The Staging of the Hidden: Interrogating an Ambivalent Response to a Crime Against Humanity
In December 2018, a former member of a white supremacist group and perpetrator of a violent crime, Stefaans Coetzee participated in a panel discussion at a reconciliation conference in South Africa. In 1996, Coetzee was a key executioner of a bombing which killed four people and injured 67. After pl...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Pluto Journals
2020-01-01
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| Series: | State Crime |
| Online Access: | https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/statecrime.9.1.0029 |
| _version_ | 1797827887646113792 |
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| author | Andrea Durbach |
| author_facet | Andrea Durbach |
| author_sort | Andrea Durbach |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In December 2018, a former member of a white supremacist group and perpetrator of a violent crime, Stefaans Coetzee participated in a panel discussion at a reconciliation conference in South Africa. In 1996, Coetzee was a key executioner of a bombing which killed four people and injured 67. After pleading guilty, Coetzee was sentenced to 40 years in jail and 20 years later, he was released on parole. Thirty years earlier, 25 black South Africans were convicted of the “necklace” murder of a black policeman. Fourteen of the 25 were sentenced to death. On appeal, a majority of the murder convictions were overturned and all the death sentences commuted. Drawing on these two cases, this essay explores contrasting responses to engaging with perpetrators of political violence through the lens of implication. It examines the shifting boundaries of legitimacy in the realm of political crime and analyses the underlying influences and imperatives of accountability for crimes against humanity committed under apartheid and in a nascent post-conflict state. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T12:55:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0afabdcf72e64bfd84c94d24cbcd2082 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2046-6056 2046-6064 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T12:55:35Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Pluto Journals |
| record_format | Article |
| series | State Crime |
| spelling | doaj.art-0afabdcf72e64bfd84c94d24cbcd20822023-05-13T16:00:13ZengPluto JournalsState Crime2046-60562046-60642020-01-0191294610.13169/statecrime.9.1.0029The Staging of the Hidden: Interrogating an Ambivalent Response to a Crime Against HumanityAndrea Durbach0UNSW SydneyIn December 2018, a former member of a white supremacist group and perpetrator of a violent crime, Stefaans Coetzee participated in a panel discussion at a reconciliation conference in South Africa. In 1996, Coetzee was a key executioner of a bombing which killed four people and injured 67. After pleading guilty, Coetzee was sentenced to 40 years in jail and 20 years later, he was released on parole. Thirty years earlier, 25 black South Africans were convicted of the “necklace” murder of a black policeman. Fourteen of the 25 were sentenced to death. On appeal, a majority of the murder convictions were overturned and all the death sentences commuted. Drawing on these two cases, this essay explores contrasting responses to engaging with perpetrators of political violence through the lens of implication. It examines the shifting boundaries of legitimacy in the realm of political crime and analyses the underlying influences and imperatives of accountability for crimes against humanity committed under apartheid and in a nascent post-conflict state.https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/statecrime.9.1.0029 |
| spellingShingle | Andrea Durbach The Staging of the Hidden: Interrogating an Ambivalent Response to a Crime Against Humanity State Crime |
| title | The Staging of the Hidden: Interrogating an Ambivalent Response to a Crime Against Humanity |
| title_full | The Staging of the Hidden: Interrogating an Ambivalent Response to a Crime Against Humanity |
| title_fullStr | The Staging of the Hidden: Interrogating an Ambivalent Response to a Crime Against Humanity |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Staging of the Hidden: Interrogating an Ambivalent Response to a Crime Against Humanity |
| title_short | The Staging of the Hidden: Interrogating an Ambivalent Response to a Crime Against Humanity |
| title_sort | staging of the hidden interrogating an ambivalent response to a crime against humanity |
| url | https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/statecrime.9.1.0029 |
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