The Contribution of Mass Graves to Healing and Closure: The Case of Chibondo in Mt Darwin, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The contribution of mass graves to healing and closure has not been fully investigated, especially regarding what kind of contribution mass graves can make to healing and closure, truth finding and apportioning accountability for gross violations of human rights. This article broadly discusses national healing by analysing how human remains discovered at William Monkey Mine at Chibondo farm in Mt Darwin District of Zimbabwe were handled. The article argues that the manner in which the mass grave was handed by the various stakeholders was tantamount to a travesty of justice which deprived the nation in general and the families of those who disappeared in particular an opportunity to learn about, inter alia, the victims’ causes and time of death. This discussion concludes by noting that the manner in which the Chibondo mass grave was handled set a bad precedent for other mass graves, both discovered and undiscovered within and outside the borders of Zimbabwe.