ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about justice and the TRC, arguably the most contentious subject relating to the Commission. On the one hand, the Commission stands as a monumental national success because it fostered a relatively peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy. On the other hand, the Commission stands as a missed opportunity to mete out long-awaited justice in South Africa. The chapter concentrates on justice as it relates to our examination of the TRC as a case study for religious conflict resolution. Retributive justice usually refers to a type of justice that is meted out through punishment, or as Grotius formally put it, suffering harm for having done harm'. Richard Wilson addresses the apparent inability of the TRC to achieve victimoffender reconciliation, which he identifies as a moral issue, or redress human rights violations, which he considers a legal matter. To Wilson, the conflation of religious discourse with a nation-building discourse signified a de-valuing and de-contextualisation of human rights.
