Hamber, B. (2003). Rights and Reasons: Challenges for Truth Recovery in South Africa and Northern Ireland. Fordham International Law Journal, 26(4), pp. 1074-1094 [Download]
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Tuesday, March 11, 2003
South African TRC Final Report
Apparently, the South Africa TRC Report will be handed over to the President on the 21st March 2003, at St Albans Cathedral Church in Pretoria, at 10.00 am.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Final Report
South African Parliament
27 February 2003 13:16
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report is expected to be handed to President Thabo Mbeki next month and will be immediately tabled in Parliament, National Assembly Speaker Dr Frene Ginwala said on Thursday.
The report was due to have been handed over last year, but was delayed after court action by the Inkatha Freedom Party. An out of court settlement was reached earlier this year, which will see the IFP disputing some of the TRC's findings and stating its case in a separate annexure.
Ginwala told the National Assembly's programme committee that Mbeki had indicated he would be available on April 15 and 16 for parliamentary business and that a debate on the TRC report should be provisionally scheduled for then.
Last week, Justice Minister Penuell Maduna said the issue of those who had failed to apply for amnesty from the TRC would have to be confronted soon and that parties should deal it during the debate on the report.
The government has also said it is unable to move on reparations for victims of gross human rights abuses until the report is tabled and debated. The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation on Wednesday criticised Finance Minister Trevor Manuel for failing to make provision for reparations in his 2003 Budget.
"It is deeply disappointing that there is no relief in sight to ease painful memories. We expected this budget to bring closure to this matter," the Institute said in a statement.
"Instead it reinforces a sense of inadequate acknowledgement of those that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) declared to be victims of gross human rights violations." Late last year, the government reported it had made reparation payments of R50-million to 18 000 people for harm they suffered under apartheid, as an interim measure in line with recommendations by the TRC. - Sapa
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report is expected to be handed to President Thabo Mbeki next month and will be immediately tabled in Parliament, National Assembly Speaker Dr Frene Ginwala said on Thursday.
The report was due to have been handed over last year, but was delayed after court action by the Inkatha Freedom Party. An out of court settlement was reached earlier this year, which will see the IFP disputing some of the TRC's findings and stating its case in a separate annexure.
Ginwala told the National Assembly's programme committee that Mbeki had indicated he would be available on April 15 and 16 for parliamentary business and that a debate on the TRC report should be provisionally scheduled for then.
Last week, Justice Minister Penuell Maduna said the issue of those who had failed to apply for amnesty from the TRC would have to be confronted soon and that parties should deal it during the debate on the report.
The government has also said it is unable to move on reparations for victims of gross human rights abuses until the report is tabled and debated. The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation on Wednesday criticised Finance Minister Trevor Manuel for failing to make provision for reparations in his 2003 Budget.
"It is deeply disappointing that there is no relief in sight to ease painful memories. We expected this budget to bring closure to this matter," the Institute said in a statement.
"Instead it reinforces a sense of inadequate acknowledgement of those that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) declared to be victims of gross human rights violations." Late last year, the government reported it had made reparation payments of R50-million to 18 000 people for harm they suffered under apartheid, as an interim measure in line with recommendations by the TRC. - Sapa
Sunday, March 2, 2003
A global movement of poets
Poets Against the War is a global movement of poets that erupted in February, 2003, to protest the invasion of Iraq by the Bush administration. Within a few weeks, the movement ballooned into an international phenomenon, with over 13,000 poets submitting their poetry to the web site to protest the war.
Tuesday, February 25, 2003
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...
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...
Sunday, February 23, 2003
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