A Country Unmasked: Inside South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission - Hardcover

Boraine, Alex

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195718054 ISBN 13: 9780195718058

Publisher: OUP Southern Africa, 2001

This is Alex Boraine's account of South Africa's acclaimed Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was set up after the collapse of the apartheid regime. The TRC had the monumental task not only of uncovering decades of systematic human rights violations, but of doing so in a way that would help a very damaged nation to reconcile and move forward. Boaraine clearly sets out the process leading to the establishment of the TRC, describes the hearings at which victims and perpetrators testified about human rights violations, and considers reactions - inclusding criticisms - to the TRC and its final report. He analyses the key features that contributed to the Commission's success, and gives an honest assessment of some of its mistakes. This is also a personal story, giving insight into the feelings, disappointments, and rewards that the TRC's participants experienced. This book helps to elucidate and answer the many difficlut questions that were crucial to South Africa's TRC , and that need to be addressed by all people who are working with societies in transition.

Review:

Boraine has written a thoughtful judicious and compassionate account that will grip all those interested in human rights. -- Times Higher Education Supplement, September 28, 2001

alternate pages spark with the humanity, compassion and committment... -- Sunday Herald , February 11, 2001

thoughtful narrative -- Evening Standard, February 5, 2001

valuable first account -- Sunday Times, February 11, 2001

About the Author:

Alex Boraine is currently Visiting Professor of Law at New York University and divides his time between New York and Cape Town. He has served as President of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, as a member of Parliament for the Progressive Party, and as the founder of Justice in Transition. In 1995, Boraine was appointed Vice Chairperson of the TRC by President Nelson Mandela, serving under Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

• Publisher: OUP Southern Africa
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0195718054
• ISBN 13: 9780195718058
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 484