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- Written by: Dr Stuart Doran
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From January 1983, a campaign of terror was waged against the Ndebele people of western Zimbabwe, an outbreak of obscene violence that remains the darkest period in the country’s post-independence history, notwithstanding the bloody notoriety of the last decade-and-a-half.
But now, the new light is being shed on these days of horror.
Thousands of historical documents that appear to expose the perpetrators are now becoming available in a raft of foreign archival collections. The documents are wide-ranging and include, among others, diplomatic correspondence, intelligence assessments and raw intelligence garnered by spies recruited from within the Zimbabwean government. These papers—augmented by the testimony of Zimbabwean witnesses finding courage in old age—appear to substantiate what survivors and scholars have always suspected but never been able to validate: Mugabe, then Prime Minister, was the prime architect of mass killings that were well-planned and systematically executed.
The documents appear to show that the massacres were closely associated with an effort by Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party to eliminate opposition groups in the aftermath of Zimbabwe’s independence. ZAPU, a party led by nationalist rival, Joshua Nkomo, represented the main obstacle to that objective. Given that Zapu enjoyed overwhelming support among Ndebele, the Ndebele as a whole came to be seen as an impediment. In the words of Mugabe, the people of Matabeleland needed to be “re-educated”.
The little that Mugabe has said since the 1980s on this taboo subject has been a mixture of obfuscation and denial. The closest he has come to admitting any form of official responsibility was at the death of Nkomo (1999), when he remarked that the early 1980s was a “moment of madness”—an ambivalent statement that perhaps reflected a fear of Ngozi (avenging spirits) more than anything else and one he has not repeated. More recently, he blamed the killings on armed bandits who were allegedly coordinated by ZAPU (the original smokescreen) along with occasional indiscipline among soldiers of the army’s North Korean-trained 5 Brigade.
Subcategories
Gukurahundi
Gukurahundi: Upon reading some of the material, and from our evidence gathered - it is apparent to us that the term “Gukurahundi” fails to portray the absolute horrors of that genocide - the hunting down and brutal torture, murder of children, women and men folk by deranged psychopaths - all upon the orders of Mugabe, Mnangagwa and 'others'.
The term itself has been framed as an almost poetic “moment of madness” (Mugabe’s cynical words). This period wrought incomprehensible brutality that we in the West, and within the British Establishment can never fully understand. That period within Zimbabwe from 1983-1987 cannot be ignored, cannot be cured with “an apology” - it requires JUSTICE - because some of the perpetrators of that unimaginable genocide are alive today and within the current regime. Like the sword of Damaclease - it is still there - still an aberration - yet to see Justice.
No, Gukurahundi is not the correct description; it is from the same depraved psychosis that started this horrific genocide itself. It needs a new, fully descriptive terminology, one that we cannot yet construct in our minds
5th Brigade
Gukurahundi: Upon reading some of the material, and from our evidence gathered - it is apparent to us that the term “Gukurahundi” fails to portray the absolute horrors of that genocide - the hunting down and brutal torture, murder of children, women and men folk by deranged psychopaths - all upon the orders of Mugabe, Mnangagwa and 'others'.
The term itself has been framed as an almost poetic “moment of madness” (Mugabe’s cynical words). This period wrought incomprehensible brutality that we in the West, and within the British Establishment can never fully understand. That period within Zimbabwe from 1983-1987 cannot be ignored, cannot be cured with “an apology” - it requires JUSTICE - because some of the perpetrators of that unimaginable genocide are alive today and within the current regime. Like the sword of Damaclease - it is still there - still an aberration - yet to see Justice.
No, Gukurahundi is not the correct description; it is from the same depraved psychosis that started this horrific genocide itself. It needs a new, fully descriptive terminology, one that we cannot yet construct in our minds
Gukurahundi Evidence
Gukurahundi: Upon reading some of the material, and from our evidence gathered - it is apparent to us that the term “Gukurahundi” fails to portray the absolute horrors of that genocide - the hunting down and brutal torture, murder of children, women and men folk by deranged psychopaths - all upon the orders of Mugabe, Mnangagwa and 'others'.
The term itself has been framed as an almost poetic “moment of madness” (Mugabe’s cynical words). This period wrought incomprehensible brutality that we in the West, and within the British Establishment can never fully understand. That period within Zimbabwe from 1983-1987 cannot be ignored, cannot be cured with “an apology” - it requires JUSTICE - because some of the perpetrators of that unimaginable genocide are alive today and within the current regime. Like the sword of Damaclease - it is still there - still an aberration - yet to see Justice.
No, Gukurahundi is not the correct description; it is from the same depraved psychosis that started this horrific genocide itself. It needs a new, fully descriptive terminology, one that we cannot yet construct in our minds
Consequences of Genocide
Gukurahundi: Upon reading some of the material, and from our evidence gathered - it is apparent to us that the term “Gukurahundi” fails to portray the absolute horrors of that genocide - the hunting down and brutal torture, murder of children, women and men folk by deranged psychopaths - all upon the orders of Mugabe, Mnangagwa and 'others'.
The term itself has been framed as an almost poetic “moment of madness” (Mugabe’s cynical words). This period wrought incomprehensible brutality that we in the West, and within the British Establishment can never fully understand. That period within Zimbabwe from 1983-1987 cannot be ignored, cannot be cured with “an apology” - it requires JUSTICE - because some of the perpetrators of that unimaginable genocide are alive today and within the current regime. Like the sword of Damaclease - it is still there - still an aberration - yet to see Justice.
No, Gukurahundi is not the correct description; it is from the same depraved psychosis that started this horrific genocide itself. It needs a new, fully descriptive terminology, one that we cannot yet construct in our minds
Genocide Issues
Gukurahundi: Upon reading some of the material, and from our evidence gathered - it is apparent to us that the term “Gukurahundi” fails to portray the absolute horrors of that genocide - the hunting down and brutal torture, murder of children, women and men folk by deranged psychopaths - all upon the orders of Mugabe, Mnangagwa and 'others'.
The term itself has been framed as an almost poetic “moment of madness” (Mugabe’s cynical words). This period wrought incomprehensible brutality that we in the West, and within the British Establishment can never fully understand. That period within Zimbabwe from 1983-1987 cannot be ignored, cannot be cured with “an apology” - it requires JUSTICE - because some of the perpetrators of that unimaginable genocide are alive today and within the current regime. Like the sword of Damaclease - it is still there - still an aberration - yet to see Justice.
No, Gukurahundi is not the correct description; it is from the same depraved psychosis that started this horrific genocide itself. It needs a new, fully descriptive terminology, one that we cannot yet construct in our minds
Zanu PF Denials
Gukurahundi: Upon reading some of the material, and from our evidence gathered - it is apparent to us that the term “Gukurahundi” fails to portray the absolute horrors of that genocide - the hunting down and brutal torture, murder of children, women and men folk by deranged psychopaths - all upon the orders of Mugabe, Mnangagwa and 'others'.
The term itself has been framed as an almost poetic “moment of madness” (Mugabe’s cynical words). This period wrought incomprehensible brutality that we in the West, and within the British Establishment can never fully understand. That period within Zimbabwe from 1983-1987 cannot be ignored, cannot be cured with “an apology” - it requires JUSTICE - because some of the perpetrators of that unimaginable genocide are alive today and within the current regime. Like the sword of Damaclease - it is still there - still an aberration - yet to see Justice.
No, Gukurahundi is not the correct description; it is from the same depraved psychosis that started this horrific genocide itself. It needs a new, fully descriptive terminology, one that we cannot yet construct in our minds