A review of A Peace Commission for the Russia-Ukraine Conflict. Could South Africa´s Truth Commission Be a Model? by Clivia von Dewitz.
Is it conceivable, following the model of the South African Truth & Reconciliation Commission, to establish a Peace Commission for the Ukraine conflict after it has ended in order to respond to the war crimes and human rights violations that have been committed in connection with Russia’s condemnable invasion of Ukrainian territory other than by national or international tribunals?
Judge Dr. Clivia von Dewitz proposes precisely this, referring to a wide range of personal experiences and analyses in and with various Truth Commissions. As a model, she presents the South African Truth Commission, which has become particularly well known around the world for its dealing with the crimes committed during the apartheid regime in an alternative way focusing on truth, healing and reconciliation instead of retaliation. In 1997 the author interned for 2 months at the Truth Commission in South Africa and attended numerous TRC-hearings. After her remarkable analysis of how the South African Truth Commission worked, she outlines a possible establishment of a form of a Truth Commission for the Ukraine conflict.
The former constitutional judge and apartheid opponent Albie Sachs explains in the epilogue of the book that “it may seem premature at this stage to define any role that a Truth Commission could play in a future peace process for the Ukraine conflict”. However, he emphasizes that “this compilation provides important information about how truth commissions have functioned in other situations that could prove to be extremely helpful at critical stages in the future. When the time is right these preliminary considerations could help to launch a peace process that could include truth-telling and accountability of the perpetrators to achieve restorative justice and in this way ultimately promote reconciliation.”
The South African Truth Commission
Judge Dr. Clivia von Dewitz explains in detail how numerous hearings of victims and perpetrators took place throughout the country during the Truth Commission’s mandate from 1996-1998, so that the commissioners were able to draw an accurate picture of the events as objectively as possible for the final report. The author emphasizes that the amnesty applications and especially the amnesty hearings alone cleared up many myths of the apartheid era. One of her conclusions, that a new “historical truth” could be written as a result, seems particularly remarkable. She sees the conduct of national or international criminal proceedings against those responsible for gross human rights violations before, during and after the work of such a Peace Commission as an important motivation for the submission of amnesty applications.
Plea for the establishment of a Peace Commission for the Ukraine conflict
At this point, it must be emphasized that an implementation of this project idea is only possible after a ceasefire, and of course even more desirable after a guaranteed state of peace for Ukraine. The author’s suggestion that such a commission should be called Peace Commission rather than Truth Commission is worth considering. The very title of such a commission explicitly refers to the objective of its work, namely to promote long-lasting peace between the two independent sovereign states, Ukraine and Russia.
This Peace Commission, unlike the South African Truth Commission, should, in the author’s opinion, consist of only two committees: A Human Rights’ Committee and an Amnesty Committee. An independent institution should be responsible for the necessary payment of compensation to victims which could be called a “people’s fund”. This fund should in the authors opinion receive money from the weapon manufacturers of this war including the nation who started the war, Russia, but also the perpetrators themselves. This should express the fact that perpetrators have to make amends for the wrongs committed as compensation for the fact that they themselves benefit from a criminal and civil amnesty.
The author’s proposal to appoint an equal number of Ukrainian and Russian nationals as members of the commission alongside international experts is noteworthy. She proposes a maximum duration of seven years and that the commission must not be established in either Ukraine or Russia. Clivia von Dewitz also states that the commission must have far-reaching criminal procedural powers and unrestricted “access to police and military archives”. Another prerequisite for complete independence that should not be forgotten is the provision of sufficient material and financial resources.
In this context, it should be emphasized that Judge Dr. Clivia von Dewitz rightly points out that the question of how to deal with the crimes committed during the war must be asked and answered during peace talks. With the appendix containing excerpts from the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act 34 of 1995 (TRC Act), the original victim hearing form and amnesty application form of the South African Truth & Reconciliation Commission, this book can become a noteworthy and valuable handbook for the establishment of Truth or Peace Commissions worldwide.
Outlook
The fact that such weighty figures as former constitutional court judge Albie Sachs frame this book with an epilogue and Mary Burton, one of the 17 commissioners nominated by Nelson Mandela to the Truth Commission, with a foreword, shows that the vision of a Peace Commission for the Ukraine conflict has prominent supporters.
The words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s biograph, John Allen, on the back of the book are also to be understood in this sense and should be wholeheartedly endorsed, “Clivia von Dewitz shows how the unthinkable became possible in South Africa and how, in the Ukraine conflict, truth and reparation can be prioritized over criminal proceedings.”
In view of the above, it seems more than appropriate, rather necessary, to involve Judge Dr. Clivia von Dewitz in the preparation of the organization of the project of a possible Peace Commission.
