Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
March 13, 1997
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is concerned at the widespread confusion reflected in the media over the Commission's role in dealing with allegations about people alleged to have been informers for the government in the apartheid era.
We believe it is necessary to set the record straight by placing on record developments so far:
Last Monday the TRC's Amnesty Committee decided that it did not consider it appropriate for the Committee's present purposes that a former Security policeman applying for amnesty should be forced to name people whom he alleged had been police informers.
On Tuesday the Human Rights Violations Committee, at a regular meeting, discussed the matter thoroughly. It decided that while it may not be necessary for the work of the Amnesty Committee for the alleged informers to be named, in view of the Commission's commitment to openness an attempt should be made to ascertain their identities.
On Wednesday, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Chairperson of the TRC, announced our intentions, noting the following:
"I shall be discussing the matter fully with the Amnesty Committee. However, I do not understand that their decision necessarily precludes other sections of the Commission from conducting an investigation, at least for purposes other than those of the amnesty process."
On Friday the matter was raised by a delegation from the ANC at a meeting with the Commission in Cape Town. We informed the ANC that we had already set in motion procedures to obtain the identity of alleged informers.
We have written to the attorneys for the applicants whose case is before the Amnesty Committee, asking that their clients provide names or face subpoenas requiring them to do so. In terms of a recent Appeal Court decision those named would be given 21 days' notice before being asked to appear before the Commission.
It is of critical importance that at every stage of this process it is kept in mind that we are dealing with allegations which will need to be orroborated before any public announcement is made. The fact that these are so far untested allegations is being largely ignored.
It is also important to make it clear that the Commission does not intend to launch a large-scale sniffing out of alleged informers. We have neither the resources, the time nor the inclination to do this. Where we will have to take action is when specific evidence is placed before a hearing alleging that an informer was party to a gross violation of human rights, either before, during or after the fact. In these cases, we are bound to investigate the allegation, just as we would any other allegation of direct involvement in a gross violation.
We are determined not to allow this issue to become a political football. Our handling of the matter will governed by the specific and carefully-defined objectives of the Commission laid down in an Act of Parliament.