And criminalizing the land reform is just plain stupid. I wonder what it takes for a black Zimbabwean to support this idiot.
The opposition says there are five key priority areas which an MDC government will target to bring back normalcy to the country, namely economic stabilisation, reconstruction, national integration, restoration of law and order and a new constitution.
The MDC manifesto -- leaked to New Zimbabwe.com -- says the truth and justice commission will focus on “four main periods of gross human rights violations” between 1980 and 2008.
Top on the agenda of the commission will be investigating crimes against humanity committed during the Gukurahundi genocide, a military incursion into the western parts of the country which human rights groups say left 20 000 people dead between 1982 and 1987.
The commission will also bring to book perpetrators of human rights violations during the fast-track land reform programme which led to the killing of white land owners and several farm workers as well as the unlawful occupation and destruction of properties on more than 10 000 commercial farms since 2000.
An MDC government will also investigate crimes committed during Operation Murambatsvina in 2005 – a government blitz on unplanned urban structures which left close to a million people homeless, and thousands others without their livelihoods.
The MDC faction says it will also investigate and bring to book culprits behind the violence and destruction of property during “the struggle to restore democracy in Zimbabwe between 1998 and 2008, particularly around the periods when elections were held.”
The MDC claims that during the period in question, several opposition activists were murdered in politically motivated violence while others were maimed, brutally assaulted or tortured by state agents and Zanu PF militias who have never been prosecuted.
The 175-page MDC manifesto refers to these past events as eras of gross human rights abuses and promises to grant them justice as soon as possible.
The manifesto reads: “The MDC is committed to dealing with the needs of the victims of these four instances in a holistic and comprehensive way. By this means, it is hoped to give those affected by the abuse of their rights the satisfaction of knowing that the truth about what happened has been revealed and that the culprits have been brought to justice.”
The opposition party says it is necessary to address these matters to avoid a repeat of such crimes. The Commission, which will be open to the public, will identify culprits to the criminal incidents being investigated and recommend further investigations by the police before the matters are brought to the courts.
It will publish detailed records of these incidences to ensure “that the memory is retained and that this sort of abusive activity by the state is not repeated in the future.”
The MDC says in the event of people who committed atrocities not volunteering to come to offer their side of the story to the commission, the commission will direct investigation by an impartial police force that will proceed with criminal prosecution were there is evidence that an atrocity was committed.
The document also says an MDC government will set up compensation courts around the country to deal with financial prejudices that may have occurred in each and every case brought before the commission.
Where personal prejudice has been incurred -- such as physical disability or the death of bread winner -- the commission will be empowered to direct the courts to compensate the victim or victims, says the MDC.
The MDC, which accuses President Robert Mugabe’s government of sanctioning gross human rights violations and politically motivated killings of opponents since Independence, says the 84-year-old leader should face trial for crimes against humanity.
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