South Africa celebrates Freedom Day this week amid growing discontent over misrule by President Zuma and the ANC. This has led to increased calls for ethical and caring leaders.
Cape Town offers is an example of one city balancing resilience and justice.
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The promise of Easter, which Christians around the world celebrate, can be likened to the new struggle in South Africa for a new leadership and government that cares about the people.
Rwanda has come a long way since the dark days of 1994 genocide.
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The road to reconciliation doesn’t begin and end with truth commissions or trials. Change must occur at a systemic level, and communities must commit to rebuilding relationships.
President Jacob Zuma at the opening of the National House of Traditional Leaders in Parliament.
GCIS
The clash over South Africa’s Traditional Courts Bill is essentially about custom and constitutionalism. The government is often seen as pandering to traditional leaders’ whims.
Alabama’s lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, 2002.
AP Photo/Dave Martin
In Oregon and Washington, the costs of seeking and administering the death penalty have increased significantly since the 1980s.
People protest at a demonstration in Market Square, in Cleveland. The demonstration was organized in protest of President Donald Trump’s immigration order.
AP Photo/Tony Dejak
A lot of moral outrage has been expressed lately – over Trump’s travel ban and other issues. The expression of such outrage is more than a response to perceived injustice.
South Africa lacks a clear definition of disability – and its limited view of who should be regarded as having a disability in the labour market is at odds with international practice.
If police officers are sent to museums to train observational skills, shouldn’t literary texts be used to teach empathy?
At the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Desmond Tutu promoted restorative justice. But focusing on individuals neglects broader contexts of violence and inequality.
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If violent contexts aren’t taken into account, restorative justice does not serve broader society. Instead it serves as a peacemaking process within a paradigm stacked against the poor and vulnerable.
Sam Hallam had his conviction quashed after seven years in jail.
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The South African government’s decision to withdraw from the ICC should not be seen in isolation. The African Union has called on its member states to withdraw from the court.
Independence Square in Accra, Ghana. The country is indeed free but must improve at delivering justice.
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A key argument in support of the jury system is that it is a valued form of citizen participation in democracies. But the system has led to human rights abuses in Ghana.