"When considering the question should we remember? it is very important to firstly ask, has any victim forgotten? Could they ever forget? Secondly we should ask, who wants to forget? Who benefits when the atrocities stay silent in the past?"
(Roberto Cabrera - Guatemalan human rights activist)
Mthwakazi Action Group on Genocide in Matabeleland and Midlands (MAGGEMM) welcomes the attention currently being given to the Gukurahundi genocide by political parties and politicians in Zimbabwe. We agree with any action which enhances MAGGEMM's stated aim to promote open dialogue on Gukurahundi and also seeks to create an enabling environment in Zimbabwe for the truth about the massacres to be known.
AMNESTIES:
2008 is election year in Zimbabwe and while on the campaign trail, some political parties and their representatives have been making policy pronouncements on the question of amnesties for perpetrators of Gukurahundi and indeed other human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.MAGGEMM's view is that any policy regarding amnesties for perpetrators must first and foremost be about healing the wounds that were left by Gukurahundi and not for reasons of political expediency. We are therefore concerned about public pronouncements by some politicians at campaign rallies, where promises of an amnesty for perpetrators of Gukurahundi are being made. These public policy announcements, we feel, are being made without prior consultation of the victims of Gukurahundi and therefore smack of political gimmickry. In their quest for power, some politicians are making promises of amnesties without due attention and sensitivity to victims' feelings and trauma.Our position therefore focuses on whether political party policies on Gukurahundi are developed with the full input of victims and their families.
MAGGEMM POSITION:
The first thing to be said is that any process to decide whether or not to amnesty perpetrators of Gukurahundi must be driven by the victims rather than being imposed by politicians.MAGGEMM is of the view that the starting point of any such process should be an independent Truth Commission (TC), where victims will say what was done to them and also what they want done to perpetrators. Without an independent Truth Commission as a first step, any promises of amnesties cannot be legitimate, not least in the hearts and minds of the victims.We therefore urge politicians in Zimbabwe to desist from making such promises and treat the victims with the sensitivity and respect they deserve.
