Wearing a high-necked robe and a dark peaked cap to cover his white hair, Bishop Desmond Tutu appeared before the public with hard words: In front of a large crowd gathered in front of Pretoria's City Theatre, he declared that he had not fought for years against tyranny only to give in to another form of tyranny. His anger was directed at old comrades - the former freedom fighters from the African National Congress (ANC), who now enjoy a large majority in government.

During drawn-out discussions with representatives of the white regime, the ANC managed to force through its demand that an independent committee should investigate human rights violations carried out under the apartheid regime before taking over power in 1994. In order to prevent "justice of the victorious", those coming forward and admitting their guilt were to be ensured immunity from criminal prosecution. Yet now, four years on, the spiritual fathers of the Commission in a rare show of agreement with their former suppressors now seem reluctant to hear the truth. Only a few hours before the Commission's report was due to be handed over to President Nelson Mandela, the ANC made legal efforts to prevent publication.

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The 3,500-page document put together after hearing the testimony of 20,000 victims and bereaved relatives accuses mainly police officers, soldiers and politicians attached to the former apartheid regime - but also the ANC and other resistance organizations. According to the ANC, their just struggle against an unjust regime has been criminalized - the fact that civilians were caught up in the violence is regrettable, but in a war situation this cannot be regarded as a violation of human rights.

Political parties of all colors white and black have disputed the findings of the commission. Instead of creating an atmosphere of conciliation, new fronts have been created. For the ANC, their attempt to force Tutu and his fellow workers into a debate on the legitimacy of their own violent actions by taking court action has led to a credibility crisis. After all, Judge Wilfred Thring proved his independence and allowed the report to be published without censor or delay. Tutu's workers called it, "a victory for truth and human rights".

According to Bishop Tutu they have managed to uncover that of which people are capable in its "whole awfulness" and in painstaking detail: The torture of suspected terrorists with damp sacks and electric shocks, the so-called suicides through jumping out of windows after being interviewed by the police, the arbitrary and cold-blooded nature of state killer commandos, who drank beer next to the burning pyres of their victims.

Only a small section in the catalogue of horrors is dedicated to the resistance methods used by the ANC. Nevertheless, top ANC officials and members of the current government are accused of torturing and executing suspected traitors from their own ranks as well as authorizing bomb attacks on civilian targets. The female figurehead of the struggle for freedom comes in for special criticism: Winnie Madikizela-Mandela failed to convince the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of her innocence during her well-organized appearance before it at the end of last year. The Ex-wife of Nelson Mandela and her feared hit-squad disguised as a football club were accused of 18 serious human rights violations including 8 murders. "All those who showed opposition to Madikizela Mandela and the football club or defected from it were labeled informers and were hunted down and killed", according to the authors of the report. Since the "Mother of the Nation" had not applied for amnesty, she might now have to face a criminal trial.

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Mandela's predecessor, Frederik Willem de Klerk, the last white President of South Africa, in contrast, managed to shield off incriminating passages about him. Like most of those in his party with political responsibility, he managed to distance himself from the henchmen of the regime and claimed to have learned about their actions only afterwards. But Tutu refused to admit defeat: "His name will also be mentioned when all is said and done".

At the end of the day, however, the Commission's report only managed to unearth a part of the truth during the days in which the color of one's skin was the determining factor as to whether one was free or not. Many of the amnesty requests remain unprocessed, too little is known about the actual commando structure of the apartheid system and almost all incriminating documents were destroyed by the military and state security services before the transfer of power.

South Africa, therefore, stands at the beginning of the processes of conciliation. Vice-President, Thabo Mbeki, set the tone for the way in which future criticism will be handled. According to the ex-ANC leader in exile and designated successor of Mandela, the Commission was completely wrong in its assessment of the resistance movement. Only Mandela, who retires from politics in the spring showed true stature: Now all South Africans are "really free".

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