False Promises, Wasted Opportunities – Reflections on South Africa’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission, Piers Pigou

ABOUT

TRC participants Piers Pigou and Zenzile Khoisan in dialogue

Piers Pigou has lived and worked in South Africa since 1992 for a range of organisations; his work focused on the documentation and remedy of human rights violations, in particular issues of torture, assassination and political violence.

This included several non-governmental organisations, as well the South African and East Timorese truth commission in their investigation units. He has also worked on transitional justice issues in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Northern Ireland, and Canada, amongst others.

In 2006 Piers became the director of the South African History Archive. This archive is dedicated to documenting and archiving past and contemporary struggles for justice in South Africa, the promotion of access to information and enhancing public access to records through materials production and outreach.

Between June 2009 and October 2010, Piers was Senior Associate for the International Centre for Transitional Justice with responsibility for Southern Africa, and Zimbabwe in particular.

In April 2011, Piers joined the International Crisis Group as Project Director for Southern Africa.

Since November 2015, he has been a senior consultant for Southern Africa at Crisis Group, and adviser to the Elders and a part-time investigator for the International Truth and Justice Project focusing on violations perpetrated by Sri Lanka’s security and political establishment.

DIRECTIONS