Brief 13 : mass desertion of soldiers from the Zimbabwe National Army in post-2000 crisis; a call for amnesty

Abstract

While there has been mass desertion of soldiers from the Zimbabwe national army in the post-2000 crisis, the only response by the army has been to implement punitive measures, including the arrest, court martial, indefinite detention whilst awaiting trail and imprisonment of deserters. Such a response has not been productive but has instead led to deserters seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. Whilst army deserters acknowledge that desertion is a military offence a reconsideration of the plight of these men is important. This is a problem that remains beyond the life span of the Zimbabwe Unity government. One of the ways in which the government of Zimbabwe can effect change, particularly the president of Zimbabwe working with the ministry of defence, is to give these army deserters an amnesty which would allow them to live in Zimbabwe without fear of being arrested by the military police or military intelligence. Many security practitioners have argued that these are trained men who can easily revert back to their violent ways to survive; hence, political attention needs to focus on these men, not in punitive ways but by means of reconciliation through the granting of amnesty