Brian Currin (born 20 September 1950) is a South African

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

who was instrumental in the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Currin practiced law in Pretoria from 1977 to 1987, specializing in labour law and civil and human rights, and now works in

mediation Mediation is a structured, interactive process where an impartial third party neutral assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialized communication and negotiation techniques. All participants in mediation are ...

and institutional transformation. In 1994 he was appointed by South African President

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

to chair a Prison Audit Committee and was subsequently involved in the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In 1987 he founded the National Directorate of Lawyers for Human Rights which he headed for eight years. He has worked in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, Rwanda and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

on political transformation. Currin now co-chairs the Sentence Review Commission in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

, which decides on the early release of prisoners who have committed terrorism-related offences. In 2000, he became an independent mediator in the Drumcree parading dispute and said that he hoped he could achieve a breakthrough in the mediation role because he was a completely independent outsider. But he quit his role in December 2001, saying that as

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

Orangemen had withdrawn from dialogue, he was "unable to take the process any further".

Involvement in the Basque Conflict

Currin has been involved since 2004Interview with Brian Currin - "Alliance Magazine", 16 May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2013
in trying to help resolve the

Basque Conflict The Basque conflict, also known as the Spain–ETA conflict, was an armed and political conflict from 1959 to 2011 between Spain and the Basque National Liberation Movement, a group of social and political Basque organizations which sought inde ...

. His work has been funded by the

Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) is a philanthropic grant making trust that supports work undertaken in the UK and Ireland, and previously South Africa. It is one of three original trusts set up by Joseph Rowntree in 1904. The Trust ...

. In the last years he is part of the international mediators team involved in the search of a negotiated solution for the conflict in the Basque Country between the Basque terrorist group

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

(Basque Country and Freedom) and the Spanish and French governments. In November 2010 this group was officially set up as the International Contact Group for the Basque Country. The Group had as mandate "to expedite, facilitate and enable the achievement of political normalization in the Basque Country" This mediators team is not recognized by either the Spanish or the French government. The main associations of victims of ETA have asked him to leave this labour considering it as inadequate and harmful. Additionally, the main Spanish parties at the time People's Party and

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in go ...

have criticized what they consider a lack of knowledge of the political reality in the Basque Country.

References

External links

''Pen Pictures''
''Sentence Review Commission''; accessed 3 November 2007.
'' Drumcree Dispute - Key figures''
''BBC News NI''; accessed 3 November 2007

''South Africa History Archive'']; accessed 3 November 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Currin, Brian Living people 1950 births 20th-century South African lawyers South African human rights activists White South African anti-apartheid activists Place of birth missing (living people) People from Pretoria