Gukurahundi victims wont be re-buried, Govt says

via Gukurahundi victims wont be re-buried, Govt says – Zimbabwe Focus 13 October 2013

Gukurahundi victims will not be re-buried as goverment runs the risk of including people who do not deserve the privilege, Home Affairs deputy minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has said.

Human rights groups say up to 20 000 people were killed by the North Korea-trained 5th Brigade in Matabeleland and the Midlands soon after independence.

President Robert Mugabe refused to apologise for the mass killings saying dissidents should also be held accountable.

Mugabe once described the genocide as a moment of madness.

The Zanu PF minister made the remarks during a question and answer session in the Senate on Thursday after MDC-T senator Dorothy Khumalo asked if the government would extend its programme to rebury remains of people who died during the liberation war to victims of the Gukurahundi genocide.

“There are remains of people who fought in the war and they have not been buried properly” Khumalo said.

“I would think if that is done, similarly there are remains of people who died during the Gukurahundi which have not been buried properly. I hope we are also going to think about them and bury them properly.”

However, Ziyambi said burying victims of the massacres, some who were thrown into mine shafts in Matabeleland and the Midlands would be problematic.

“The problem we have is that we have a case whereby we are going to bury people whose cause of death we are not aware of,” he said.

“We will run into the problem whereby we even bury people who are not supposed to be buried by the State.

“This is quite a difficult question because when we are following this reburial programme, we have to follow the channels set up by the government. We have to follow the criteria required for the people to be reburied, people with a specific history.”