South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission

After many years of violence, discrimination, and white supremacy, South Africa was finally determined to change its political system from an apartheid government into a democracy. In 1948, with the National Party in power, the apartheid legislation was established. It was not an easy road for those who, since the beginning, wanted to end this political separation. Racial groups were forbidden, in any case, to have any public or private contact with white people. Therefore, blacks and ethnic people were banned to step in an “all white” territory. This program caused political violence between white people and the majority population in South Africa; organized riots took place to seek justice and government reform (the ANC was one group that fought for equal rights). Finally in 1994, after many years of violence, the African National Congress won elections and established a democratic government where whites and blacks now were going to be treated equally.
A truth commission is a form of justice, a justice that can either be accepted or disapproved by the victims. The main focus of a truth commission is to investigate previous atrocities that took place in the country and to offer a political reform that will set an ongoing process of change. On December 1995, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established by parliament and was closed on 2000. The TRC investigated killings by police, disappearances, torture, abuses, and violence. The TRC had three committees: The Human Rights Violations Committee, The Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee, and The Amnesty Committee. The Human Rights Violations Committee investigated the crimes committed during the apartheid era. The Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee gave assistance to victims and promoted forgiveness. The Amnesty Committee gave the perpetrators the opportunity to confess their participation in the abuses that went on from 1960 to 1994. Those who wanted a pardon had to fully say the truth

Cited: Page Ball, Patrick & Chapman Audrey. “The Truth of Truth Commissions: Comparative Lessons from Haiti, South Africa, and Guatemala”. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. Hayner, Priscilla. Unspeakable Truths. Routledge, 2002. Gobodo-Madikizela, Pumla. A Human Being Died That Night. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.