OP-ED: The false choice between reburials and justice for the Gukurahundi victims By Siphosami Malunga
Human beings have been burying their dead since the beginning of time. Every society around the world places significance in how it buries its dead, African societies no less. There are many reasons, including the need to protect the corpse from violation by natural elements, belief systems that see death as not the end but a transition from the physical to the spiritual realm, and the management of biological decomposition of the dead.
There are at least three types of mass graves. First, there are those prevalent in Matabeleland North where the 5th Brigade began its operation in February 1983. Many of the victims were murdered in their homes and buried in mass graves by villagers on the instruction of the 5Brigade.
Compounding this challenge has been the enduring inability to secure any official acknowledgement, justice, accountability or apology from perpetrators. At the same time, some perpetrators have acknowledged that as a result of their actions, “ongoing” or avenging spirits have affected them, their families and descendants, with some seeking recompense with families of their Gukurahundi victims.
It has always been inconceivable that a family will refuse or fail to bury its relative indefinitely as a ransom for justice. In the case of Gukurahundi victims, it is most likely that had the Gukurahundi not prevented the families from burying their dead, they would have buried them at the time of their death 30 years ago.
In many other instances, they were forced to dig the graves before the killings actually occurred. Some victims were even buried alive. So to argue that all families want is to bury their loved ones and move on is essentially a self-serving argument proffered by perpetrators hell-bent on reburying the crimes the second time.
There is little argument that Gukurahundi constituted crimes against humanity. The sheer scale, number of victims, forms of perpetration, and impact on the victims and society are a testimony to this characterisation. For this reason, accountability for these crimes transcends the personal interests of victims, their families and the perpetrators.
While the offer by Mnangagwa to resolve the Gukurahundi issue is unprecedented coming from the regime that for years has refused to acknowledge its role in these crimes, the proposed resolution is likely to result in the evasion of justice and accountability.
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