The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a court-like body created in South Africa after the end of Apartheid and its atrocities. Anyone that believed they were a victim of violence or abuse during the Apartheid Era could step forward and be listened to by the members and judges of the TRC. Inflictors of violence during the apartheid era could give testimony and request for amnesty from prosecution for things that they had done. The TRC, despite having some flaws, was a stepping-stone to justice and democracy in South Africa.
Founded in 1995 by highly recognized people such as Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu, (chairperson), Dr Alex Boraine (Deputy Chairperson), Mary Burton and many more. The TRC consisted of three committees: The Committee of Human Rights Violations, The Committee of Amnesty and the Committee of Reparation and Rehabilitation of South Africa.
The Committee of Human Rights Violations offered people, who suffered gross human rights violations, a chance to tell the TRC their stories. It investigated gross human rights violations and found out how and why they happened. The committee investigated the human rights violations that happened between 1961 and 1994 and approximately 21000 statements were made and recorded. These hearings took place across South Africa from 1996-1998.
The Committee of Amnesty offered people who had committed human rights violations to apply for amnesty if they told the truth. Anybody could apply for amnesty if there was political reasoning for what they did. To be granted amnesty, one must tell the committee everything that they know that occurred between March 1960 and May 1994.
The Committee of Reparation and Rehabilitation of South Africa w...
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...vement as similair to those committed by the Apartheid Regime” stated Thabo Mbeki (New Generation History Learners Book- Grade 12 2014- page 343). The Liberation Movement committed human rights violations in defense to those committed by the Apartheid Government. This is unfair justice as the Liberation movement did this in self-defense. Another limitation of the TRC.
In conclusion, I believe the TRC was successful in terms of its aim of creating a more united South Africa and exposing the horrors and atrocities of Apartheid but failed as many murderers walked freely and a majority of the evidence was tampered with by the NP. Not everything said in front of the TRC was entirely true, different versions of the truth were told especially by the NP. Therefore I believe the TRC had the potential to be excellent, it did what needed to be done but was not done accurately.
Their enslavement was a form of apartheid while the denial of their rights was part of political and economic disempowerment. This was until they formed their civil rights movement of 1960s (DeSipio Lecture Three 2).
The development of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was reconstituted in 1982 to allow human rights and responsibilities. The charter emplaces their rights for people to not discriminate against other races or
How much more do we need to do before we start responding to these legacies? Works Cited United Human Rights Council. United Human Rights Council. N.p., n.d. Web. The Web.
All around the world people and countries are continuing the efforts to end Human Rights Violations. Human rights violations are a big problem in
Schattuck, John. “Overview of Human Right Practices, 1995,” Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. March 1996: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 10 Oct 2013.
justice has also been denied to them. For more than a century the rights of
Center for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University. (1994) Twenty-five Human Rights Documents. New York: Columbia University.
Another measure was with the processes of the Department of Corrections being subjected to greater review by Congress in Washington, D.C. By 1998, the trio of advocates had once again become involved in the creation of another report with United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Radhika Coomaraswamy. Prisons in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota and New York were audited by Coomaraswamy, with the report being released in early 1999 in the U.N. Commission on Human Rights meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. Another international human rights group, which is based in London called Amnesty International, decided to join this movement for women inmates by highlighting the issue in their annual campaign in 1998 that yielded its own three reports on the matter. Among the many lasting effects of this initiative was the use of international human rights law during litigation, greater funding and training on sexual misconduct being conducted in prisons as well as wider media coverage (Ford Foundation, 2004).
It starts with remembering events where human rights were violated. Many people went missing while they in police detention. The stories would be that the people would commit suicide, which the black community did not believe. Steve Biko, who was the founder of black conscious movement, was said to have banged his head on the wall. They drove him to Pretoria when he was already near an emergency treatment and naked to make the matters worse. When people questioned it, it was completely ignored by the officers. The judicial system was corrupted and was unfair to the black community. The Nuremberg trial wasn’t helpful, it caused lost of being that could have gone to education and housing, evidence never survived, and cabinet minister and commissioner of police would lie. With Tutu being in the chair of commision, the people now tell their stories and not be afraid.
The standards of the Joint Commission are a foundation for an objective evaluation process the may help healthcare organizations measure, assess and improve performance. These standards are focused on organizational functions that are key for providing safe high quality care services. The Joint Commission’s standards set goal expectations of reasonable, achievable and surveyable performance of an organization. Only new standards that are relative to patient safety or care quality, have positive impact on healthcare outcomes, and can be accurately measured are added. Input from healthcare professionals, providers, experts, consumers and government agencies develop these standards.
2.2. Supporting fact two: Even though Mandela fought against the white minority ruling over the black community, he did not consider white people to be inferior, as he says in this declaration: “I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal
This treatment of the South Africans would lead to intense racial problems in South Africa, most notably in the 20th century. In the 1940’s laws were passed similar to the Jim Crow laws in the United States. These laws were based on white supremacist views making every other type of people on the same level as some kind of subhuman.
Apartheid was a system of classified inhabitants and visitors into racial groups. Nelson Mandela is most known for his heroic efforts to end Apartheid in South Africa. During the apartheid era, the blacks were subjected to the worst forms of discrimination by the white minority. They were restricted and forced to live in townships, whereas whites were allowed to enjoy unlimited freedom. Blacks were stripped of their right to vote, own property, marry whites, work with whites, and even travel anywhere without carrying proper documentation. The whites wanted to make sure that no blacks were considered citizens. Mandela’s reaction to the inhumane social conditions was to team up with the ANC, African National Congress, and stop racial discrimination. While others wanted to seek violence in making a d...
The African National Congress wanted a democratic future where all races would enjoy equal rights. (Encyclopedia, 2008) South Africa was going through a hard time, ”The Great Depression” and ”The World War 2” brought economical problems for the Africans. The government needed to strengthen its policies of racial segregation, and they did. In 1948, the Afrikaner...
I was treated well in prison; security guards grew a certain respect for me. I decided not to waste my time, so I informed my cellmates about the apartheid, and their horrible laws. They listened attentively, and wanted to help, so together we organized hunger strikes and protests. After 27 years, on February 11, 1990 I was released from jail. I could’ve got out of jail in 1985, P.W. Botha offered me a release but only if I would stop the armed conflict. Without a doubt, I chose to stay in prison because I believed that the right thing to do was to put an end to apartheid. P.W. Botha was an evil man, he committed to state terrorism and to thwart black majority rule. He had a stroke in 1989 and Frederick Willem replaced Botha. Frederick on the other hand, was the complete opposite of Botha. He set me free from jail.”