“Disappearances” and political killings: human rights crisis of the 1990s – a manual for action (pre-publication version): Chapter C-4: Zimbabwe: Drawing a line through the past

This report examines the impunity enjoyed by human rights violators in the transition from white minority to democratic rule. The 1980 Lancaster House settlement which led to independence included an amnesty for all acts carried out in the course of the war, but these included acts such as the August 1976 raids on a Zimbabwean refugee camp at Nyadzonia in Mozambique, which left nearly a thousand dead. Legislation such as the 1975 Indemnity and Compensation Act, which the new government retained, and later measures including the Protection of Wildlife (Indemnity) Act of 1989 reinforced the immunity of the security forces. This climate of impunity shielded the armed forces from prosecution, although they were engaged in brutal acts of repression in Matabeleland.

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