“We want Compensation”, survivors speak out during NPRC hearings

The residents of Bindura and Plumtree on 15 April 2016 at the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) Bill public hearing demanded that the bill must clarify the compensation of victims of violence.

This was revealed by the Heal Zimbabwe Trust. Parliament of Zimbabwe is conducting the public hearings in order to solicit public views on the NPRC Bill gazetted on December 18, 2015.

The hearings ending on the 20th of April were rushed and the Bill's consultative process falls short of thorough public scrutiny as many citizens did not have an opportunity to read the draft legislation.

"Central issues that dominated both meetings were revolving around the sweeping powers conferred to the Minister, distrust among citizens about the potential effectiveness of the NPRC, need for compensation and standard remedies," said Heal Zimbabwe.

The public hearing held in Bindura was led by Honourable Senator Mumvuri while in Plumtree, Hon Jessie Majome led the process. Both meetings had fair attendance of approximately 180 and 120 people in Bindura and Plumtree, respectively.

"However, participants complained about the non-availability of the draft legislation copies. In Bindura the horrors of the 2008 elections emotionally affected participants who narrated torture experiences from Tendai Hall where the hearing was being conducted. Participants clamoured for restorative justice mechanisms to be clear in the Bill," said Heal Zimbabwe.

 Participants reportedly demanded that the Bill must clearly stipulate compensation as part of restorative justice remedies, with specific standards, the government was also considered a chief perpetrator of human rights violations who should provide compensation to victims, Minister has sweeping powers that takes away the independence of the Commission, NPRC investigations should have investigations time frame beginning from 1980, that the government should consider consulting the grassroots when rolling out the NPRC programmes, the NPRC should be decentralized from the national to the ward levels and  reports of the Commission should be submitted directly to Parliament without having the Minister getting involved.

The participants also stated that church leaders, survivors and victims of violence are part of the NPRC programme processes, that advertisements should be avoided in the Bill and the Minister should not have powers to issue a certificate of non-disclosure, that police officers who corroborated with perpetrators by abusing their offices should be prosecuted, the media should play a critical role in publishing the work of the Commission and investigations conducted, the NPRC should have additional functions such as providing counseling and education among other demands.

In Plumtree the hearing started off well but the only challenge being the shortage of copies of the bill. The Parliamentary team highlighted the role the NPRC in healing, reconciliation and gave a brief summary of the bill. Well-wishers in Plumtree provided copies of the Bill to the participants. In addition, Gukurahundi reminiscences engulfed the Plumtree meeting atmosphere.

"Participants also blasted the Parliamentary team which had failed to provide copies of the bill before the hearing. The Parliamentary team however urged participants that they could write to Parliament and request for a repeat of the hearing in case they were not satisfied with the process. Below are some of the contributions from the Plumtree hearing: Parliament failed to raise awareness on the bill and this will compromise views on bill," said Heal Zimbabwe.