Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, 1995

South Africa's Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, No. 34 of 1995, established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which began its work in 1996 under the chairmanship of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It authorized the Commission to hear testimony from victims of gross human rights violations committed during apartheid, to receive applications for amnesty from perpetrators who fully disclosed politically motivated crimes, and to recommend reparation and rehabilitation for victims. The Commission favored restorative over retributive justice, drawing on the concept of ubuntu, and stood in deliberate contrast to the Nuremberg trials by pursuing forgiveness and reparation rather than criminal punishment for most of those who came forward.