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HUMAN, HSAge Description ... has emerged through the development of customary international law. In summary, it states that the state is accountable for the commission of gross human rights violations as follows:a It is strictly responsible for the acts of its organs or agents or persons acting under its control. b It is ... Decisions of international human rights bodies supporting the right to reparation 30. The creation of numerous bodies and procedures within the UN system has created a powerful mechanism for (amongst other things) the investigation of reported violations of human rights, the holding of public ... Sources for the design 8 The Commission drew on a variety of prior human rights data projects in order to design its database. These included the experience of the Haitian National Commission for Truth and Justice and the United Nations Commission for Truth in El Salvador - at the time, the only ... State and non-state actors 77 Thus, the Commission adopted the view that human rights violations could be committed by any group or person inside or outside the state: by persons within the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), the IFP, the South African Police (SAP), the South African Defence Force ... ■ MAKING FINDINGS OF GROSS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS 109 As the Commission embarked on the road of seeking to restore the dignity of victims through extensive statement taking and public hearings, it was confronted with the sometimes difficult task of interpreting the categories of acts ... ... who came to be processed or for assistance. The face presented by authority, in general, was of a war against people who were unenfranchised and human dignity was the main casualty. 53 A deep awareness of this systematic discrimination and dehumanisation made it very difficult for the ... ... international principles. The following section re-states and elaborates this position. The right to reparation 16. The protection of human rights is widely recognised as a fundamental aim of modern international law, which holds states liable for human rights violations and the ... Non-state perpetrators of gross human rights violations 150 There were many cases where the Commission found that the use of force by the police was excessive and thus constituted a gross violation of human rights. There were also cases where the Commission found that violence against the police ... ■ RESPONSIBILITY AND RECONCILIATION 101 The emergence of a responsible society, committed to the affirmation of human rights (and, therefore, to addressing the consequences of past violations), presupposes the acceptance of individual responsibility by all those who supported the system of ... ... society characterised by strife, conflict, untold suffering and injustice, and commence the journey towards a future founded on the recognition of human rights, democracy and peaceful co-existence, and development opportunities for all South Africans irrespective of colour, race, class, belief ... CONSEQUENCES OF GROSS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS: DISCUSSION 59. It must be stressed once again here that the stories presented in this section a re not representative either in terms of violations or the experiences of victims. Each of these stories has its own individuality and texture, and this ... ■ HUMAN RIGHTS CULTURE 74 Because of the subject matter of the Commission’s task and the focus on gross human rights violations, it is natural to focus on so-called liberal human rights, to the extent that issues such as unemployment, poverty and illiteracy are seen merely as phenomena in ... International legal framework 11 The right of victims of human rights abuse to fair and adequate compensation is well established in international law. In the past three years, South Africa has signed a number of important international instruments, which place it under an obligation1 to provide ... ... of what constituted a ‘legitimate military target’ – the people who were killed or injured by such explosions are all victims of gross human rights violations of human rights perpetrated by the ANC. While it is accepted that targeting civilians was not ANC policy, MK operations ... ■ PREVENTION OF GROSS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THE FUTURE 14 One of the essential goals of the Commission was to ensure that there would be no repetition of the past. For reconciliation to have any chance of success, it is imperative that a strong human rights culture be developed. The ... ... during the Commission’s mandate period is to be found in the statistics compiled by the Commission directly from submissions by victims of gross human rights violations. These established the IFP as the foremost perpetrator of g ross human rights violations in KwaZulu and Natal during the ... ... ON THE ROLE OF ALLIES OF THE STATE The homelands 106 As has been stated above, the state was not acting alone in its strategies involving gross human rights violations. It had the active and passive support of numerous other elements in society. One of these was the white electorate which ... The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment5 17 The Committee against Torture, established to ensure compliance with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, has found that complaints relating ... ■ WORK OF THE COMMISSION Statement taking 22 Statement taking began early. Both statement takers and briefers helped to get the first human rights violation hearing off the ground in April 1996 by taking a significant number of statements. During the first hearing, the statement takers and ... ■ UBUNTU: PROMOTING RESTORATIVE JUSTICE80 A principal task of the Commission was “restoring the human and civil dignity of victims”. The work of the Commission as a whole, together with the specific contributions of its three committees, underlined the need to restore the dignity of all ... |
