Abstract
Four key conflicts have taken place in Zimbabwe over the past 50 years. These events have resulted in the deaths of thousands of people and have consequently led to ongoing tensions between the state, victims, and community groups. Moreover, the situation is complicated further due to the politicisation of human remains, the time elapsed since the atrocities took place, and the interment of human remains from different conflicts in the same location. In the past, unorthodox means of recovering and analysing human remains (including the use of spirit mediums) to identify the dead have been widely employed in Zimbabwe. The lack of legislation and government involvement in these matters has led to unethical practices, which has, in turn, had a profound impact on local communities. However, it is hoped that the recent implementation of the National Peace and Reconciliation Act (2018) will not only lead to the formation of a commission with the aim of investigating these atrocities, but will also lead to the development of subsidiary legislation that will address the ethics of recovering and identifying victims of conflict. The following chapter will explore ethical issues of historical exhumations alongside recommendations for future best practice in Zimbabwe.
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Notes
- 1.
From information provided by the anonymous reviewer, it is understood that authorisation of exhumations conducted by the EAAF was granted by the Minister of Home Affairs, the Police Commissioner of Matabeleland South, the Provincial Medical Director, and the Gwanda Registrar General Office.
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Silika, K., Squires, K. (2019). Ethical Issues of Working with Human Remains in Zimbabwe. In: Squires, K., Errickson, D., Márquez-Grant, N. (eds) Ethical Approaches to Human Remains. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32926-6_28
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