The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission

After reading “the Innocent Man” by Pamela Colloff’s who write a long journalism about Michael Morton, who was found guilty for murdering his wife Christine was sentenced for fifteen years in prison. Later founding that Michael was Innocent after reinvestigating his case, capturing DNA testing and finding new evidence was able to help prove his innocence. The theme of this essay a widow husband who seek to fight for his freedom in prison and staying connected with his son. Michal son Eric gave him a reason to have hope that they would one day reunite and his son would know for himself that he did murder his wife. The point of view of this essay although a man is falsely accuse for a crime he did not commit he is self-determined to fight.

Fist of all what is forgiveness? Many of the contributors to Wiesenthal “The Sunflower” give their own definition, but most agree it is the act of relieving someone of their crimes against

While the students were protesting the police were ordered to fire and almost half of the students who protested were killed. Because of the incident, the South African government started dismantling Apartheid in 1986. In 1994, the country worked to gradually introduce fairness and equity also they held the first elections in which all South Africans could vote, and Nelson Mandela was elected president. In 1995, Nelson Mandela establishes the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to help South Africans solved their country’s horrible past and also has managed to move forward.

During the period of Apartheid in South Africa between 1948 and 1994 the reactions of the South African citizens towards the legal separation of races varied depending on race, ideals and time period. After gold and diamonds were fud inSouthAfrica both the dutch and British wanted the land to themselves, leading to the Boer War from which the Dutch farmers emerged victorious. Following the Boer War and the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the Dutch Boers gained control over the majority of the land in the previously British Cape Colony along with the settlements they had already built, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Blacks in South Africa made up about eighty percent of the population but only lived on ten percent of

The South African Apartheid, instituted in 1948 by the country’s Afrikaner National Party, was legalized segregation on the basis of race, and is a system comparable to the segregation of African Americans in the United States. Non-whites - including blacks, Indians, and people of color in general- were prohibited from engaging in any activities specific to whites and prohibited from engaging in interracial marriages, receiving higher education, and obtaining certain jobs. The National Party’s classification of “race” was loosely based on physical appearance and lineage. White individuals were superficially defined as being “obviously white'' on the basis of their “habits, education and speech as well as deportment and demeanor”; an

In the last 15 years, Everett has thoroughly studied how forgiveness and justice collaborate. His interest in this topic peaked after his mother was murdered which at the time was very devastating for him, as can be to anyone. Over time, Everett forgave the person who murdered his mother. Everett fiercely believes the art of forgiveness was passed to them through their mother. Everett had a brother which committed suicide as a result of the agony he dealt with in his mother’s passing. After the commitment of his brother’s suicide, he felt great self-blame and has since studied self-forgiveness

Eleven million people died in the Holocaust, of that number six million were Jews. Those that did not perish had a significant number of heinous war crimes committed against them. In the aftermath many ask: should one forgive these inhumane monstrous actions, if confessed to? The Sunflower examines the difficult topic of forgiveness amongst genocide in Simon Wiesenthal’s direct experience and through various other individual responses to the same scenario; these various responses illustrate the major arguments in favor of forgiveness and against forgiveness. It was through these examinations that I was able to conclude how I might have acted if I had been in a similar position to Wiesenthal.

For truth commissions, there is a shift in focus from achieving justice, to restoring justice. Testimonies from victims are used to establish a collective narrative. Truth commissions create a position for victims that are not centred on their role as evidence. Rather, victims are used in promoting reconciliation through the expression of individual narratives that are transformed into collective national identities. Truth commissions provide an environment for victims to share their stories, which promotes healing within affected communities. Nonetheless, the opportunity to share stories does not guarantee reconciliation for its participants. Kathleen Mahoney’s article “The Settlement Process: A Personal Reflection” traces the journey to create the Settlement agreement. During the TRC process, many survivors shared their stories with the government but often felt as

The avowal that the apartheid ‘vision for democracy’ necessitated state terror and repression is evident when examining the South African apartheid system between 1960 -1994. The system of apartheid spiked significant internal resistance, hence, the ideology for apartheid stems from the creation of a white state surrounded by economically interdependent and politically dependent black states, which required state terror and repression to ensure mounting resistance and international condemnation did not abolish the apartheid system. The government responded to a series of popular uprisings and protests with police brutality, which increased support for armed resistance. Detentions were set without trial, torture, censorship and the outlawing of political oppositional organizations such as The African National Congress, the Black Conscious Movement, the Azanian Peoples Organisation, The Pan Africanist Congress and the United Democratic Front, were all a result of the apartheid government due to political resistance.

In the book, “The Kite Runner,” the role that forgiveness plays and the lack of forgiveness is a major role. There are many internal conflicts that the main characters face and all of these challenges or conflicts revolve around forgiveness. Amir, Baba, and Hassan have a difficult time living in their society. The author of this book, Khaled Hosseini, makes the point that forgiveness is much harder for the different characters because of their places in society. This book is set in the Middle East during the 1970’s, at this point in time things were beginning to change. This change is what affects these characters the most and the ways in which they handle things.

Forgiveness reunites families, tribes, and friends. In the stories, Cry the Beloved Country and “Marriage is a Private Affair”, forgiveness is needed for the two main characters. In Cry the Beloved Country, Absalom Kumalo commits a murder crime and in the story, “Marriage is a Private Affair”, Nnaemeka marries a woman against his father’s wishes. Both Absalom and Nnaemeka deserve forgiveness from their friends, family, and tribe. Absalom Kumalo deserves forgiveness more than Nnaemeka because Absalom does not have an intention of doing wrong, he feels more grief than Nnaemeka, and is surrounded by bad influences while Nnaemeka is not.

Throughout the course of human history, violence has been a reoccurring theme in the conquest for power in countries across the planet. Understanding the ideology behind some of this violence have puzzled historians and psychologists for centuries; furthermore, the presence of reconciliation between the victims and perpetrators after some of these horrific acts of terror is even more astonishing. This form of reconciliation was a significant factor during South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) formed in 1996. After close analysis, I have been able to identify the difference between the similar terms of reconciliation and forgiveness, understand the evaluation process of reconciliation between victims and perpetrators

During the course one’s life, one will encounter situations in which one strongly feels a particular way despite a lack of evidence. Often, the strength of such convictions will lead one to act rashly, projecting one’s views onto others due to one’s emotional state. This rashness can lead to one making decisions that will harm both oneself and those around one. The rifts that are created as a result of such difficulties can lead to tension and differences between individuals for years to come. More often than not, one must find a way to be forgiven for what one has done, as only then can one obtain peace with others and oneself. In Ian McEwan’s Atonement, Briony Tallis’s struggle on her path to understanding and correcting an injustice demonstrates the manner in which one can be forgiven, showing that in order to achieve forgiveness one must take the path to righting one’s wrongdoings and admitting the truth of one’s situation.

Many of the contemporary issues in South Africa can easily be associated with the apartheid laws which devastated the country. The people of South Africa struggle day by day to reverse “the most cruel, yet well-crafted,” horrific tactic “of social engineering.” The concept behind apartheid emerged in 1948 when the nationalist party took over government, and the all-white government enforced “racial segregation under a system of legislation” . The central issues stem from 50 years of apartheid include poverty, income inequality, land ownership rates and many other long term affects that still plague the brunt of the South African population while the small white minority still enjoy much of the wealth, most of the land and opportunities

In this thesis the writer “J.Matisonn” writes about how the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) not only addressed issues of crimes against humanity that also affected the Human rights of people but the other thing the TRC did well if anything according to this article it that it also addressed those people , organizations and even institutions who used media and propaganda in order to not only further the cause of the Apartheid government but to hurt so many families and relatives in the process.