.
“In my opinion what must be done is to follow the rule of law in practice and not in theory as is currently happening in Zimbabwe. The law in Zimbabwe is blind to some and opens its eyes when it comes to others. That does not promote peace,” said Marava who is also the MDC-T senator for Zaka.
Comparing last year in the run-up to the elections, the senator said the situation had improved, but added that only time will tell if future polls would not plunge the country into violence.
In its summary report titled “Can apples be reaped from a thorn tree,” Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition noted that Zimbabwe has no effective political opposition and as such, transparency, accountability, addressing the needs of citizens, and ensuring their rights, can be overlooked by those more intent on consolidation of power.
The Coalition intends to use this report to remind the authorities of their obligations under the GPA and to ensure that they retain their legitimacy through responsible action.
One such obligation under the agreement is to bring to book individuals who were responsible for alleged human rights violations that led to the domestic, regional and international condemnation of the June 27 2008 presidential election run-off.
“The report establishes, among other things, that critical issues of transitional justice — especially the retributive aspect of it — have been conveniently ignored in the first seven months of the inclusive government, thus fuelling impunity, in the same manner that selective application of the law has continued unabated,” said the Coalition.
In another report entitled “Human Rights Violations against women and truth commissions,” Fungisai Maisva, an officer at the Research and Advocacy Unit, said she had noted that discussions taking place in the country on national healing and reconciliation appear not to be addressing the issue of violence against women, especially during election time.
“These discussions, however, appear not to explicitly address the treatment of women survivors of politically motivated violence. This is not an oversight that is peculiar to Zimbabwe, but is evident in most post conflict approaches to transitional justice.
Most transitional processes are not gender sensitive and more often than not, leave women out without awarding them redress or protective measures to avoid future recurrence of abuses,” said the Research and Advocacy Report.
“If causes of politically motivated violence are left unresolved the ramifications will be felt not only by the affected women, but by society in general. The recognition of women must be evident in at every stage of the transitional process so that women can rebuild their lives with confidence that their human rights abuses with the necessary respect.”