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The Religious Foundations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission August 2013

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BERKLEY CENTER for Religion, Peace & World Affairs GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY Religion and Conflict Case Study Series South Africa: The Religious Foundations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission August 2013 © Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/classroom 4 Abstract 5 This case study explores the religious underpinnings of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a governmental body established to facili- 7 tate the peaceful transition from the apartheid government to a truly demo- cratic society by exposing human rights violations and administering both 8 justice and forgiveness. The case study looks at the commission and its cul- tural bases through three questions: What are the historical origins of apart- heid in South Africa? How did religious themes inform the truth and recon- ciliation process? How important were international religious and political forces? Additionally, the case study also includes a timeline of key events, a summary of relevant religious, political, and nongovernmental organizations, and a list of recommended further readings. About this Case Study This case study was crafted under the editorial direction of Eric Patterson, visiting assistant professor in the Department of Government and associate di- rector of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at George- town University. 14 This case study was made possible through the support of the Henry Luce 16 Foundation and the Luce/SFS Program on Religion and International Affairs. 2 BERKLEY CENTER FOR RELIGION, PEACE & WORLD AFFAIRS AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY CASE STUDY — SOUTH AFRICA TRC Contents Introduction 4 Historical Background 5 Domestic Religious Factors 7 Socioeconomic and Demographic Factors 8 International Factors 9 Resources Key Events 10 Religious Groups and Organizations 11 Political Organizations 13 Nongovernmental Organizations 14 Further Reading 16 Discussion Questions 17 BERKLEY CENTER FOR RELIGION, PEACE & WORLD AFFAIRS AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY CASE STUDY — SOUTH AFRICA TRC 3 Introduction South Africa’s history was characterized by racism and perpetrators had to fully disclose their crimes. This ap- discrimination from the beginning of colonialism. How- proach of restorative justice had both theological roots ever, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the apartheid and pragmatic policy justifications. The TRC had other government faced growing challenges from both do- religious elements, including the recurrent use of prayer mestic resistance groups and international actors. This and prominent role of religious leaders such as Chair- pressure eventually led to the apartheid government’s man Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a former president of demise and its replacement in a free and fair democratic the South African Council of Churches (SACC), and election. How to deal with the perpetrators of human Deputy Chairman Alex Boraine, a former president of rights abuses was one of the most pressing concerns in the Methodist Church of South Africa. In order to fully the transition process, eventually resulting in the estab- understand how the TRC was formed and operated, one lishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission must delve deeper into the religious nature of South Af- (TRC). The TRC could, where appropriate, grant am- rican society and see how the TRC was rooted in the nesty to those who had committed atrocities. In return, religious convictions of the nation. 4 BERKLEY CENTER FOR RELIGION, PEACE & WORLD AFFAIRS AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY CASE STUDY — SOUTH AFRICA TRC Historical Background Apartheid, the official policy of racial separation enforced by as many geographical areas, and that all races were prohibited the South African government from 1948 until 1993, had its from interracial relations. During the 1960s and 1970s in par- roots in European colonization. Permanent white settlement ticular, forced resettlements took place as the NP government began in 1652 when the Dutch East India Company estab- moved black populations into designated areas. Many blacks lished a provisioning station at the site of what would later were forced to revoke their South African citizenship in favor become Cape Town. Following a British victory in the Anglo- of “homeland citizenship” in these designated areas. Boer Wars (1880-1881 and 1899-1902), the Boer republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State were consolidated with However, the black majority did not accept such discrimina- the British colonies of the Cape and Natal into the Union of tion passively. The African National Congress (ANC), estab- South Africa in May 1910. The Union’s constitution kept all lished as a national liberation movement in 1912, encouraged political power in the hands of white people. strikes and acts of public disobedience in 1949 with its Pro- gramme for Action. In June 1955, along with the South Afri- Apartheid entailed more than political privilege for whites— can Indian Congress, it adopted the Freedom Charter, which for decades it enjoyed theological sanction by the local Dutch aimed at establishing a nonracial democratic state. In 1959, Reformed Church. The idea was that God’s purpose was to dissident members of the ANC formed the Pan Africanist intentionally separate distinct races (apartheid is Afrikaans for Congress (PAC), which advocated more militant resistance. apartness). In 1910, the United Party, led by Jan Smuts, began That year, as part of nationwide demonstrations against the to introduce more stringent laws to legally separate whites and pass laws, a black crowd congregated in the Sharpeville Town- blacks and further curtail the rights of the black majority. Such ship. The police opened fire, killing 69 protestors. In response laws included the Mines and Works Act of 1911 that restricted to continued protests and strikes, the NP government banned black people to menial work, the Native Land Act of 1913 the ANC and the PAC and declared a state of emergency. that set aside less than ten percent of the arable land for the Many ANC and PAC leaders and activists were arrested and black population, and the continued enforcement and inten- tried under the Suppression of Communism Act of 1950 and sification of the “pass laws” (first initiated in the 1905 General the General Law Amendment (Sabotage Act) of 1962. These Pass Regulations Bill), which required black Africans to carry events contributed to the ANC’s formation of Umkhonto we an identity document and regulated their movements. Sizwe, or Spear of the Nation (MK)—an armed resistance movement—and the adoption of more aggressive guerrilla In 1948, the National Party (NP), in coalition with the Afri- warfare tactics. For the remainder of apartheid rule, the MK kaner Party, narrowly defeated the United Party to take control organized attacks ranging from isolated bombings of power of the country. The NP further solidified the white minority’s stations to a concerted military underground resistance strat- control of South Africa. Among the most infamous pieces of egy known as Operation Vulindlela (“Open the Road”). legislation that they passed was the Group Areas Act of 1950, which was primarily designed to geographically separate white The government reacted to this resistance with increasingly and black communities. In summary, NP apartheid policy tough reprisals and numerous declarations of states of emer- ensured that blacks were excluded from government as well gency. Moreover, they frequently detained, beat, and tortured BERKLEY CENTER FOR RELIGION, PEACE & WORLD AFFAIRS AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY CASE STUDY — SOUTH AFRICA TRC 5 black suspects. However, by the 1980s, it became increasingly first of these committees investigated human rights abuses that clear that the white government could no longer continue its occurred between 1960 and 1994; the second committee was policies and hope to prevail against the majority-black popula- charged with restoring victims’ dignity and providing some tion. Indeed, religious leaders, trade unionists, and others were recourse for reparation; and the third committee had the au- making common cause by the early 1980s to topple apartheid, thority to grant amnesty. Thousands of public hearings were and even all-white denominations were taking open stands held around the country over a number of years, with the final against its policies. The efforts of religious leaders were recog- hearing taking place in July 1998. Ultimately, a total of 7,112 nized in 1984 when Desmond Tutu, then secretary-general of people applied for amnesty, however only 849 of these appli- the SACC, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. cations were granted. Those whose applications were rejected were eligible for criminal prosecution, though in practice few During the early 1980s, many believed that the country was were tried. The TRC presented its final report to President on the brink of a full-scale civil war. Secret talks began be- Mandela in October 1998. tween the government and oppo- sition figures, but stalled time and again. One of the primary stick- ing points was how to deal with the perpetrators of human rights violations, particularly within the white apartheid government. After numerous secret negotia- tions in the 1980s and subsequent high-profile public negotiations in the early 1990s, it was finally de- cided in 1995 in the preamble to the new Interim Constitution that a “truth and reconciliation com- mission” would grant conditional amnesty to perpetrators, as long as they fulfilled a variety of condi- tions (their crimes had to be politi- cal, proportional to their goals, and Nelson Mandela shows the freedom salute after his release from prison. they had to disclose, when ques- tioned in front of the TRC, the full truth about their actions). The aim of the TRC was restorative justice, that is, to restore When Nelson Mandela was given the final report of the TRC South African society and make it whole rather than system- he said that the report “represents a toil of nurturing the tender atically punish all perpetrators. Indeed, Desmond Tutu once fields of peace and reconciliation and the plodding labor of commented that “there are different kinds of justice.
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