The politics of documenting violence and trauma for transitional justice : the role of civil society in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This article captures the politics of documenting trauma for transitional justice, particularly in contexts where transitional justice is contested in its norms and practices. The paper unpacks how documenting trauma by civil society becomes political, yet provides key references for transitional justice processes in the future. These nuances were captured through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with field officers from five civil society organisations who documented the 2008 electoral violence in Zimbabwe. The paper shows how documented violence and human rights violations have been used towards advocating for transitional justice and educating communities and other stakeholders of obligations emanating from domestic and international laws while impacting on ongoing violence. The article argues that while creating critical dossiers of violence and trauma for the future, documentation by civil society can also play a key role where violence is ongoing by creating awareness of what is happening and can be used to shift prevailing conflict dynamics. Etched in the theory and practice of transitional justice as a tool towards sustainable peace for post-conflict societies, the research used an interpretivist qualitative research methodology. This paper captures the reflections of those who have studied the norms of transitional justice and experienced the realities of practicing them in a contested field, thereby providing a nuanced contribution to the study of peace and conflict in which theory and practice converge.