K@ ffiffiffiffiffi effi ffi M 12, flow has,south Africa chosen to remember the past? After winning the 1994 election the ANC had a huge task of building a truly non-racial and democratic South Africa without forgetting its past. Anthony Sampson author of Mandela, The Authorised Biography, stated' that Mandela believed tl'we is no evilwhbh has been sq andemned by the wodd as Apaftheid' and there- fore had to find a way to forgive the perpetrators of the system of Apartheid without forgetting this crime against humanity. The ANC's solution to 'forgiving without forgetting' was the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1 996. 51.1 Reasons for the TRC t South Africa was a deeply divided soCiety with the majority of its people having been oppressed over a long period of time. During this period of oppression, Black,Sottth Africans vrcre killed and had their land taken : aWay from them. They were marginalised, dispossessed,,wod<ed for low wages under honendous conditions and lived in abject poverty. I . During the years of colotrial and,apartheid rule, thousan$.;g o{,aoJivists and freedqn fighters were kiHed, maimed and someeven disappeared without a trace. t Could all of these hurnan rights violations that were perpetrated by the while minority government and their agents just be forgot{eri? Ihis following is excerpt from Archbishop Desmond Tutu on the reasons for the TRC: ffi Now, let us focus on the role of the TRC in the process of nation building ffi@ With President Nelson Mandela being sworn in as the first democratically elected leader of South Africa, hg decided to find a tangible way to deal with the country's divided and oppressive past. Hence, in 1995 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up by the parliament in terrns o.f the pro- motion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act (Act 34 of 1995). ln 1994 the Minister of Justice, Dullah Omar stated the following: r'*.1s:r::::Htl:t''ititir:r 'ii1:rii-lti]i:.i':.{i-?,,;F. .S '::'iaj:'i:rj:i:ifii:}111::'r::tr4' Taken from Every Sfep o'f The Way by Monris, 2004, Town. ln terms of the Act, Archbishop Desmond > Tutu was appointed Chairperson of the TRC and Dr AIex Boraine Vice Chairperson. The Commission was to last for about two years, and was to deaf with gross human rights viola- tions that occurred between 1 March 1960 and 10 May 1994 e Desmond Tutu describes how he expected the shape that the TRC should take: A photograph of Desmond Tutu, chairman of the TRC and Alex Boraine, deputy chairman of the TRC. Taken from South Africa Since Apartheid by S Sheeh?tr, 20A2, United Kingdom. -: ffi,* -ffi t'i r forms of r'etributive justice and the Nurernherg trials in post-\{ar Gerrnany; % i,'i.2 ,,,;Various iustice: w@ " restorative justice and the TRC hearings justice in Aetributive and the Nuremberg trials post-War GermanY After the defeat of Hitler's Nazi regime in ' Germany in 1944, it was decided by the Allied Powers that those responsible for gross human rights violation against the Jews in par- ticular, must have c.riminal trials and retributive justice must be imPosed. ln this case all former Nazi soldiers and Hitler's supporters responsible for the Holocaust had retributive justice imposed on them. ' The trials of Nazi war criminals were held in , Nuremberg, Germany by the Allied Powers ' (Britain, France, Russia and the USA). lts aim was to ensure that all those that were involved in,the Holocaust were held responsible and accountable for the atrocities committ6d against the .;lews.during World War Two. lt was here that the phrase 'crimes against hurmanity'was coined. p hotograph showing leading members of the Nazi Party atthe Nuemberg Trials that were held in Germany )r the Second World War. ken from www. nuremberg-trial, justice Was'considered as a ,''ii as an approach used by the ' ._.t gesture of reconciliationi +rRc. if perpetrators of gross;$ .1' human rights violations" ir Unlike the Nuremberg Trials, and other Truth were prepared to tell th€ Commissions that were held in Chile and Argentina, truth and show rernorseii South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission for their actions. (TRC) was diffd:rent because: -'} It was based on compromise, reconciliation and restorative justice. If perpetrators who commit- ted heinous crirnes told the truth, amnesty was granted, ffiffiffi ffiw#ffi W@ + The hearings were held in Public. + The proceedings of the TRC were broadcast tive on both television and radio and it was also repsrt. ed extensivelyin most krca.l newspapers. This ensured it became part of the national consciousnesg of all South Africans. { Spe"irf {r6arings were held and role players on both sides of the conflict were invited to make sub- missions. political leaders, + Witnesses were" subpoenaed (demand to.appear before a court of law). Two key pW Botha and Mangosuthu Buthelezi refused to appear before the TRC' country was The TRC;";;;;tt;mpt to-ensure that the tnrth concerning human rights violations iri our not suppressed or forgotten The TRC ehsured that the truth concerning human rights violations were not forgotten but were which meant they were tiabre for pro"""rtio,, rhe rRC;s:'st:*[t'',ytrt&ltt*{3?1"",[#,lHsars on how victims were to be conpensated. Ultimately, the central aim of the South Africas TRC process was to devefop a culture of human rights in the country io thd the suffering and injus*ices of the past never occurs agAin. :The following comparative table summarisei the differencesbn how the Nuremberg Trials were undertaken ''in Germany and the TRG process that unfolded in South Africa. THE NUREMBERG TRIAL THE TRC o These triats were a forum for punishing people o The TRC wished to learn the truth about the ;; for the atrocities committed during World War ..1.:!i: . ,r![: '::1:',1 .. .., .. : l Cnce justice was sought at Nuremberg; i[ Was ',(} ''?: used as'd,means of Puni$hment' e o ' Nulemberg'lrvasi A Tribunal presided over by 3 , ,the,Allies. , ...,. :,. , . '' At Nurernberg ordinary Germans were 'In,$outh Rfrica,th6rg w?e IlO attempt to blame,'in', ,li absolved from blame and.i,Nazi leaders and any.,,leaOer.s anU ordinary people'Were fully' , -'i:: r- ai new.'naiioll;r :, ', , inVolved, in ,building : . '' , ,,,.,' perBetrator would ensure that the crime dqes . ':'r .: ?;j. ^. t' Structure of the TRC of o The TRC had THREE committees,that were responsible for ov.erseeing its functions. These consisled the Human Rights Molations Comrnittee, an Amnbsty Committee and a Reparations and Rehabilitation Committee. Tle following is adiagrammatic representation of the functions of the'TRC. J -':ffi|i.ffiffi -Mw% : i,l. lraiiiistr**atic representation thlt outlines i1" 1r1it,"": :1ifi ]1?: The committees of the TRC So rryh at role did the follawing committees play? : :The Human Rights Violations Committee This committee investi- This is a photograph showing Gary Krus'Ser, an ANC operative, giving gated the human rights evidence at the TRC. He described how the apartheid police tortured hirn place abuses that took when he was captured in the 1980s. ii, " ,, in South'*Africa between ,. 1961 end 1994. ;,,.,,:Mem-o*erq of this commit- tee,Wgre mandated to visit' communitj,gs in order to. gatherttatements and evidence from peopie who were either survivors or victims of crimes that : ' vated,. lt was estimated .. that about 21 000 state- i; ments were cotfected and recorded. After a process of verification, nearly 2000 people were invited to,.tell their stories at the ;' t TRC hearings. These rl f. l,',, hearings took place , :i:j; r i::''' tii ; ;l'. ';'l' i.t, { 996 to 1998. Tak.gn from IVeIsa n Mandela A Force For Freedom by C I !'- '\' i - i .lL, _ New'York. i #_d ffi ,#4 Effi .r**Xffie The,Arn nesty Gom m ittee Ww This Comrnittee consisted of people with a sound legal background. Each hearing was presided over by a reputable judge. ro Both the perpetrators and victims had an opportunity tq be represented by a lawyer. Hence lawyers were allowed to test the evidence via the cross examination of witnesses. The process was rigorous and by the end of hearings only 1167 of the applicants were granted amnesty out af 7116 applicants who initially applied,. Many political parties opposed how the am.nesty committee did its work. They argued that those who ffi amnesty could not be held responsible for their actions, because they were merely carrying out orders that were given to them by a fuigrher authority, usually a politician or an army general. Hence the process was ', ftawed and unfair. The Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee Members of this committee investigated the evidence given by victims and, based on this, provided approp1- ate support ln most cases the rehabilitation of victims included finaniial support for the suffering and loss experienced. The committee flnally recommended that to restore the dignity of victims a once-off payment of R30 000 would be given to each victim. The TRC hearings So lef 's look at the nature of the TRC hearings (' The TRC conducted hearings in every province in the Republic of South Africa. lt spanned from the 22 April to 14 November 1996. It heard hundreds of terrifying stories of how political activists were killed who were either fighting for or against the apartheid regime over the decades There were a mixture of testimonies. Some were-well known st*ch as the killing of Griffiths Mxenge, Rick Turner, Ahmed Timol and Ashley Kriel. There were severd examplesof politicd activists that were maimed by agents of the apartheid regime while fightingfor freedom and democracy.