The MDC-T claims it lost around 200 of its supporters due to political violence during the 2008 polls.
“The issue of the election date has become topical to the extent that it has become an outstanding issue to the Inclusive Government which is nearing its extinction in 47 days to come. For HZT, the political leaders should first make efforts towards guaranteeing peaceful elections before any call for elections,” read the statement.
HZT said that as Zimbabwe heads for elections, there is no guarantee among the electorate that the 2008 election violence will repeat itself.
“To HZT, the call for elections by political parties without destabilising the machinery of political violence is like putting the cart before the horse.
“The political leaders should be reminded that it was the outbreak of incidents of political violence in 2008 that caused a stir at national, regional and international levels forcing the African Union to intervene through SADC ultimately leading to the formation of the GNU,” read the statement.
The organisation said that the need to create a peaceful environment ahead of elections is more urgent than the election date itself, adding that failure to deal with perpetrators of past human rights violations was creating anxiety among voters.
“Cases of past human rights violations have not been dealt with, perpetrators of political violence are still roaming free yet political leaders are preparing for another round of elections without addressing past violations.
“To date, less than 8 percent of the recorded cases of the 2008 political violence have been dealt with by the courts of law,” read the statement.
HZT said that security sector re-alignment was critical in instilling confidence of a peaceful election among the electorate.
Zanu (PF) is on record saying that the security sector must not be subjected to reform. “In line with the resolutions made by victims of political violence at the National Survivors Summit held in Harare in 2010, there is need for security sector re-alignment in order to give confidence to the electorate that the violence of yesteryear especially the 2008 violence will not recur,” said the HZT.
HZT said that government’s efforts towards creating a peaceful election environment “should be clearly guided by the seven pillars of transitional justice namely, prosecution, truth telling, vetting, institutional reform, rehabilitation, compensation and restoration”.
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