Apartheid Reparations

Jubilee South Africa welcomed on 21 February 2003 the filing of a further major apartheid reparations complaint against international corporations and banks that aided and abetted the apartheid state, in the New York Eastern District Court today. The complaint names seven banks, and thirteen international corporations from Germany, Switzerland, Britain, the United States, the Netherlands and France. For more information on the filing see:

Meanwhile, on the domestic front the South African government continues to ignore its responsibilities to fulfil its commitments in the TRC Report regarding reparations. The excuse is they are waiting for the Amnesty Report, when in fact they got the recommendations in October 1998! In his State of the Nation speech Mbeki ignored it making some vague comments about the TRC, I quote:

"It is in this spirit that we should engage in a national dialogue on how we take forward the report and recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which we hope will be presented to government in the next few months. This will afford us the opportunity to understand a critical part of our past and join hands in forging a people's contract for a better tomorrow."

"People's contract" - what is that? I presume is code for "the people" should benefit and not only those who went to the TRC - despite the implicit contract, not to mention clear obligations for reparations (and truth) as a poor trade-off for justice. A trade-off validated by the South African Constitutional Court. In practice, the "people's contract" will mean "community reparations". A fine concept in theory, don't get me wrong, but a way the government can minimise cost by saying they are already serving communities with new infrastructure. Infrastructure as reparation! Although this is important, if I am not mistaken this is the type of "reparation" what people voted for...

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Backing for International Apartheid Reparations Grows

Apartheid Debt and Reparations Campaign

Media Statement

Embargo: 07h00 (South Africa); 00h00 EST (USA); 05h00 GMT

Friday, 21 February 2003

Backing for International Apartheid Reparations Grows

Jubilee South Africa welcomes the filing of a further major apartheid reparations complaint against international corporations and banks that aided and abetted the apartheid state, in the New York Eastern District Court today.

Despite growing international popular opinion that the multinational banks and businesses that propped up and profited from apartheid abuses should acknowledge their complicity and take measures to repair the damage their actions made possible, the corporations have refused to take responsibility for their actions.

The campaign is now being backed up by concerned and highly respected members of the legal fraternity. Finkelstein, Thompson and Lougrhan, the American legal firm filing today’s complaint, have a long and distinguished history in class action litigation.

The complaint names seven banks, and thirteen international corporations from Germany, Switzerland, Britain, the United States, the Netherlands and France.

Instead of threatening undue economic and political pressure on South Africa to stop the call for apartheid reparations, the corporations and the governments of their home countries should respect the right of citizens to legal recourse, as has the South African government.

The relevant European and American governments should support the South African government in its position regarding the lawsuits, acknowledging that the rule of international human rights law must be upheld. We have always indicated that several legal suits would be filed by various groups of victims and lawyers. In today’s complaint and those that preceded it, South Africans express their commitment to the future of apartheid’s victims, to the protection of human rights, and to the rule of law.

For comment please contact:

South Africa: Neville Gabriel, Spokesperson: Apartheid Debt & Reparations Campaign, cell. +27 83 449 3934 Charles Abrahams, Lawyer: Jubilee SA, cell. +27 82 560 7152

Germany: Theo Kniefel, German Campaign for Apartheid-Caused Debt Cancellation & Reparations, tel. +49 (6221) 785545 Gottfried Wellmer +49 (228) 694792 Anne Jung +49 69 944 3827

Switzerland:    Mascha Madoerin, Swiss Camapign for Apartheid-Caused Debt Cancellation & Reparations, tel. +41 61 693 1700 Joe Elsener, Swiss Campaign for Apartheid-Caused Debt Cancellation & Reparations, tel. +41 41 375 7223

USA: Bill Fletcher, Director: TransAfrica, tel. +1 202 223 1960

American Lawyers:    Douglas Thompson, Jr., Finkelstein, Thompson, Loughran, tel. +1 202 337-8000 Michael Hausfeld, Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll PLLC, tel. +1 202 408 4600

Note to editors:

The full text of the filed complaint will be available on the website http://www.ftllaw.com.

Attached are the following documents (available here in on PDF, 13 pages):

• Summary of Plaintiffs
• Summary of Defendants
• Legal basis for the complaint
• Briefing on the Apartheid and Reparations Campaign
• Declaration of the International Apartheid-Caused Debt Cancellation and Reparations Campaign

To download all the documents on the second apartheid reparations complaint against international corporations and banks that aided and abetted the apartheid state, filed in the New York Eastern District Court on 21 February 2003 (available here in on PDF, 13 pages)

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