NEWS
By Gilbert A. Lewthwaite and Gilbert A. Lewthwaite,SUN FOREIGN STAFF | April 8, 1999
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- This country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission rejected amnesty yesterday for the 1993 right-wing killers of Communist Party chief Chris Hani, who was emerging as a potential successor to Nelson Mandela as a national leader.The committee ruled that the two confessed assassins had failed to meet the prerequisites of amnesty: full disclosure and political motivation for their crime.The commission's investigative phase into human rights violations during the apartheid era ended last year, but its amnesty committee continues to hear applications from the perpetrators of atrocities.
NEWS
By LOS ANGELES TIMES | October 29, 1998
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- The final report of this country's truth commission, meant to clear the air about the racist past, may instead resemble apartheid-era documents left with gaping holes by government censors.Back from the printers yesterday, the five-volume report is scheduled to be delivered today to President Nelson Mandela.But a threatened last-minute court challenge may force commissioners to delete, at least for the time being, unflattering references to Mandela's ruling African National Congress.
NEWS
By NEWSDAY | October 27, 1998
PRETORIA, South Africa -- It stands knee-high, weighs nearly 18 pounds and was three years in the making. Now, three days before its formal release, the report of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission is sparking a national furor as players in the apartheid battle scramble to clear their names in advance of a barrage of damaging findings.News reports said yesterday that the 3,500-page document would say President Nelson Mandela's African National Congress, among others, committed gross human rights abuses from 1960 to May 1994, the period covered by the commission's investigations.
NEWS
By Gilbert A. Lewthwaite and Gilbert A. Lewthwaite,SUN FOREIGN STAFF | June 8, 1998
GEORGE, South Africa -- The trial here of former President P. W. Botha marks a watershed in this country's search for closure to its shameful apartheid past.Whether he is found guilty or innocent, the appearance of the elderly white separatist before a young black magistrate showcases the "new dispensation" here.Botha's fate, to be announced after final legal arguments June 15, is all but irrelevant. At age 82, and nine years after leaving office, he is clearly yesteryear's man in a country focusing on its future under majority, instead of minority, rule.
NEWS
By NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE | January 14, 1998
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Acknowledging that it may have gone far outside the law in granting a blanket amnesty to top officials of South Africa's ruling government, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said yesterday that it would submit its decision to a court for review.vTC The amnesty, granted last month to 37 leaders of the African National Congress, including Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, immediately drew fire from South Africa's other political parties.They pointed out that the amnesty was unlike any other issued by the commission.
NEWS
By Gilbert A. Lewthwaite and Gilbert A. Lewthwaite,SUN FOREIGN STAFF | January 8, 1998
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Former South African President Pieter W. Botha -- a chief figure during some of the worst human rights violations of the apartheid era -- was ordered yesterday to appear in court for his refusal to testify to the commission that is trying to lay to rest this country's apartheid past.Botha, 81, is a key witness as a former president, prime minister and chairman of the national security council, which advised the white minority government on strategy during the 1980s.