TRC Final Report

Volume 1

Chapter 10

Subsection 14

■ INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

27 The Human Rights Violations and Amnesty Committees also referred information to the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee. In addition, the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee generated information through its own activities, such as briefers’ reports, post-hearing follow-up visits and so on. The Committee established a task team whose role it was to recommend a national strategy to process such information.

28 The Human Rights Violations Committee statement form included a section on the consequences of violations. People were asked about the emotional, medical and symbolic consequences of violations and the impact on their education and housing. They were also asked to articulate their expectations of the Commission at an individual, community and national level. A coding frame was developed for data relating to reparation and rehabilitation and was integrated into the Commission’s information system. This assisted in the interpretation of deponents’ responses and hearings, and thus influenced policy development. Unfortunately, data captured in this manner were linked to the deponent and not to the victim. Thus, although the data provided useful indicators, they were not as accessible as they might otherwise have been.

■ A RESEARCH COMPONENT

29 In order to evaluate the impact of gross human rights violations on people’s lives, the Research Department facilitated an investigation in two areas: first, identifying the consequences of gross human rights violations on individuals, families and communities, and second, assessing people’s expectations of the Commission. This research provided an empirical foundation for the chapter on the consequences of gross human rights violations contained elsewhere in the report.5 As the potential variables under study were limitless and both areas were extremely complex, that chapter provides a broad overview of these areas. It identifies patterns and trends, using illustrative case studies extracted from the statements and hearing transcripts, supplemented with statistics drawn from the database.

30 The research investigated four areas of differentiation. These were regional variances, gender differentiation, the impact on children and youth, and the effects on families and communities. Underlying questions that guided the research included: What enduring effects have the conflicts of the past had on social values and ways of life? What were the spiralling implications for families and communities? What had been identified as necessary action for dealing with these problems? What contribution could the Commission make in addressing these problems?

■ THE ROLE OF THE REPARATION AND REHABILITATION COMMITTEE IN OTHER COMMISSION ACTIVITIES

31 The Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee’s commissioners, committee members and staff were involved in planning, preparing and conducting different hearings held throughout the country. Some of the event hearings (for example, the children and youth hearings held in all four of the Commission’s regions) were the specific responsibility of the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee.

32 A Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee briefer was present at many of the amnesty hearings, and either commissioners or committee members endeavoured to attend sessions of these hearings. Special efforts were made not only to support the victims, but also (when necessary) to give support to perpetrators and their families and to lay the groundwork for victim-offender mediation.

33 At most of the follow-up hearings, the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee explored different views on reconciliation with communities. The committee also co-ordinated all Commission activities aimed at facilitating reconciliation.