ArticlesMediaStudy on the Violent Nature of Crime, Violence PreventionPress Release: The Study on the Violent Nature of Crime1. In February 2007 the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation was contracted by government to carry out a study on the violent nature of crime in South Africa. The study involved the production of six reports over two years (a short seventh supplementary report was produced in April 2009). A substantial part of the work involved analysing,… Read More CSVRNovember 9, 2010
ArticlesMediaAmnesty, Prosecutions and Pardons, Transitional JusticePress Release: SACTJ Urges Further Efforts to Engage Victims of Pardon ApplicantsThe Department of Justice yesterday published the names of 149 convicted persons who have been recommended for a presidential pardon in terms of the Special Dispensation created by former President Mbeki in 2007. The crimes for which the offenders sought pardon were also disclosed. It was a requirement of the Special Dispensation for the applicants to demonstrate a political motive. … Read More CSVROctober 21, 2010
ArticlesMediaMigrants and Xenophobia, Violence PreventionXenophobia: Yet Another Threat to the Power of MythsViolence in society is like a crack in a mirror. The crack distorts the image of us, and we become ambiguous. Un-unified. Like the mirror’s crack, violence destroys the fabric that unites people, thus eliminating the possibility of togetherness. South African history speaks at length of the harm that divisions cause, and when sustained with violence, the damage is often… Read More CSVRJuly 22, 2010
ArticlesMediaAmnesty, Prosecutions and Pardons, Transitional JusticeAlbutt v. Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation and OthersThis case concerns the power of the President to grant pardon under section 84(2)(j) of the Constitution to people who claim that they were convicted of offences which they committed with a political motive. Section 84(2)(j) provides that the President is responsible for "pardoning or reprieving offenders . . .". The question we are asked to decide is whether the… Read More CSVRFebruary 24, 2010
ArticlesMediaPolicingTo Shoot or Not to ShootTake the following scenario. One night a police vehicle patrol arrives at the scene of a hijacking in progress. The owner is still in the vehicle. On seeing the police the driver of the hijacker’s back-up car drives off, leaving one of the hijackers at the scene. The hijacker, gun in hand, flees into thickly wooded veld that is not… Read More CSVRDecember 4, 2009
ArticlesMediaTorture and State ViolencePress Release: South Africa Recognises Only Assault and Grievous Bodily HarmTorture is a criminal offence, prohibited under various international treaties - but not under South African law, which only allows victims to lay charges of assault and grievous body harm. The South African No Torture Consortium (SANToC) is lobbying for change, saying that the current law does not fully cover torture-related trauma or power relations between victims and perpetrators. Although… Read More CSVRNovember 27, 2009
