De Klerk denies ever knowing about security police that committed gross violations of human rights nor of the hit squads and the torture camp of Vlakplaas--a state-funded center for covert operations. He maintains that the men involved in these atrocities, including Colonel Eugene de Kok, who headed up the police death squad, were mavericks who carried out these dastardly deeds of their own volition. Although de Klerk does not dispute the evidence that gross violations of human rights were committed by elements of the security forces, he claims that he cannot be held responsible.

As Andre du Toit, a professor of political studies in South Africa, has written, de Klerk's Cabinet, as late as June 1990, accepted the "need-to-know" principle for security operations, though they also claimed that ministers should accept full accountability for "special projects." Unsurprisingly, this blatant contradiction resulted in some agents keeping their superiors in the dark about certain activities.

In his plea of innocence, de Klerk invoked the name of God to reinforce his claim: "I have a clear conscience with my God." However, it appears that the god of the apartheid government and the god of those that were oppressed by apartheid is as different as Blacks were from Whites in the old South Africa.

De Klerk's denials of responsibility for the atrocities and human rights violations by security forces ultimately under his command must be disputed. We should not forget that he held the highest position as president and, as such, bears ultimate responsibility for the actions of his subordinates, whether he knew about each individual crime or not. De Klerk presents himself as a "reformer" and a peacemaker, but we need to expose him for the person he really is.

Stewart Ting Chong is from South Africa and served on the staff of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He also served on the Human Rights Committee of South Africa, a non-governmental organization.