'Criminalise Gukurahundi denial'

A CALL has been made for government to consider criminalising the denial of post-independence atrocities committed by the State and commonly referred to as Gukurahundi.

Pressure group Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) secretary-general Benedict Sibasa, in a statement, challenged President Robert Mugabe's government to release "all the truth relating to Gukurahundi".

"The MIHR joins the international community in commemorating the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, which falls on 24 March, 2017.

"We call on the government of Zimbabwe to speak the truth regarding the Gukurahundi genocide and allow free and uncensored space for truth telling and justice for the victims of this genocide that resulted in gross human rights violations," Sibasa said.

He said there was a need to have a free, independent and unbiased National Peace and Reconciliation Commission which should be led by a citizen of Matabeleland.

"The government should enact a Gukurahundi Truth Bill which makes it a criminal offence for any individual, group of people, organisation, publication or work of art that denies that Gukurahundi genocide happened," he said.

"We also call upon the government to immediately refrain from trying to fast-track the Gukurahundi reburials outside the involvement of independent and internationally certified and recognised forensic exhumation scientists. This is important if the process is to give truth and dignity for the genocide victims.

He added: "The government should also stop the controlling or demanding of notifications for meetings organised for the purposes of dealing with or gathering evidence on Gukurahundi if it is sincere on the truth process. It should also stop all security sector and political fear-instilling tactics on Gukurahundi talks."

Sibasa said the MIHR wanted to challenge "all those that served the regime during the Gukurahundi genocide era to come out openly and tell all the truth they know about the genocide, if they have genuinely separated themselves from the system".

On December 21, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 24 as International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims.

Denial of the World War II Holocaust is a jailable offence in most parts of Europe and the West.