Transitional Justice Tag

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This paper examines aspects of structural violence in South Africa and suggests that true reconciliation can be achieved only if these aspects are redressed. The structural violence of the past has vital implications for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's enterprise to acknowledge and rewrite an often denied history of human rights abuses. It raises vital questions as to the nature of economic development and its relation to new and ongoing forms of social conflict.

Brandon Hamber
03 Feb 1998
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This report is a culmination of eleven workshops conducted by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation with a sample of victims/survivors who belong to Khulumani Victim Support Group. The aim of the workshops was to elicit the views of victims/survivors on the recommendations to be made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in its final report.

Brandon Hamber, Traggy Maepa, Tlhoki Mofokeng and Hugo van der Merwe
02 Feb 1998
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A range of organisations had previously worked on human rights abuses under apartheid, particularly through the 1980s, when detention without trial, assassinations, torture and disappearances were daily occurrences for the oppressed in South Africa. These organisations held a wealth of information in their files, which had been gained from the statements and affidavits of victims and their families, from court records, newspapers and reports. The advent of the TRC provided an opportunity for the organisations to provide their material to the TRC so that it could gain an accurate picture of human rights abuses. This paper describes the project which was set up for this purpose. The use of EVSYS for the project is outlined in detail and evaluative comments on the project as a whole are provided.

Lydia Levin, Polly Dewhirst and Brandon Hamber
11 Nov 1997
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This paper briefly describes the extent of violence in South Africa, and explores the resulting psychological and social consequences. As an introduction, brief definitions of violence and trauma are provided, as well as a brief description of violence in South Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. The paper then discusses the category of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the implications for a society with a high number of victims of violence – with a particular emphasis on the concept of vicarious traumatisation.

Brandon Hamber and Sharon Lewis
01 Jun 1997
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This report examines the way ordinary people – Germans after 1945 and South Africans after 1994-  deal with an authoritarian past. The report considers how the past is perceived; to what extent people accept the new political order and its democratic values; and how they react to institutions such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which try to deal with and uncover the legacies of the past. Previously published survey data from Germany and South Africa is reviewed and new empirical findings are presented from a nation-wide telephone survey of 124 white South Africans.

Gunnar Theissen
01 Mar 1996
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