The South African
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Videotape Collection

Borraine, Alex & Levy, Janet (eds). The Healing of a Nation? (1995).
A collection of papers presented at a conference in July 1994 addressing the debates surrounding the TRC and amnesty as the TRC was being formed. Commissions in Chile, Argentina, and El Salvador are discussed.

Brooks, Roy L. When Sorry Isn’t Enough: The Controversy over Apologies and Reparations for Human Injustice (1999).
This collection of essays and documents looks at controversies surrounding the redress of human injustice, including sections on Nazi Persecution, Japanese Interment in the United States, Slavery, and Native Americans. Part 8 looks at South Africa and contains excerpted transcripts of amnesty hearings as well as a number of articles on the amnesty process.

Christie, Kenneth. The South African Truth Commission (2000).
In this general examination of the TRC, Chapter 5 considers the political realities and controversies surrounding amnesty; the author describes the TRC’s amnesty process as “an ambitious project” that was a “qualified success.”

James, Wilmot and van de Vijver, Linda (eds.). After the TRC: Reflections on Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa (2000).
This book contains a number of contributions presented at conference in Cape Town in April 1999. In Chapter 14, Linda van de Vijver offers some general thoughts on the amnesty process as well as a comparison of the Chris Hani case with the Amy Biehl case, where the killers were granted amnesty. She applauds the Hani decision while describing the Biehl decision as “less carefully considered.”

Krog, Antjie. Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa (1998).
A prominent poet and journalist in South Africa provides a wrenching account of the TRC after covering the hearings for two years. She addresses issues surrounding amnesty in Chapter 11, “Amnesty: In Transit with the Ghosts.”

Rwelamira, R.W. & Werle, G. (eds). Confronting Past Injustices: Approaches to Amnesty, Punishment, Reparation and Restitution in South Africa and Germany (1996).
Part I of this comparative collection of essays addresses issues surrounding punishment and amnesty.

Rigby, Allen. Justice and Reconciliation: After the Violence (2001)
This book examines how societies wracked by violent conflict reconcile themselves to their recent history. In addition to a chapter entitled “South Africa: Amnesty in Return for Truth,” the author looks at Europe post-WW II, Spain, Latin America, Europe post-1989, and Palestine.

Rotberg, Robert I and Thompson, Dennis (eds). Truth vs. Justice: The Morality of Truth Commissions (2000).
A number of articles in this collection touch on amnesty, including Ronald C. Slye, “Amnesty, Truth and Reconciliation: Reflections on the South African Amnesty Process,” and Kent Greenawalt, “Amnesty’s Justice.”

Shea, Dorothy. The South African Truth Commission: The Politics of Reconciliation (2000).
In Chapter 2, Shea describes how the TRC architects learned lessons from the general amnesty granted in other countries and in Chapter 3 notes some of the criticisms of the amnesty committee and its decisions.

Villa-Vicencio, Charles & Verwoerd, Wilhelm (eds.). Looking Back, Reaching Forward: Reflections on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (2000).
A few chapters in this collection consider the issue of amnesty specifically. In Chapter 17, Ronald Slye argues that though the TRC’s amnesty “has a stronger claim to moral and legal legitimacy than do any of its predecessors,” its focus on politically motivated violence weakened its legitimacy. Richard Lyster and Nkosinathi Biko also consider amnesty in Chapters 18 and 19.

Villa-Vicencio, Charles & Doxtader, Erik (eds.). The Provocations of Amnesty: Memory, Justice and Impunity (2003).
Representing probably the best introduction and overview of the amnesty process in South Africa, this recent collection of essays by analysts and scholars addresses the wide range of issues surrounding the amnesty debate.

Journal Articles

Bhargava, Anurima. Defining Political Crimes: A Case Study of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 102 Colum. L. Rev 1304 (2002).
This student Note argues generally that the Amnesty Committee focused too much on the political organization requirement, and that this “undermined the express goals of the amnesty process and failed, in practice, to provide a viable definition of political crimes that could be used by future countries in transition.” The author criticizes the Hani decision as inconsistent with other decisions of the Amnesty Committee.

Gibson, James L. Truth, Justice and Reconciliation: Judging the Fairness of Amnesty in South Africa. 46 American J. of Pol. Science 540 (2002).
The author considers various forms of justice by surveying the South African public about the amnesty process. He finds that most South Africans opposed granting amnesty to those who committed gross human rights violations, but that “the goal of rendering amnesty decisions more acceptable seems be well served by processes” like those of the TRC.

Schabacker, Emily W. Reconciliation or Justice and Ashes: Amnesty Commissions and the Duty To Punish Human Rights Offenses, 12 N.Y. Int’l L. Rev 1 (1999).
The author argues that the TRC “does not violate any human rights-based duty to prosecute, and . . . that forcing large-scale prosecutions upon a nascent democracy may have the counter-productive effect of actually causing additional human rights violations to occur.”

University of Toronto Law Journal, South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission: A Symposium, 49 U. of Toronto L.J. 315 (1999).
This symposium issue contains several articles addressing questions surrounding amnesty.

Villa-Vicencio. Why Perpetrators Should Not Always Be Prosecuted: Where the International Criminal Court and Truth Commissions Meet, 49 Emory L. Rev 205 (2000).
The author argues for a tandem relationship between truth commission and the ICC in which some mechanism would analyze truth commissions and suspend demands on the ICC when the commission seeks to negotiate a difficult political transition.

Young, Gwen K. All the Truth and as Much Justice as Possible. 9 U.C. Davis J. or Int’l Law 209 (2003).
The author examines the evolution of amnesty in Chile and South Africa and concludes that amnesty is important tool, but one that must be considered in light of obligations to prosecute human rights abuses, political realities, and the needs of victims.