{"id":39757,"date":"2018-12-13T10:41:20","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T09:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html"},"modified":"2018-12-13T10:41:20","modified_gmt":"2018-12-13T09:41:20","slug":"alex-boraine-in-memoriam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html","title":{"rendered":"Alex Boraine - In Memoriam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex Boraine, the former vice-president of South Africa\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, died on December 5. To many, he was a \u201cgiant\u201d of what came to be known as transitional justice. Mark Freeman, the Executive Director<\/strong> of the Institute for Integrated Transitions, pays tribute to him and his legacy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On December 5, 2018, the extraordinary Dr. Alex Boraine passed away in his home city of Cape Town, at age 87. For so many reasons, his\u00a0life is one that must be celebrated and\u00a0studied by all who believe in human rights and conflict resolution.<\/p>\n

Alex and I first met in 2000, during his preparations to establish the International Center for Transitional Justice. At the time, Alex had already enjoyed enough impressive careers to cover a lifetime: he had been a prominent Methodist minister, businessman, parliamentarian, think-tank founder, academic, and deputy chair of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), among much else.<\/p>\n

If Alex\u2019s professional life was marked by transitions, his intellectual passion was no different.\u00a0He played a huge role in conceptualising and bringing about the conditions for South Africa\u2019s negotiated transition in the 1980s and 1990s, helping prevent a civil war. He then played a key role in conceiving and leading the TRC: by far the most innovative model of transitional justice the world has ever known.<\/p>\n

What I know best about Alex, however, is his singular contribution to the theory and practice of transitional justice.<\/p>\n

Listening to the voices of victims<\/h3>\n

Because Alex thought equally with heart and mind, he saw things differently \u2013 and better \u2013 than most. He was always the first in the room to insist that we listen carefully to the voices of victims, no matter how uncomfortable they made us, as it is our solemn duty to do so.<\/p>\n

He was likewise the person who most insisted that transitional justice is not about the pursuit of a single ideal, but rather the \u201cholding in tension\u201d of a diverse spectrum of values \u2013 truth, justice, reparation, reform and reconciliation \u2013 that could sustain a transition out of conflict or tyranny or advance it a step further.<\/p>\n

As uncontroversial as such views may seem, Alex nevertheless had to defend himself \u2013 more than once \u2013 against misguided accusations of betraying the cause of justice, including at an early high-level meeting I attended with him in the office of Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n

However, in his inimitable way, he always defended his views with patience and with intellect.<\/p>\n

To watch Alex in action was to be constantly inspired, especially when it came to tackling the big debates and dilemmas of transitional justice. To his credit, he never shied away from defending controversial positions if he felt they represented the best moral, legal or political option under the circumstances. Indeed, such situations were the ones in which Alex operated at the height of his intellectual and oratorical powers.<\/p>\n

On my last visit with him and his wife in Cape Town, just one year ago, I found Alex to be operating in the same generous spirit I always cherished in him. He had dozens of questions for me about my work, my family and much else. He was ready to hop on a plane to be part of a meeting about Zimbabwe, or any other crisis situation in which he could possibly be of any help.<\/p>\n

Alex\u2019s humane, wise, and compassionate voice will be missed by an entire generation of people he brought into the field of transitional justice: one that he took from infancy to adulthood. His example and presence will be missed\u00a0terribly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alex Boraine, the former vice-president of South Africa\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, died on December 5. To many, he was a \u201cgiant\u201d of what came to be known as transitional justice. Mark Freeman, the Executive Director of the Institute for Integrated Transitions, pays tribute to him and his legacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":64245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[],"ji_location":[2477],"class_list":["post-39757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","ji_location-south-africa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlex Boraine - In Memoriam - JusticeInfo.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alex Boraine - In Memoriam\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alex Boraine, the former vice-president of South Africa\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, died on December 5. To many, he was a \u201cgiant\u201d of what came to be known as transitional justice. Mark Freeman, the Executive Director of the Institute for Integrated Transitions, pays tribute to him and his legacy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JusticeInfo.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-13T09:41:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/38994a266ef58d0c3e177746e17602f2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"661\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Freeman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@justiceinfonet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@justiceinfonet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Freeman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"solivri\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6e53cba1629e2e66f3fc1821d3091865\"},\"headline\":\"Alex Boraine - In Memoriam\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-13T09:41:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html\"},\"wordCount\":596,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/38994a266ef58d0c3e177746e17602f2.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html\",\"name\":\"Alex Boraine - In Memoriam - JusticeInfo.net\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/38994a266ef58d0c3e177746e17602f2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-13T09:41:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/38994a266ef58d0c3e177746e17602f2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/38994a266ef58d0c3e177746e17602f2.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":661},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Alex Boraine - In Memoriam\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/\",\"name\":\"JusticeInfo.net\",\"description\":\"For justice to be done, it must be seen\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Justice Info\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png\",\"width\":1199,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Justice Info\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/justiceinfonet\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/justice-info\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyCEsARodyuWtkWyhn-e7pA\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Mark Freeman\",\"url\":\"\/en\/?s=Mark Freeman\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Alex Boraine - In Memoriam - JusticeInfo.net","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Alex Boraine - In Memoriam","og_description":"Alex Boraine, the former vice-president of South Africa\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, died on December 5. To many, he was a \u201cgiant\u201d of what came to be known as transitional justice. Mark Freeman, the Executive Director of the Institute for Integrated Transitions, pays tribute to him and his legacy.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html","og_site_name":"JusticeInfo.net","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/","article_published_time":"2018-12-13T09:41:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":661,"url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/38994a266ef58d0c3e177746e17602f2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mark Freeman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@justiceinfonet","twitter_site":"@justiceinfonet","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Freeman","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html"},"author":{"name":"solivri","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6e53cba1629e2e66f3fc1821d3091865"},"headline":"Alex Boraine - In Memoriam","datePublished":"2018-12-13T09:41:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html"},"wordCount":596,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/38994a266ef58d0c3e177746e17602f2.jpg","articleSection":["Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html","name":"Alex Boraine - In Memoriam - JusticeInfo.net","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/38994a266ef58d0c3e177746e17602f2.jpg","datePublished":"2018-12-13T09:41:20+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/38994a266ef58d0c3e177746e17602f2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/38994a266ef58d0c3e177746e17602f2.jpg","width":1000,"height":661},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/39757-alex-boraine-in-memoriam.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Alex Boraine - In Memoriam"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/","name":"JusticeInfo.net","description":"For justice to be done, it must be seen","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization","name":"Justice Info","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png","width":1199,"height":1200,"caption":"Justice Info"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/","https:\/\/x.com\/justiceinfonet","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/justice-info","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyCEsARodyuWtkWyhn-e7pA"]},{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Freeman","url":"\/en\/?s=Mark Freeman"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39757"},{"taxonomy":"ji_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ji_location?post=39757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}