The Embryonic State: Idealisms in an Armed Struggle

This article argues that the African National Congress's (ANC) Geneva Conventions declaration and Code of Conduct were important precursors to the ANC's constitutional proposals and that they demonstrated an emerging, yet tentative, shift within the ANC toward thinking about rights in terms of human rights. The article situates the ANC's Geneva Conventions declaration and Code of Conduct against the background of internal debates about what constituted a just war and what foundation its days in exile should set for a postapartheid South Africa and the nature of the law that would shape the country. It considers these two moments in light of the organization's efforts to earn support internationally, protect its soldiers from the death penalty, and restrain its armed struggle. The article also addresses the discordances in these actions, namely, the human rights abuses of suspected informants perpetrated by some ANC members.