International Legal Obligations to Reclaim a Suppressed Past: The Right of Zimbabweans to Colonial Archives
By Princess Eugene Majuru, Princess of Harare
Harare Zimbabwe ( News of The South) – For decades after independence, Zimbabwe has grappled with the complex legacy of a colonial past that did not merely govern its people but sought to systematically erase their history and suppress their culture. While political freedom was gained, the control over historical memory and cultural heritage remains a powerful tool of lingering oppression. The inaccessibility of colonial-era records whether they are stored abroad or are simply buried in national archives—constitutes a profound violation of both international human rights and cultural obligations. Zimbabweans have a fundamental right to this information, a right supported by a robust framework of international law.
The Legal and Ethical Imperative
The suppression of historical documentation is not a mere inconvenience; it is an act of epistemic injustice that denies a people the right to know their own past. Colonial regimes meticulously created and controlled archives to legitimize their rule and to paint indigenous peoples as uncultured or without history. This deliberate distortion of historical truth is a direct violation of several international legal instruments.
Cultural Heritage and its Preservation
International law recognizes that cultural heritage is not just property; it is an essential part of a people’s identity and human dignity.
UNESCO Conventions: The 1970 UNESCO Convention on the illicit transfer of cultural property and the 1972 World Heritage Convention underscore a global commitment to preserving and protecting heritage. While often applied to physical artifacts, their underlying principle—that cultural treasures belong to the people who created them—applies equally to intangible heritage, including historical knowledge and memory.
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP): This declaration, to which Zimbabwe is a signatory, is particularly relevant. It explicitly states that indigenous peoples have the right to their historical documents, artifacts, and a return of their cultural and intellectual property. Article 11 protects the right to practice and revitalize cultural traditions, and Article 31 grants them the right to their cultural heritage. The records of the colonial period, which detail land ownership, traditional leadership, and legal proceedings, are a vital part of the Mbari clan’s heritage and, therefore, are legally protected under this declaration.
The Right to Information as a Human Right
Access to historical information is a fundamental human right, essential for truth, justice, and reconciliation.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR): The ICCPR, ratified by Zimbabwe, guarantees the right to freedom of expression. Article 19 states that this right includes “freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds.” The deliberate inaccessibility of colonial records denies Zimbabweans this right. They are barred from receiving information crucial for understanding their political, economic, and social landscape, which was shaped during the colonial era.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): Article 27 of the UDHR grants everyone the right to “freely participate in the cultural life of the community.” A community’s culture is inextricably linked to its history. Without access to historical documentation, Zimbabweans cannot fully participate in or reclaim their cultural identity.
The Zimbabwean Context: Colonial Legacies and Contemporary Contradictions
The suppression of the Mbari clan, the rightful custodians of Harare, serves as a poignant example of this issue. Colonial administrations deliberately dismantled the clan’s authority and documented this process in their archives. Today, the legal instruments of the post-independence state, such as the Traditional Leaders Act, perpetuate this colonial erasure by explicitly excluding urban areas like Harare from having recognized traditional leaders.
This creates a paradox: the Zimbabwean government and its people fought for independence to reclaim their sovereignty and history, yet they have failed to fully reclaim the documents that prove that history. The colonial project is, in a sense, ongoing because the narratives it created remain unchallenged by the very people they oppressed. The inaccessibility of these records is a continuing injustice, denying the Mbari clan their legal rights and the Zimbabwean people as a whole the opportunity to reconstruct a true, complete history of their nation.
Fulfilling the Promise of Independence
The reclamation of historical documentation is a moral and legal obligation for both the Zimbabwean state and former colonial powers. For Zimbabwe, it is about fulfilling the unfinished promise of independence. For former colonial powers, it is about acknowledging past injustices and aiding the process of truth and reconciliation.
Access to these archives is not a request for a favor; it is a demand for a right. It is a vital step toward cultural reclamation, the pursuit of historical justice, and the restoration of dignity for all Zimbabweans. Only by confronting and reclaiming the full story of their past can Zimbabweans truly build a liberated future.
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