Three political parties on Monday called on the Justice Department to release the details of the 33 prisoners who were granted a presidential pardon over the weekend.
Twenty-eight of the men were released on Sunday from various Eastern Cape prisons, while the other five were out on parole at the time of the pardon.
According to the Justice Department the men were African National Congress (ANC) and Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) members who were denied amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
The PAC welcomed the release of the men, saying it was wrong to keep people in detention for having fought for and contributed to the present political dispensation.
PAC leader Dr Stanley Mogoba said his party has always called for its members in prison to be released. ”It is almost a song with us,” he said.
Mogoba said he wanted a list of the people who had been released.
”We want to know the names of those who were released and we have not been supplied with it. We also want to know who is still in prison and why they have not been released.”
He said if the only way to secure the release of PAC members was to apply for a presidential pardon for each of them, ”that is what we should do”.
Mogoba could not say how many members of his party were still in jail for politically motivated crimes.
He was adamant that common criminals should not be released, but said there could be a ”difference in perception” regarding the motive for the crimes committed by the men.
The Freedom Front (FF), another party that has continuously called for the release of its members who were still in prison for politically motivated crimes, said it wanted to know who was released and on what grounds.
FF justice representative Corné Mulder said his party wanted to know from the government if the presidential pardon granted to the 33 men had anything to do with granting amnesty to people who did not get it from the TRC.
”If it has to do with that, we will bring it before Parliament and demand that it be extended to members of other political parties as well,” he said.
Mulder said although the Justice Department denied that the prisoners’ political affiliation played a role, it must have been taken into account.
If the people released were nothing but common criminals, it was dangerous just to set them free. He said the FF would like to know the criteria used.
If this was part of a special amnesty for those denied amnesty by the TRC, what would happen to President Thabo Mbeki himself, who was not granted amnesty by the TRC and who could not pardon himself, Mulder asked.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) also called for a list of the people who were pardoned.
DA human rights representative Dene Smuts said victims and survivors of politically motivated crimes had ”a right to know if persons denied amnesty have now been pardoned”.
Smuts said: ”the piecemeal presidential pardon for unsuccessful amnesty applicants and others cannot be put into motion without fuller justification and public disclosure of the details of each case”.
Without this, the pardons would look like a ”back door blanket amnesty”.
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal welcomed the release of the prisoners.
”In KwaZulu-Natal there are thousands of foot soldiers still languishing in jail who were caught up in a vicious cycle of political violence,” the party said.
Representatives Dumisani Makhaye said his party was not calling for a blanket amnesty.
”Those who got themselves involved in genuine political violence and are ready to give full disclosure of their activities, including information about their commanders, weapons used, arms caches, victims of their actions, may be considered for special amnesty. But those who do not meet these demands must be pursued with vigour irrespective of positions they hold in society,” he said.
The Justice Department on Monday afternoon reiterated that the released prisoners’ political affiliation played no role in their receiving the presidential pardon.
Presidential representative, Paul Setsetse, said according to Section 84 of the Constitution the president had the power to grant pardons and remit sentences. A prisoner’s criminal record was also obliterated by a presidential pardon.
He said he did not know how many of the 33 men belonged to the ANC or PAC.
”We only looked at their applications and sentences and for how long they have already been in prison… Whether or not they had a political motive for their crimes – did not play a role at all. We are not a TRC.”
Earlier on Monday Setsetse said his department handled pardon applications often.
”There is nothing unique about this. We release pardoned prisoners on a daily basis,” he said.
The only factor which made the release of these men unique, according to Setsetse, was that some of them had been refused amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. ? Sapa