DATE=3/11/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-42824
TITLE=TRUTH COMMISSIONS
BYLINE=CAROL PINEAU
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: LAST WEEK, THE GUATEMALAN TRUTH COMMISSION RELEASED A
REPORT DETAILING HUMAN-RIGHTS ABUSES DURING THE COUNTRY'S LONG
CIVIL WAR. TRUTH COMMISSIONS HAVE BEEN USED BY SEVERAL COUNTRIES
TO HELP REBUILD NATIONS TORN APART BY INTERNAL CONFLICT. CAROL
PINEAU REPORTS FROM WASHINGTON THAT A PANEL OF EXPERTS MET (AT
THE U-S INSTITUTE OF PEACE) IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK (WEDNESDAY
3/10) TO DISCUSS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SUCH EFFORTS.
TEXT: THE GUATEMALAN REPORT INCLUDES AN 18-HUNDRED PAGE APPENDIX
LISTING VICTIMS OF THE GOVERNMENT'S 36-YEAR REIGN OF TERROR.
SOUTH AFRICA'S TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION HAS USED
PUBLIC HEARINGS TO UNCOVER IN DETAIL SEVERE HUMAN-RIGHTS ABUSES
SANCTIONED BY THE STATE JUDICIAL SYSTEM DURING THE COUNTRY'S
APARTHEID ERA.
THE DIRECTOR OF THE RULE OF LAW PROGRAM AT THE U-S INSTITUTE OF
PEACE, NEIL KRITZ, SAYS COUNTRIES EMERGING FROM WAR OR EXTREME
OPPRESSION HAVE OFTEN SOUGHT TO BURY THE PAST. DISCLOSING THE
FULL TRUTH ABOUT ABUSES COMMITTED BY A BRUTAL REGIME WAS SEEN AS
AN OBSTACLE TO PEACE AND RECONCILIATION.
MR. KRITZ SAYS TODAY, THERE IS A GROWING CONSENSUS THAT A TRUTH
COMMISSION CAN ENABLE A SOCIETY TO COME TO TERMS WITH ITS PAST.
HE SAYS A COMMISSION CAN HELP PEOPLE AGREE ON HISTORICAL FACTS,
AND UNDERSTAND WHAT CHANGES MUST TAKE PLACE IN THE FUTURE TO
PREVENT FURTHER VIOLENCE.
/// KRITZ ACT ///
IN MANY SOCIETIES, TRUTH COMMISSIONS HAVE SERVED AN
IMPORTANT FUNCTION AND HAVE BEEN EFFECTIVE -- AT LEAST
IN GIVING SOME VICTIMS AN OPPORTUNITY, IF NOT FOR
COMPLETE CLOSURE, A SENSE THAT SOCIETY HAS ACKNOWLEDGED
THEIR VICTIMIZATION, [AND] HAS MADE WHAT HAPPENED TO
THEM PART OF THE OFFICIAL HISTORY WHICH NEEDS TO BE
REMEMBERED, WHICH NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT TO FUTURE
GENERATIONS.
/// END ACT ///
BUT MR. KRITZ SAYS TRUTH COMMISSIONS ARE ONLY PART OF THE
SOLUTION. HE SAYS PROSECUTIONS, REPARATIONS AND MEMORIALS ARE
ALSO IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF HEALING THE WOUNDS LEFT BY CONFLICT.
// OPT // AMERICAN LEGAL ADVISOR JAN PERLIN WORKED WITH
GUATEMALA'S COMMISSION FOR HISTORICAL CLARIFICATION. SHE SAYS
THE COMMISSION HAS BEEN ESSENTIAL TO THE PEACE PROCESS, AND ITS
REPORT HELPED PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE ORIGINS OF THE CIVIL WAR.
/// PERLIN ACT ///
LOOKING AT THE HISTORY ALLOWED PEOPLE TO SEE IN A MORE
DETAILED WAY, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT A VARIETY OF PEOPLE --
NOT JUST THE ARMED COMBATANTS, THE GUERRILLA GROUPS AND
THE ARMY, BUT RATHER THE SOCIETY AS A WHOLE -- AND LOOK
BACK AND SEE POINTS AT WHICH PARTICULAR ACTIONS HAD BEEN
TAKEN AND THINK ABOUT OTHER CHOICES WHICH MIGHT HAVE
BEEN MADE.
/// END ACT /// /// END OPT ///
IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA, TELEVISION VIEWERS WATCHED IN
HORROR AS NIGHTLY NEWS PROGRAMS REPORTED ON SHOCKING FACTS
REVEALED BEFORE THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION.
THE COMMISSION'S FORMER EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, PAUL VAN ZYL, SAYS
THE VERY PUBLIC ASPECT OF THE HEARINGS HELPED SHAPE THE NATIONAL
DEBATE ON APARTHEID. HE ADDS THAT WHILE THE COMMISSION OFTEN DID
NOT PUNISH THE PERPETRATORS, NEWS COVERAGE MADE SURE THOSE
PEOPLE WOULD SUFFER A SOCIAL STIGMA.
BUT MR. VAN ZYL SAYS TRUTH COMMISSIONS MUST DO MORE THAN SIMPLY
SEEK THE TRUTH. THEY MUST ALSO WORK TO CHANGE AND RESTORE FAITH
IN GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS.
/// FIRST VAN ZYL ACT ///
YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE IMAGE OF THE POLICE FROM A FORCE
THAT WOULD KNOCK DOWN YOUR DOOR AT FOUR O'CLOCK IN THE
MORNING, DRAG YOU AWAY, TORTURE YOU, INTERROGATE YOU, TO
A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO COME BY TO YOUR HOUSE TO HELP YOU,
AND YOUR REACTION IS ONE OF RELIEF, NOT ONE OF FEAR.
// OPT // NOW TRUTH COMMISSIONS CAN RE-INSTILL PEOPLE'S
FAITH IN THOSE INSTITUTIONS IF THEY ARE TRANSFORMED AND
CLEANSED, AND PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE ARE REMOVED, OR THEY
OWN UP AND MAKE A GENUINE COMMITMENT TO THE NEW SOCIETY.
TRUTH COMMISSIONS ARE DANGEROUS WHEN THEY FAIL TO
TRANSFORM THOSE INSTITUTIONS AND THE IMAGES LEFT IN
PEOPLE'S MINDS ARE OF THE POLICE AS THE BAD GUYS AND NOT
AS THE GUARANTORS OF YOUR RIGHTS. // END OPT //
/// END ACT ///
MR. VAN ZYL SAYS TRUTH COMMISSIONS NEED TO PUT VICTIMS' RIGHTS AT
THE FOREFRONT OF A COUNTRY'S AGENDA, AND ACTIVELY BUILD A CULTURE
OF HUMAN RIGHTS.
HE SAYS, TO BE CREDIBLE, A TRUTH COMMISSION MUST BE SEEN AS
ABSOLUTELY IMPARTIAL. IF A COMMISSION APPEARS BIASED IT COULD BE
ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTING TO REWRITE HISTORY. MR. VAN ZYL SAYS SOUTH
AFRICA'S COMMISSION WAS FORTUNATE TO BE HEADED BY NOBEL PEACE
PRIZE WINNER, ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU -- A FIGURE RESPECTED
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD FOR HIS FAIRNESS AND JUDGMENT.
/// SECOND VAN ZYL ACT ///
THE REAL TEST OF TRUTH COMMISSIONS IS TO LOOK AT THEM IN
10 YEARS' TIME, AND SAY [ASK] DID THEY DEEPEN A CULTURE
OF HUMAN RIGHTS, DID THEY PROMOTE THE RIGHTS OF VICTIMS,
HAVE VICTIMS BEEN TAKEN SERIOUSLY OR HAVE THEY BEEN
FORGOTTEN? AND PART OF THAT IS HOW EFFECTIVE THE TRUTH
COMMISSION HAS BEEN AND PART OF THAT IS HOW SINCERE THE
SOCIETY AS A WHOLE HAS BEEN, IN DEALING WITH THEIR
TROUBLED PAST.
/// END ACT ///
MR. VAN ZYL SAYS ONE RISK OF TRUTH COMMISSIONS IS THEY FAVOR
LEGAL RIGHTS OVER OTHER ASPECTS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL IN SOCIETY,
LIKE DEVELOPMENT. HE SAYS SOCIETIES MUST NOT FORGET BUILDING
SCHOOLS AND CLINICS CAN ALSO SERVE TO BUILD PEACE. (SIGNED)
NEB/CP/WTW
11-Mar-99 4:56 PM EST (2156 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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