Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
October 18, 1996
STATEMENT BY ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has resolved to ask Parliament to extend the date covered by the Commission's brief from December 1993 to the day of President Mandela's inauguration, May 10, 1994.
The Commission views the December 1993 cut-off date as one arbitrarily determined by the fact that the Interim Constitution was approved at that time. However, May 10, 1994, as a date which marks the opening of a new chapter in South Africa's history, has far more symbolic importance.
We believe that it would be an act of generosity in keeping with the spirit of the reconciliation which we seek to promote, to move the date to May 1994. The participation in the Commission's work of two important constituencies, those of the Pan Africanist Congress and the Freedom Front, would be enhanced by such a decision. It would also enable victims and survivors, as well as perpetrators, of human rights abuses which occurred after December 1993 to approach the Commission.
If Parliament agrees with us, the Commission also recommends that the December 14, 1996, deadline date for amnesty applications should be moved back by three months, to March 14, 1997. Such a step would:
- Enable those who would become entitled to apply for amnesty to have reasonable time to do so; - Enable the Section 29 subpoena process, which is only just getting under way, to be used to encourage potential amnesty applicants to submit their applications; - Enable perpetrators and their lawyers who are assessing how the Amnesty Committee applies the law to have more decisions to base their assessments on.
We need to emphasise that the Commission's proposal is only a recommendation to Parliament, which may be accepted, amended or rejected. It would be premature to assume that the dates will change and the Commission will not act under that assumption in its operations.
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