April 23, 1997
STATEMENT BY DR ALEX BORAINE, VICE-CHAIRPERSON, TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has noted a number of radio and newspaper reports in which it has been attacked by families of victims of the Magoo's Bar bombing for excluding them from its questioning of Robert McBride and Greta Appelgren.
The Commission understands and sympathises with the anger expressed by the families but we feel we are being unfairly criticised. The section of the law which gives the Commission the power to compel people to co-operate with our investigations explicitly prohibits us from allowing anyone else to attend. We have no discretion to allow anyone else to be present, even if we want to.
If we had tried to allow the families to attend, Mr McBride and Ms Appelgren would have been able to withdraw from the proceedings and seek a Supreme Court interdict to order us to exclude the families. They would very likely have been granted an interdict on the grounds that the Commission would have been acting in open defiance of the law.
Unlike the police, the Commission has no powers of arrest or detention when it carries out its inquiries. The only comparable investigative tool is Section 29 of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, which enables us to subpoena people such as Mr McBride and to compel them to answer questions.
Once investigations are complete, the law gives us the discretion to reveal information gained during the Section 29 inquiry.
In the case of Mr McBride and Ms Appelgren, there will be a public amnesty hearing. The law gives the families of victims the right to be legally represented and to testify, lead evidence and oppose the application. In addition, Commission policy is that families of victims are given advance access to the contents of the amnesty applications to enable them to prepare for the hearing.