A long-overdue examination of one of Zimbabwe’s darkest chapters has begun. Hearings are under way into a military campaign in the 1980s that left more than 20,000 people dead—mainly from the Ndebele and Kalanga communities in central and southwestern Zimbabwe. The violence, part of an operation ordered by then-President Robert Mugabe, targeted supporters of his political rivals. Thousands were detained, tortured, raped or executed.

Initially planned as a public process, the hearings are now being conducted behind closed doors, with no media access or public attendance permitted. Critics argue that this secrecy is intimidating victims and undermining the collective memory of what many experts have long classified as genocide. They question whether the current approach will bring justice, healing or closure.

The Zimbabwean government has never formally acknowledged the massacres, nor has it held anyone accountable. The hearings, which are expected to last between three and six months, mark a tentative step toward reckoning with the past—but the opacity of the process raises doubts about its integrity and impact.

Al Jazeera.