Bruce A. McMenomy, Ph.D. and Christe A. McMenomy, Ph.D. for Scholars Online
2019-20: Mondays and Wednesdays, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
65: Wed, May 6, 2020
Please post in the forum for the day a short essay in response to this question:
The Truth and Reconciliation Commision in South Africa had three major tasks:
Investigate human rights violations suffered as a result of planning by the state or other organizations, groups, or individuatls. Identified victims were then referred to the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee to tell their story.
In order to identify human rights violations perpetrated in defense of or against apartheid, the commission requested summaries from different groups and factions. Some of these were supportive, but not all of them were.
Read the APLA (the Azanian People's Liberation Army) Submission.
Does the APLA support the TRC? What are its goals? Why is it participating in the TRC activities?
In fact, the TRC did eventually grant amnesty to some APLA members, but not to others who claimed to be APLA members, when they could not establish membership in APLA or political motivation for the acts.
This committee attempted on a case-by-case basis to provide rehabilitation and healing for the survivors of human rights violations leading to peacful co-existience.
The first case to be heard was in London, not Africa, in April of 1996 with four women, the wives of four black anti-apartheid protestors known as the Cradock Four, who were abducted by the South African Security police and killed in June, 1985 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cradock_Four).
Read through the testimony by Nomonde Calata (up to the section marked 17 Mkhonto).
Why does this widow want to give testimony? What does she hope to accomplish?
Among the cases heard in Cape Town were the cases of those injured in the Saint James Church Massacre, an attack eventually pinned on the APLA.
Read through the testimony of Paul Manuel Williams. The three main perpetrators, including Gcinikhaya Makoma mentioned in the testimony, were granted amnesty by the TRC as having followed orders to carry out a politically motivated attack.
The Amnesty Committee reviewed acts committed for a political motivation, including murder. One of the more controversial cases involved the Trust Feed Massacre.
The case of the Trust Feed Massacre: Description from South African History Online.
Amnesty Hearing Transcript: this is long, and you can read all of it if you want to, but be sure to read:
Why do the lawyers argue for amnesty in this case? What long term goals do the lawyers hope to achieve?
Contents of this page © Copyright 2015-19 by Christe A. McMenomy and Bruce A. McMenomy.
Permission to download or print this page is hereby given to members of Scholars Online for purposes of personal study only. All other use constitutes a violation of copyright.