[TimorLesteStudies] Publication: Trauma and Forgiveness - Lessons from South Africa and East Timor

[Jennifer Drysdale]

Publication: Trauma and Forgiveness - Lessons from South Africa and East Timor

In recent years, we have become more and more aware of the terrible
effects of violence and brutality on individuals and society. Strategies
for healing the wounds left by violence include the seeking of
"transitional justice" and setting up truth commissions. These
strategies are examined in "Trauma and Forgiveness: Lessons from South
Africa and East Timor", by Dr Mark Byrne. In this paper, the latest in
the Catholic Social Justice Series, Dr Byrne looks at the theory and
reality of truth commissions in South Africa and East Timor and examines
the roles of Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa and Xanana Gusmao
in Timor-Leste.

The paper questions whether damaged societies must choose between
justice and forgiveness. "Justice and forgiveness are not opposites but
complementary ways of achieving personal and national healing," Dr Byrne
writes. He acknowledges the difficulties that both nations faced in
coming to terms with their past and sketches some ways in which
transitional justice can be made more effective. "Trauma and
Forgiveness: Lessons from South Africa and East Timor" is available for
$6.60 from the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, 19 MacKenzie
St, North Sydney NSW 2060; tel: (02) 9956 5811; fax: (02) 9954 0056;
email: admin at acsjc.org.au; website: www.socialjustice.catholic.org.au.