Synopses & Reviews
South Africas Truth and Reconciliation Commission was the twenty first of its kind. It was more ambitious in the scope of its enquiry, more transparent in the nature of its proceedings, and more highly charged, symbolically, than any that preceded it. Its public hearings of testimony from victims and perpetrators, drenched with emotion and drama, are what most people remember when they recall the TRC. Yet at the same time, there were parallel processes of documentation, data analysis, quasi-judicial shifting of evidence and writing up the results.
Synopsis
This work includes the uncensored voices of survivors of human rights abuses who testified before South Africa's Truth and Reconcilation Commission and in whose name the hearings were undertaken. The views of three groups with different perspectives are reported: academic scholars, commissioners and researchers and people who related stories of victimization perpetrated on themselves or a family member. The emerging dialogue between "outsiders" and "insiders, " and between national, local, and individual experiences is a distinguishing feature of the book.
About the Author
Deborah Posel is a professor and director of HUMA, University of Cape Town.