Special Hearings — Women's Hearings — 1997-07-29

CHAIRPERSON: Matibela.  As other fellow Commissioners have said, this is one of those statements where, clearly, which is a window through which we look at our past and see how many families seemed to have lost out the most.  In your case it is not only your wife, it is a mother, it is a child and, obviously, what happened to your family has effected many other people within your family besides yourself.  We thank you very much for coming forward and we have heard your plea and also we hope people who were involved in this, in the planning of this massacre have heard your plea, that you are prepared to forgive them, because you know whatever you did was for a good cause and we hope that they will realise that if they come forward that will promote the healing of many survivors like yourself.
 We have also heard how you lost your job which you link directly with this and we hope, at the time when we are looking at the assistance of those who lost out the most, that your family also will be looked at appropriately.  We thank you very much for coming forward and we will also advise you, as a man, to be prepared, even, to seek help so that you, through counselling, you have ongoing support, even outside your political circles.  It is very, very important for your healing.  Thank you.  Thank you.  
 We will now adjourn for lunch and we will come back at half past two.  Half past two please.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Can I ask a question to the Commissioners, just a brief question before we go.  May I talk?  Can I come?  In the case of Mr Maziya, as an example, where perpetrators are known and they are moving around at large and not volunteering to come forward, what powers does the Commission have to have them coming forward and volunteer.

YASMINE SOOKA: The Commission does have the power to subpoena perpetrators and has, in fact, subpoenaed a large number of alleged perpetrators who have not come forward voluntarily.  However, the Commission, once it receives these statements also investigates them and at the end of the process part of what the Commission has to do is, in most of the cases that come before the Commission, we, in fact, have to establish the identity of persons and institutions responsible for many of these gross human rights violations.  We do, as a matter of cause, twice in the process we send notifications to alleged perpetrators.  In hearings like this we normally send, what we call, a Section 30 notice asking them if they want to, if they have anything to say in the matter.
 Then before the Commission makes a finding, the Commission also sends out a notice again to them calling upon them to give their version of the event and to put before the Commission whatever they would want to say about the particular incident.  At the end of the work of the Commission we will, obviously, have to make a finding, not only that people are victims who are then eligible for reparation, but also findings about people responsible for these gross human rights violations.  The Commission will probably make recommendations to Government in respect of those perpetrator findings as well.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thanks.