Nelson Mandela | typed letter signed, to Helen Suzman, 1998

Nelson Mandela

Typed letter signed, as President of South Africa, to Helen Suzman

discussing the history of human rights abuses in South Africa, the reform of the police and the central importance of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in engaging with this legacy ("...The families of the victims are finally receiving closure, this alone is a step in the right direction. Although old wounds are being reopened, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has made a difference, its success is based on both the offenders and victims working together..."), 3 pages, folio, headed stationery, 14 January 1998; creases, tiny staple holes in top left corner

"...Human rights violations are an unfortunate part of our history, however we must not ignore the past but embark on a healing process..."

A COMPASSIONATE AND STATESMANLIKE DEFENCE OF THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION, WRITTEN TO ONE OF THE GREAT ANTI-APARTHEID CAMPAIGNERS. Helen Suzman (1917-2009) was an opposition MP for more than 35 years, and for decades provided the most powerful and consistent voice in the South African Parliament against the Apartheid system. She retired from Parliament in 1989 but was a member of the Human Rights Commission from 1995 to 1998. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission faced criticism for not imposing punishments for terrible abuses of human rights, but Mandela here stresses the overriding importance of bringing the nation together in a shared acknowledgement of the horrors of the past.