ICTJ in the News

January 30, 2002

Visitors Seek Lessons From SA

Cape Argus

By Micahel Morris

A GROUP of Africans and South East Asians are visiting Cape Town to learn about South Africa's transition from repression to democracy, as part of an initiative to develop conflict resolution strategies worldwide.

South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has attracted wide interest, from the Balkans to Indonesia, as a vehicle for resolving long-standing conflicts, and putting the past to rest.

The 22 Fellows visiting Cape Town have come as guests of the New York-based International Centre of Transitional Justice headed by former TRC co-chairman Alex Boraine, and the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation.

They are from Burma, Burundi, East Timor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe.

Their six-month fellowship will include intensive academic work at the law faculties of the universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and the Western Cape, and practical fieldwork with non-governmental organisations in the Western Cape.

The programme is designed to make it possible for the group to consider various strategies to bring about a more just, democratic and peaceful society in their countries.

They will focus on the dynamics and challenges of transitional justice as a step towards bridging divisions in deeply fragmented societies.

The programme is designed to equip them with theoretical and practical knowledge that will boost the capacity of civil society in their home countries and contribute to post-conflict reconstruction.

Boraine's International Centre for Transitional Justice was set up last year in response to requests from around the world to help other countries deal with past human rights abuses, and reconcile perpetrators and victims.

The centre's work will focus on strategies to document abuse or establish truth commissions, prosecute perpetrators, reform abusive institutions, provide reparation to victims of violence and promote reconciliation.

The centre is already engaged in helping more than a dozen countries, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Peru, Panama, Nigeria, Bosnia and Serbia.