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South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls for reparations
2003-066-2
3/25/2003
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[Episcopal News Service]
As he presented the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to South African President Thabo Mbeki, Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu recommended that $270 million be paid to the 20,000 victims who, he said, had waited 'too long.' He called on big businesses, who had been beneficiaries of the apartheid policies, to contribute to the reparations process.
The commission gathered the testimonies of about 21,000 people from 1996 to 1998 in an effort to reconcile victims and perpetrators of human rights abuses. It granted amnesty to 1,200 people but turned down more than 5,000 applications. Mbeki promised to respond to the recommendations quickly.
Tutu said that the state could not afford to prosecute those who were not granted amnesty because 'the burden on our system would be quite intolerable…and the cost astronomical.' He added that 'there are very many who should have applied for amnesty and who didn't.'
Any future investigations are hampered by the fact that the government cannot use testimonies already presented to the commission. Tutu said that there was some solace to be found, even if perpetrators are not prosecuted. 'This is a moral universe. You may walk as if you were free, but there is no doubt whatsoever you are going to have a trial living with yourself.'
The final report was delayed by legal challenges, including one from the Inkatha Freedom Party, comprised mostly of Zulus in Natal, over passages on political clashes that left nearly 12,000 dead.
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