PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says it is "unacceptable" that perpetrators of the 1980’s Gukurahundi atrocities and subsequent human rights violations continue to walk free while their victims cry out for justice.
The MDC-T leader was speaking at an event to mark the United Nations Human Rights Day in Harare on Monday.
Tsvangirai said the Human Rights Commission established last year as part of a raft GPA reforms could not act against those responsible for alleged mass killings in the Matebeleland and Midlands regions in the 80’s.
Rights groups say over 20,000 civilians, mainly supporters of President Robert Mugabe’s then chief rival Dr Joshua Nkomo, were killed and thousands more driven away from their homes after the Zanu PF leader deployed a crack army unit to deal with what was described as a dissident menace in the two regions.
Tsvangirai said a clause inserted in the Human Rights Bill, preventing the Commission from dealing with abuses committed prior to 2009, was “absurd and unacceptable”.
“This means that as a country, we are taking an ill-informed decision to ignore heinous crimes against the people of this country, starting with the crimes committed by the colonial regime,” the MDC-T leader said.
“This means we are saying the perpetrators of the State-sanctioned violence known as Gukurahundi in the Midlands and Matabeleland provinces in the early 1980s must go scot free.
“(It) means we must pretend that Operation Murambatsvina never happened and that all those who killed, maimed and raped innocent citizens in acts of political violence must escape justice.”
Tsvangirai said the Commission a partisan and compromised body.
“Being a politically negotiated creature whose commissioners were appointed in a partisan manner even though Parliament was involved, the Commission remains largely compromised and it must earn the people’s confidence by serving the people in an impartial and honest manner,” he said.
However, the MDC-T leader and his party endorsed the Commission despite the inherent weaknesses he now highlights.
Tsvangirai has increasingly brought up the explosive Gukurahundi issue as parties step-up campaigns for key elections expected early next year.
His MDC-T party has traditionally done well in the Matebeleland regions, riding on popular anger against Mugabe and Zanu PF over the issue.
Tsvangirai told a recent rally in Plumtree that efforts to promote so-called national healing would come to naught unless the Gukurahundi issue was resolved.
“Silence is not a solution. We have to confront this,” he said.
“If we don’t confront it, it will continue to be a burden to this nation. Any idea of national healing would be fruitless.”