Fluent Essays

CRIMINAL JUSTICE CJ502 – FINAL ASSIGNMENT Albie Sachs, South Africas Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Turning Negativity into PositivityInstructions: South African apartheid was a racial caste system that existed from 1948 to 1994. It was a de jure (by law) system that legally segregated people based on four racial classes and disenfranchised non-whites. Under “grand apartheid” people were forcibly relocated people based on race. While the United States was dismantling legal segregation, South Africa was expanding it.Apartheid led to a thirty-year conflict of brutal internecine violence and gross human rights atrocities; perpetrated primarily, but not only, by the apartheid regime. After the conflict ended and South Africa entered reconstruction, the question of accountability for war crimes loomed. Very innovative and very controversial, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was born of that process. Our final project in Criminal Procedure is to listen to a lecture by Judge Albie Sachs about the TRC, his personal experience with it, and with rebuilding South Africa.Albie Sachs was a young lawyer in South Africa in the 1950s defending people charged under racial statutes and “security” laws. He joined the freedom movement and eventually went underground with the ANC. In 1988 he survived an assassination attempt by a car bomb in Mozambique. After apartheid ended, he returned to South Africa helped author a new constitution and was one of the architects of the Truth and Reconciliation process.Listen to my introduction and review the slides on Truth and Reconciliation, then watch Albie Sachs lecture on iLearn and answer the following study questions and one of the thought questions. Submit your answers on iLearn by Monday, May 25.You can find the video on iLearn and here:QUESTIONS FOR STUDY:What is Albies soft vengeance?According to Albie, how did the Truth and Reconciliation process (TRC) emerge?What were the two foundations of the strength of the TRC process?What is the difference between blanket amnesty and acknowledgment?Did everyone who applied for amnesty get it?What were the three sections of TRC?What moment symbolized the moral collapse of apartheid?What is the difference between knowledge and acknowledgment? CJ502 Final Page 1What are the four truths Albie invented?Which two correspond to ordinary court cases? Which two corresponded to the TRC process?According to Albie, what is one of the worst features of past criminality?How did the TRC create a basis for healing?Did Henry every get amnesty?What did you like better, Albie’s singing or his fashion sense? (They have both grown on me over the years)QUESTIONS FOR THOUGHTSelect one to answer in a paragraph or two. Answer more for extra credit.In ordinary criminal trial in the United States, silence of the defendant is incentivized by the that the burden is on the government and by the Fifth Amendment. However, in the Truth and Reconciliation process disclosure by the accused was incentivized by the promise of amnesty, which might be won by full and truthful disclosure. There are a number of other extraordinary differences between the TRC process and the regular American criminal trial process. Pick several that stood out to you and discuss them in a paragraph or two.It seems unfair for people to get away with human rights abuses. However, human rights scholars talk about the difference between amnesty and impunity. For social, historical, and political reasons as well as practical reasons South Africa was unable to hold everyone accountable for crimes committed during apartheid. Instead they used the promise of amnesty to encourage people to participate in the TRC process, which they hoped would help rebuild the country. Do you think it was justifiable for perpetrators of great harm (sometimes torture or murder) to be given amnesty in the South African context? Why or why not?There have been a number of other truth commission inspired by the South African model. Most recently in the United States the Maine Wabanaki Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2013 to 2015) was launched to uncover the truth about forced removal of Native American children from their homes under polices that were assimilationist and culturally genocidal. Describe an example of a human rights situation you think might or would have benefited from a process like the TRC. Are there other mechanisms that would work better than either an ordinary trial or a truth commission in the example your chose? cj502_sachs_video_questions.pdf cj502_truth_and_reconciliation__may_2020_.pptx Unformatted Attachment Preview CRIMINAL JUSTICE CJ502 – FINAL ASSIGNMENT Albie Sachs, South Africas Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Turning Negativity into Positivity Instructions: South African apartheid was a racial caste system that existed from 1948 to 1994. It was a de jure (by law) system that legally segregated people based on four racial classes and disenfranchised non-whites. Under “grand apartheid” people were forcibly relocated people based on race. While the United States was dismantling legal segregation, South Africa was expanding it. Apartheid led to a thirty-year conflict of brutal internecine violence and gross human rights atrocities; perpetrated primarily, but not only, by the apartheid regime. After the conflict ended and South Africa entered reconstruction, the question of accountability for war crimes loomed. Very innovative and very controversial, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was born of that process. Our final project in Criminal Procedure is to listen to a lecture by Judge Albie Sachs about the TRC, his personal experience with it, and with rebuilding South Africa. Albie Sachs was a young lawyer in South Africa in the 1950s defending people charged under racial statutes and “security” laws. He joined the freedom movement and eventually went underground with the ANC. In 1988 he survived an assassination attempt by a car bomb in Mozambique. After apartheid ended, he returned to South Africa helped author a new constitution and was one of the architects of the Truth and Reconciliation process. Listen to my introduction and review the slides on Truth and Reconciliation, then watch Albie Sachs lecture on iLearn and answer the following study questions and one of the thought questions. Submit your answers on iLearn by Monday, May 25. You can find the video on iLearn and here: https://vimeo.com/28571247 QUESTIONS FOR STUDY: 1. What is Albies soft vengeance? 2. According to Albie, how did the Truth and Reconciliation process (TRC) emerge? 3. What were the two foundations of the strength of the TRC process? 4. What is the difference between blanket amnesty and acknowledgment? 5. Did everyone who applied for amnesty get it? 6. What were the three sections of TRC? 7. What moment symbolized the moral collapse of apartheid? 8. What is the difference between knowledge and acknowledgment? CJ502 Final Page 1 9. What are the four truths Albie invented? 10. Which two correspond to ordinary court cases? Which two corresponded to the TRC process? 11. According to Albie, what is one of the worst features of past criminality? 12. How did the TRC create a basis for healing? 13. Did Henry every get amnesty? 14. What did you like better, Albie’s singing or his fashion sense? (They have both grown on me over the years) QUESTIONS FOR THOUGHT Select one to answer in a paragraph or two. Answer more for extra credit. 1. In ordinary criminal trial in the United States, silence of the defendant is incentivized by the that the burden is on the government and by the Fifth Amendment. However, in the Truth and Reconciliation process disclosure by the accused was incentivized by the promise of amnesty, which might be won by full and truthful disclosure. There are a number of other extraordinary differences between the TRC process and the regular American criminal trial process. Pick several that stood out to you and discuss them in a paragraph or two. 2. It seems unfair for people to get away with human rights abuses. However, human rights scholars talk about the difference between amnesty and impunity. For social, historical, and political reasons as well as practical reasons South Africa was unable to hold everyone accountable for crimes committed during apartheid. Instead they used the promise of amnesty to encourage people to participate in the TRC process, which they hoped would help rebuild the country. Do you think it was justifiable for perpetrators of great harm (sometimes torture or murder) to be given amnesty in the South African context? Why or why not? 3. There have been a number of other truth commission inspired by the South African model. Most recently in the United States the Maine Wabanaki Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2013 to 2015) was launched to uncover the truth about forced removal of Native American children from their homes under polices that were assimilationist and culturally genocidal. Describe an example of a human rights situation you think might or would have benefited from a process like the TRC. Are there other mechanisms that would work better than either an ordinary trial or a truth commission in the example your chose? CJ502 Final Page 2 CJ502 CRIMINAL PROCEDURE FINAL John Viola, Lecturer Criminal Justice Studies San Francisco State University jviola@sfsu.edu May 2020 CJ502 CRIM PRO FINAL EXAM True or False? I would rather listen to one more lecture and watch a video (easiest 250 points ever!), than take a final exam. A. True B. False THINKING OUTSIDE THE … How could we do “criminal justice” differently? How could we do it better? TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION IN SOUTH AFRICA DEDICATED TO NELSON MANDELA 1918 Mandela was born on Jan 18 and spent his early life in South Africa’s Cape Province. He was suspended from his first university for participating in a student boycott and ran off to Johannesberg. 1944 Studied law at the University of Witwatersrand. Became active in ANC politics. Co-founded ANC’s Youth League. Advocated direct action. 1950 Became ANC president. Participated in Joint Defiance campaign, a multi-racial opposition to the National Party’s apartheid regime. The Campaign was originally non-violent in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, but the ANC pushed more militant opposition. 1956 Arrested with ANC national executive and accused of high treason. Following release he began underground and militant opposition to apartheid. 1964 Convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the government. Sentenced to life and sent to notorious Robben Island prison for 18 years until transferred to less restrictive facilities. 1990 release from prison after 26 six years. And lead peace talks to end the apartheid regime. 1994 Elected president of South Africa DEDICATED TO EVERYONE WHO FOUGHT FOR FREEDOM IN SOUTH AFRICA SETTLER-COLONIAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 1652 Dutch form Cape Town colony as stop over point on the shipping and trade route to South East Asia and beyond. 1806 British seize control and Afrikaners move inland 1867 to 1886 Diamonds and gold discoveries. 1910 Union of South Africa formed Afrikaner and British rule 1913 Native Land Act designated 7\% of land to native control with white settler/colonists controlling the rest. 1961 Formation of the Republic of South Africa. 1960 to 1990 Civil War 1990 Release of ANC political prisoners 1994 Nelson Mandela elected president and a new South African Constitution written. Apartheid 1978 (Paul Liebhardt/Corbis) Source: Smithsonian. A group of children (and a few men) gaze from behind a barbed-wire fence that marks the boundary of the Moroka township in Soweta, Johannesburg, South Africa, April 21, 1950. Photo by Margaret Bourke-White/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Segregated stands of a sports arena in Bloemfontein South Africa May 1, 1969. (UN Photo by H Vassal) Source: Smithsonian. An African man reads on a bench in South African park. Many people began to ignore the rules of apartheid before the Separate Amenities Act was repealed. May 2, 1970 (Bettmann/Corbis) Source: Smithsonian. Segregated public facilities in Johannesburg. Jan. 1, 1982 (UN Photo/DB) Source: Smithsonian. South African Blacks were required to carry identification passbooks. Jan. 1, 1985. Source: Smithsonian. Apartheid Timeline 1930 Apartheid term coined from the Afrikaans word “apartness” existed as an idea since the inception of colonialism. 1948 National Party elected imposes de jure apartheid: Black, White, Colored (mixed race) , and Indian 1950’s African National Congress (ANC) begins opposition to National Party and apartheid regime. 1960 Grand Apartheid- Physical Separation 1960 Sharpsville Massacre of Nonviolent resistors- 69 people were killed, including 10 children, and people were 180 injured 1960 Forced removal and relocation 1961 South African Republic formed and entrenches apartheid. 1963 Nelson Mandela sentenced to life imprisonment 1976 Soweto Student Uprising- hundreds of protestors killed including 12 year old Hector Pieterson. 1985 Government crack down and state of emergency. 1986 International economic sanctions 1990 Peace process begins 1994 Mandela elected first president and apartheid ended Forced Relocation Resistance and Repression Timeline of Resistance 1912 South African Native National Party 1923 The African National Party (ANC) formed. 1948 to 1960 Primarily non-violent disobedience. 1960 Armed Resistance begins following Sharpsville massacre of nonviolent resistors. 1961 ANC goes underground 1976 Soweto Student Uprising- hundreds of protestors killed including 12 year old Hector Pieterson. 1976 to 1990 Intensified conflict 1986 International economic sanctions 1990 Peace process begins 1993 Apartheid laws abolished 1994 Mandela elected president and a new South African Constitution is written. 1960 Sharpsville massacre of non-violent protestors Murder of Hector Pieterson: photo Sam Nzima (1976) Impact of the Civil Conflict 1960-1990 • • • • 3.5 million people were forcibly relocated Countless people disappeared Countless tortured Countless human rights abuses. The Truth and Reconciliation was founded to address the legacy of apartheid and civil war, to promote reconciliation and national unity, and lead to a future founded on the recognition of human rights and democracy. ALBIE SACHS 1935 born in South Africa 1952 Activist with the Defiance Campaign in his second year in law school. 1955 Became a lawyer and defended people charged under apartheid statutes Joined the freedom struggle was arrested and jailed for five months. Went underground with the ANC 1988 He survived an attempt assassination by car bomb 1994 Was nominated for the Constitutional Court by Mandela was an author of the new constitution and an architect of truth and reconciliation 2000 Was my law professor for Comparative Constitutional Law Good luck on the final assignment! You can find it on iLearn now. I hope you learned how criminal justice is done and how it may be done better. The system desperately needs your creativity, innovations, and interventions. jviola@sfsu.edu ... Purchase answer to see full attachment