News / National
Abammeli argues the exhumation case, Judgement reserved
07 Apr 2011 at 07:48hrs | Views
A Bulawayo judge on Wednesday reserved judgement in the application by the Zimbabwe People's Liberation Army Veterans Trust which says the exhumations must follow a "legal process".
The Fallen Heroes' Trust, an organisation aligned with independence war veterans from the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), began exhuming skeletons from a disused mine in Mt Darwin last month.
But the exhumations have sparked controversy, with pathologists suggesting visual evidence may point to more recent killings in a nation plagued by election violence and politically motivated murders.
The opposition ZAPU and the Welshman Ncube-led MDC have demanded that the exhumations be done by pathologists, with a view to determining the identities of the dead.
The ZIPRA Veterans Trust, through its legal team Abammeli Human Rights Lawyers, filed a court application last week saying it had concerns that some of the skeletons may belong to its members.
Ncube said his organisation has a direct interest and right to take part in or be consulted regarding any programme of exhumation of the remains of persons who died during the war of liberation or during the post-independence military or political hostilities in Zimbabwe.
Justice Nicholas Mathonsi said he would rule on the matter on Thursday after determining the ZIPRA veterans' "locus standi" on events happening in Mashonaland.
The Fallen Heroes' Trust, an organisation aligned with independence war veterans from the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), began exhuming skeletons from a disused mine in Mt Darwin last month.
But the exhumations have sparked controversy, with pathologists suggesting visual evidence may point to more recent killings in a nation plagued by election violence and politically motivated murders.
The opposition ZAPU and the Welshman Ncube-led MDC have demanded that the exhumations be done by pathologists, with a view to determining the identities of the dead.
The ZIPRA Veterans Trust, through its legal team Abammeli Human Rights Lawyers, filed a court application last week saying it had concerns that some of the skeletons may belong to its members.
Ncube said his organisation has a direct interest and right to take part in or be consulted regarding any programme of exhumation of the remains of persons who died during the war of liberation or during the post-independence military or political hostilities in Zimbabwe.
Justice Nicholas Mathonsi said he would rule on the matter on Thursday after determining the ZIPRA veterans' "locus standi" on events happening in Mashonaland.
Source - Byo24News
