Under humanitarian law and a series of international conventions, all gross human rights violations are argued to require legal remedy. However, in situations of epidemic violence legal remedies may require extension through a policy of reparations. There are conceptual confusions that often impair the proper formulation of a reparations policy. This paper examines these problems in the context of Zimbabwe.

Abstract

This study has been influenced by our reading of similar literatures in relation to the psychological and social effects of the trauma resulting from organised violence and torture. While we will not be reviewing that literature in depth in this report, it does seem important to note that there is a large body of literature relating both to similar experiences elsewhere in the world and also within the specifically Zimbabwean context.