This week's session of the Truth Commission was actually a sitting of its Human Rights Committee. Let's take a look at how the commission works. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has 17 members and is divided into three committees: The Committee on Human Rights Violations, the Committee on Amnesty, and the Committee on Rehabilitation and Reparation. The Committee on Human Rights Violations investigates gross human rights violations, such as torture, murder, kidnapping and assault committed between the dates of the 1st of March 1960 to the 5th of December 1993. It may gather information and hear evidence from victims and witnesses in an attempt to find out who committed human rights violations and why. It can subpoena witnesses. Allied to this is an investigative unit. The Committee on Amnesty considers amnesty applications from perpetrators. To qualify for amnesty they must have committed these acts with a political objective. The applicants may get amnesty if certain criteria are met: they must make a full confession, and show that they received orders from a political party or the state. The committee will also take into account the motive, the context and the gravity of the action. Once the applicants have been granted amnesty they may not be criminally charged for the same act. Amnesty may also be refused in which case persons remain liable for prosecution. The Committee on Reparation and Rehabilitation considers the plight of the victims of human rights violations and may consider compensation. At the heart of truth and reconciliation in South Africa is Archbishop Desmond Tutu. // We believe that our country has taken the right course in the process of healing to hear these stories.
