The Truth and Reconciliation Commission - 9780821422786

The Truth and Reconciliation CommissionAuthor(s): Mary Ingouville Burton\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Ohio University Press, United States\nImprint: Ohio University Press\nISBN-13: 9780821422786, 978-0821422786\nSynopsis\nIn 1995, South Africa's new government set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a lynchpin of the country's journey forward from apartheid. In contrast to the Nuremberg Trials and other retributive responses to atrocities, the TRC's emphasis on reconciliation marked a restorative approach to addressing human rights violations and their legacies. The hearings, headed by Bishop Desmond Tutu, began in spring of 1996.\n The commission was set up with three purposes: to investigate abuses, to assist victims with rehabilitation, and to consider perpetrators' requests for amnesty. More than two decades after the first hearings, the TRC's legacy remains mixed. Many families still do not know what became of their loved ones, and the commission came under legal chall.