TRC

The TRC can be a controversial topic. There are still debates today about it effectiveness and success, which makes it a great case study for students trying to determine how to evaluate the accomplishments of attempts at transitional justice. The activities below ask students to analyze primary sources from the TRC itself, as well as secondary sources that have reflected and written about the process there after. Some of the stories are tough and at times graphic, but this is intended for a mature high school classroom. 

Activity 1: 

The History of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission

What is the function of a truth commission? 

What role do truth commissions play in the bigger picture of transitional justice? 

This reading has some great quotes from international lawyers and establish a nice solid background for the TRC. See below for the attached reading. 

Activity 2: 

Goals and Process of the TRC

Students should read the excerpt from "Foreword by Chairperson, Reverend Tutu Archbishop Emeritus" from the Final Report of the Commission. Ask students to take notes on a T chart. In the first column have students list the goals that Tutu established in his foreword, in the second column students should take notes on what chosen processes were intended to help meet those goals. 

Excerpt from Tutu's Foreward

 On July 19, 1995, South Africa established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) with separate committees on human rights violations, amnesty, and reparation and rehabilitation. Its mission was based on the belief that "to achieve unity and morally acceptable reconciliation, it is necessary that the truth about gross violations of humans rights must be: established by an official investigation unit using fair procedures; fully and unreservedly acknowledged by the perpetrators; made known to the public, together with the identity of the planners, perpetrators, and victims." Amnesty would be granted only to those who applied for it and fully disclosed their misdeeds.

    In a trial, the focus is on the perpetrator. At the hearings the TRC would hold, the focus would be on the victims and their families. As Alex Bouraine, who served on the TRC, said at an international conference, "To ignore what happened to thousands of people who were victims of abuse under apartheid is to deny them their basic dignity. It is to condemn them to live as nameless victims with little or no chance to begin their lives over again."

Activity 3:

Review the Facts of the Case 

Truth and Reconciliation Fact Sheet

Commissions were set up in 1995 and ended in 1998 

Looked at cases that took place between March 1960 - December 1994 

The work of the TRC was accomplished through three committees: 

• The Human Rights Violations Committee (HRVC) investigated human rights abuses that occurred between 1960 and 1994. 

• The Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee (RR) was charged with restoring victims' dignity and formulating proposals to assist with rehabilitation. 

• The Amnesty Committee (AC) considered applications from individuals who applied for amnesty in accordance with the provisions of the Act. 

21,000 Statements from victims were recorded 

87% of the statements came from black South Africans. 

7,000 South Africans applied for Amnesty 

5, 392 denied because the crime was deemed to have been committed out of personal motives, outside the scope of time (1960-1994), or because individuals refused to admit guilt. 

849 were granted amnesty 

Amnesty may be granted "to those who make full disclosure of all the relevant facts relating to acts associated with a political objective committed in the course of the conflicts of the past". 

Should amnesty be denied, applicant and victims were notified, and the law would take its course with the applicant. The applicant would however be protected against disclosure of the amnesty application. Any party aggrieved by the decision of the Committee had the right to approach the High Court for review of the decision.

Activity 4: 

Desmund Tutu's Forward for the Commission provides a nice summary of the issues surrounding choosing a truth commission over a trial. For students writing papers comparing the two forms of justice, it is essential that they read Tutu's explanation of the "Transitional Options" where he addresses the precedents of the Nuremberg trial directly. 

Activity 5: 

There is nothing more powerful than watching actual recordings of the truth commissions. PBS has a great documentary entitle Facing the Truth that does a thorough job of looking at a range of people who came and were brought forth to the truth commissions. I utilized their teacher guide heavily to help students make sense o and process the documentary. I also took the time to select specific quotes from the film that I thought we could both discuss later as a class and that could also be used by students as evidence in their final papers. 

Activity 6:

Here are a few resources that my co-teacher and I created to help students gain a deeper understanding of the TRC. We assigned this packet after students chose their research question. Often times we recommended to students which articles to read based on their focus. 

1. The lessons of South Africa’s TRC for Africa ten years later, West Cape News, by Patrick Burnett, October 31, 2008

2. South African Lesson: Crossroads, July 13, 2010, Kathmandu Post, Pramod Mishra

3. Truth and Reconciliation: Lessons from the South African context,  Centre for the Study of Violence and 

    Reconciliation, Nahla Valji

4. Amy's Story : Their Daughter was Murdered - 60 Minutes - CBS News

5. The God of Surprises, REC Mission Bulletin, Vol. XX, No. 1, April 2000 by Piet Meiring

6. Review Essay: A Country Unmasked: Inside South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Fall 2001 - Vol. 18, 

    No. 3, Antonia Moras

7. South Africa: Victory in Pardons Process, Serious Follow Up Needed, Cape Town, October 19, 2010

8. ‘Harrowing the Ground so that Others May Build’ by Colleen Scott.