This final chapter covers the events of 1983’s Gukurahundi operation, where Mugabe and his ruling party decided to launch the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade against dissidents in Matabeleland North and South provinces and the Midlands province. Reports of their activities started to be known by the British military and then Anglo-American diplomats by mid-February. The reception of reports, particularly of large numbers of civilian deaths by the Fifth Brigade, is discussed in terms of Anglo-American diplomats. Different diplomatic responses between the Americans and the British to the Gukurahundi are examined, although both agreed to avoid making an international issue out of the reports of large numbers of civilian deaths in a concerted effort. Diplomatic debates over how much Prime Minister Mugabe was responsible are also discussed, as is Mugabe’s attempts to rationalize his use of the Fifth Brigade against civilians. The final discussion revolves around the use of “tribalism” or ethnic conflict by Anglo-American diplomats to help justify their lack of protest to civilian killings by a government that was also receiving development aid funding and military training and aid during this period.

This final chapter covers the events of 1983’s Gukurahundi operation, where Mugabe and his ruling party decided to launch the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade against dissidents in Matabeleland North and South provinces and the Midlands province. Reports of their activities started to be known by the British military and then Anglo-American diplomats by mid-February. The reception of reports, particularly of large numbers of civilian deaths by the Fifth Brigade, is discussed in terms of Anglo-American diplomats. Different diplomatic responses between the Americans and the British to the Gukurahundi are examined, although both agreed to avoid making an international issue out of the reports of large numbers of civilian deaths in a concerted effort. Diplomatic debates over how much Prime Minister Mugabe was responsible are also discussed, as is Mugabe’s attempts to rationalize his use of the Fifth Brigade against civilians. The final discussion revolves around the use of “tribalism” or ethnic conflict by Anglo-American diplomats to help justify their lack of protest to civilian killings by a government that was also receiving development aid funding and military training and aid during this period.

Chapter 8 focuses on a second interaction between Gukurahundi history, law and citizenship by looking at the trial of visual artist Owen Maseko. For his exhibition on the experiences of Gukurahundi, Maseko stood accused of ‘inciting tribal hatred’. In their courtroom narratives, prosecutors elaborated on this accusation to communicate ZANU-PF’s continued control over instruments of coercion to a ‘Matabele’ audience. Maseko and his defence team, in turn, performed in a rule-bound manner to draw attention to Maseko as a citizen with the freedom to express his interpretations of history, and to put these in the public domain for debate, rather than as a ‘criminal’ for failing to align with ZANU-PF’s historical narrative. These different forms of courtroom performance highlight how the Gukurahundi as a violent historical event continued to inform negotiations over citizenship, and the understandings of law’s legitimacy and state authority that they encompassed, in this region.

Chapter 7 situates the founding of the Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF) within regional and ethnic politics to examine the formation of a local human rights network, Abammeli. When the MLF leaders were charged with treason, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) lawyers based in Harare rejected the MLF case, despite the fact that it was working as the leading defence council in the Gwisai treason trial at that time. Formed as a response to ZLHR’s refusal to defend the MLF leaders, Abammeli’s formation highlights how the historical place of law shaped legal and state consciousness in Matabeleland. Abammeli’s lawyers positioned themselves first and foremost as residents in, and citizens of, Matabeleland, and they articulated an understanding of citizenship that granted legitimacy to law if it protected a shared humanity, rather than a specific political agenda.