Crimes Against Humanity Zimbabwe (CAHZ) - History

A brief history of Crimes against Humanity

Sadly, mass killings, torture and the abuse of human rights dates back thousands of years. Read about any great general, from Caesar and Alexander to Napoleon, Shaka or Ghengis Khan and you'll find tales of conquest in which losers were put to the sword, raped, enslaved or tortured.

The Second World War (1939-1945) was a turning point when an estimated six million Jews and millions of gypsies, homosexuals and political dissidents were murdered at specially-built extermination camps in Nazi Germany. Massacres of this sort had happened before, but journalists and, most importantly, movie cameras, were present when the camps were liberated in 1945 and, for the first time, people around the world saw visual evidence of genocide.

Since the end of World War II, there has been an effort to hold governments, leaders, senior officers and even individual soldiers responsible for their actions. Alas, the level of success has not been great and, in most cases, the United Nations, Commonwealth, Non-Aligned Movement and governments that see themselves as democratic, have ignored even high levels of abuse.

Thus dictators like Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot of Cambodia, Idi Amin of Uganda, Papa Doc of Haiti, Chile's Augusto Pinochet and a host of lesser tyrants were able to murder and torture their people with impunity. For example, the European Union recently published a dossier showing that an estimated 100 million people died under Communist rule in Russia and Eastern Europe from 1917 until the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. But, in recent years, dictatorships have waned.

Most South American countries now have a free press and regular elections whereas, just 30 years ago, the continent was ruled largely by dictators and military thugs. One-party states in Africa and Asia have given way to multiparty systems and, while there is still much work to be done, freedom is on the march.

In human rights, there have been some spectacular successes including the prosecution of former Chilean strongman, General Augusto Pinochet, war crimes trials following genocide in Rwanda and Sierra Leone, arrest of the late Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia and, most recently, the actions against Saddam Hussein, Charles Taylor of Liberia and Hissene Habre of Chad. A search on the Net will reveal ample data on all these cases.

At CAHZ, we are determined to see justice for the victims of the Mugabe regime. From torture and rape to the genocide in the southern province of Matabeleland from 1982 - 1987 (known as Gukurahundi), rigged elections, theft of national wealth, murder of political rivals: Mugabe has done it all. It is difficult to prosecute a ruling head of state because he or she travels with diplomatic immunity. But, at one time, that was the case with Pinochet, Milosovic, Taylor and Habre. However, things change, and all have had charges laid against them.

The key is to gather evidence - lots of high-quality dossiers - so that, when the time comes, we are ready to mount a prosecution, not just against Mugabe, but against ministers, security chiefs and others who have committed acts that can be classified as Crimes Against Humanity. The quality and quantity of evidence lies at the heart of any legal action and, when the time comes, we will have enough to indict those with blood on their hands, either through a court inside Zimbabwe, or here at the Hague.