07 june p 17 strap: International Torture Day

dignity and security of all individuals around the world, guaranteed within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Caption: Cleopas Shiri, MDC chairman of Gweru Urban, who was abducted by CIO agents Shepard, Tendai and two others. He was battered and dumped in Shangani two weeks ago.
In her introduction to the book Gukurahundi in Zimbabwe, my colleague Elinor Sisulu notes: “The Gukurahundi operations came to an end with the 1987 Unity Accord between ZAPU and ZANU. As at the end of the Liberation War, in 1981, all those guilty of violations were covered by a general amnesty. The report notes the important fact that once more in Zimbabwe’s history, those responsible for the most heinous acts against unarmed civilians were not held accountable for their actions, thus strengthening the culture of impunity that prevails in Zimbabwe. The human rights violations since 2000 are a product of this culture of impunity. The same tools of intimidation, physical and psychological torture and murder have been used, albeit on a lesser scale, in the recent violations. The difference is that they are targeted not at a particular ethnic group but at opposition leaders throughout the country.”
It is therefore important to state that torture has been practised in Zimbabwe at different periods of time both before and after independence in 1980 and that it remains a reality today; it has become a culture of dealing with those who are different and those who express a different opinion from those in control of state machinery. The reality is that in addition to a culture of torture, Zimbabwe has a culture of impunity for perpetrators.
At independence it seems as if we inherited from the Smith regime and from both PF ZAPU and Zanu (PF) a culture of bashing to death, raping and name calling those who differ with us. It is not amazing to see that in today’s Zimbabwe, even among pro-democracy activists, name-calling and violence is at times accepted in progressing each one’s agenda.
As we approach June 26, we must set forth an agenda for a tolerant, justice-filled Zimbabwe and keep the flame of hope alive for a process of seeing this culture of impunity of perpetrators dealt with by an agreed justice process, which will lead to the punishment of the perpetrators and reparation for those who suffered.
Zimbabweans must agree that never again will we treat each other with such indignity, intolerance and indifference.
It is vital that we acknowledge the presence of torture in our culture, and admit that institutions of governance – including party political formations, security agents (army, CIO and police) and the judiciary system have played and continue to play a part in this culture of torture. Immunities, amnesties, clemencies and pardons continue to be at the heart of Zimbabwe’s failure to deal with human rights abuses, committed through state machinery. Thirdly, we must acknowledge that some of us who are today calling for the current Zimbabwean regime to be tried in the Hague for crimes against humanity were yesterday cheer leaders when this regime was bashing those who differed from us in their opinion.
We must also acknowledge that there are manifold legal and institutional obstacles towards the realisation of justice and reparations for victims. This is in light of the fact that Zimbabwe has not acceded to the UN convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatments or punishment and that Zimbabwe has since pulled out of the Commonwealth, where there were specific declarations and principles which would have applied and finally although Zimbabwe is signatory to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights she has not ratified that protocol. In addition, Zimbabwe’s constitution takes precedence over customary and international law.
What then can be done? There must be a deliberate effort to continue to record and document all instances of torture with as much accuracy as possible (names, places etc) so that when the time comes for the justice process to take place these can be used as referrals. The non-propaganda media must continue to name and shame those abusing state machinery to torture those who are different and those who differ with their opinion. There is need for faith-based organisations to take the lead in the process of acknowledgements of historical injustices (whether they be two years or 25 years old) thus pressurising for a process of justice with reconciliation to heal our nation. And finally commemoration of the United Nations Torture Day must be made a public event in the communities where we live.
Commemoration services will take place on June 26 in Bulawayo, London and Johannesburg by Zimbabweans of all walks of life who are determined to say never again shall we be silent, never again shall we allow heinous acts towards human dignity to be committed in our lifetime. – Immanuel Hlabangana is a Human Rights Consultant with the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition in South Africa and writes in his personal capacity.