bbc news africa truth commission implicates anc in torture

7/27/2019 BBC News Africa Truth Commission Implicates ANC in Torture

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Jane Standley:

"Many of the

alledged abuses

were against the

ANC's ownmembers"

[ image: ]

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Monday, October 26, 1998 Published at 13:49 GMT

World: AfricaTruth commissionimplicates ANC in torture

Witnesses told the commission of abuses by government and

opposition

As South Africa prepares forthisweek's publication of the Truth andReconciliation Commission's report,indications are that the governingAfrican National Congress as well as

agents of the former apartheidgovernment will stand accused of

abusing human rights.

A leaked document from the commission accuses theANC of torture and other human rights violations, and ofcarrying out badly-planned bomb attacks causingunnecessary loss of life.

At the same time, formerPresident FW de Klerk isthreatening legal action to

stop the commission frompublishing information said toimplicate him in state-sponsored bombings. Truthcommission officials expectfurther such action fromagents of the old governmentbefore the report is publishedon Thursday.

'Legitimate struggle'

However, the report also acknowledges that the ANC

was waging a legitimate struggle against apartheid, andis expected to place overwhelming blame for the era'sabuses on successive white governments and theirsecurity services. Other political movements, includingthe Inkatha Freedom Party, are also expected to comeunder criticism.

Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | MiddleEast | South Asia

Relevant Stories27 Oct 98 | Africa

Coming to terms with thepast

25 Oct 98 | AfricaDe Klerk 'to block' TruthCommission report

31 Jul 98 | Africa

TRC: the facts

Internet Links

Truth and ReconciliationCommission

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South AfricanBroadcasting Corporation

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Winnie Madikizela-Mandela:

'Mentioned by name'

The commission, a non-partypolitical body chaired byBishop Desmond Tutu, hasspent more than two yearshearing testimony concerningabuses of human rights in

South Africa during theapartheid years.

The accusations against theANC are made in a working

document entitled "Findings on the role of the ANC",which has been obtained by the South AfricanBroadcasting Corporation in advance of the publicationof the full report.

ANC spokesman Thabo Masebe said the informationobtained by the SABC seemed to come from a letterwhich the Truth Commission sent to the ANC, "informing

us of its intention to implicate the ANC in gross humanrights violations."

The ANC is now the main party of government in SouthAfrica. During the period referred to by the report, theorganisation was a banned opposition movement,operating in exile, and covertly within South Africa.

The accusations are principally concerned with theactivities of the ANC's armed wing, uMkhontho weSizwe,which was set up after the ANC was banned in SouthAfrica in 1960.

MK, as it was usually known, maintained training campsin other southern African countries, and made occasionalguerrilla attacks on military and civilian targets insideSouth Africa.

Surprise at accusations

Although abuses in the MKcamps have often beenspoken of in South Africa,there has been a shortage ofindependently verified

evidence - especially sinceMK was frequently smearedas a terrorist organisation bythe previous government.

A BBC correspondent inSouth Africa says the leakhas come as a surprise,since it was thought that thecommission did not have a

mandate to investigate abuses committed outside ofSouth Africa.

The leaked document is also reported to hold the ANCresponsible for the activities of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former wife of President Nelson Mandela,whose bodyguards have been accused of carrying outabductions and killings in the last years of apartheid.

Although the bodyguards - known as the "Mandela

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Football Team" - were not formally part of the ANC, thedocument reportedly says the ANC should have kept MsMadikizela-Mandela and her entourage in check.

Ms Madikizela-Mandela is said to be the only personmentioned by name in the document leaked to theSABC.

Mr Masebe was reluctant to comment on the leak,saying: "I wouldn't want to engage in an exercise wherewe start speculating about what would be contained inthe final report of the TRC."

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bbc news africa truth commission implicates anc in torture

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