Catholic voices of the voiceless: the politics of reporting Rhodesian and Zimbabwean state violence in the 1970s and the early 1980s
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Date
2015
Authors
Scarnecchia, Timothy
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Some of the worst atrocities of state violence perpetrated by the Rhodesian state were
published and disseminated around the world in 1975 thanks to the Rhodesian Catholic
Bishops’ and the Catholic Commission on Justice and Peace’s links to human rights
organisations in London. In contrast, when the Zimbabwean state carried out similar
atrocities against civilians in 1983, the Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Commission
on Justice and Peace decided to cooperate internally with a Government of Zimbabwe
(GOZ)-led commission announced to investigate claims against government soldiers
rather than press the case internationally. The Catholic Bishops and the Catholic
Commission on Justice and Peace also interacted with foreign diplomats to help
assuage their concerns over the security situation – most notably media reports of
civilian massacres and torture – from the Midlands and Matabeleland provinces during
Operation Gukurahundi. This article investigates some of the rationale for a different
approach in the early 1980s based on changing alliances and allegiances of these
Catholic organisations with the Rhodesian and then Zimbabwean state. This article
forms part of a series of articles exploring how Zimbabwean and non-Zimbabwean
actors rationalised the Gukurahundi period.
Description
Keywords
Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, Catholic Commission on Justice and Peace, Human rights abuses, Rhodesian Catholic bishops
Citation
Scarnecchia, T. (2015). Catholic voices of the voiceless: the politics of reporting Rhodesian and Zimbabwean state violence in the 1970s and the early 1980s: special issue. Acta Academica: Silence after violence and the imperative to'speak out', 47(1), 182-207.