Annex
SELECTED TRUTH COMMISSIONS AND RELATED PROCESSES
By some estimates more than 40 "truth commissions"
have taken place to date. In the absence of an agreed international
definition, this appendix provides brief details of some 29 state-sponsored
truth recovery processes, along with eight examples (italicised)
of unofficial but significant exercises.
| Africa: 11 (2) |
Americas: 11 (6) | Asia: 5
| Europe: 2 |
| Burundi | Argentine | East Timor
| Germany |
| Chad | Bolivia | Nepal
| Serbia and |
| Ethiopia | + 1 unofficial |
Philippines | Montenegro |
| Ghana | Chile | South Korea
| |
| Nigeria | Colombia | Sri Lanka
| |
| Sierra Leone | Ecuador |
| |
| South Africa | El Salvador |
| |
| + 2 unofficial | Guaremala
| | |
| Uganda (2) | + 1 unofficial
| | |
| Zimbabwe | Haiti |
| |
| Panama |
| |
| Paraguay |
| |
| Peru | |
|
| Uruguay (2) |
| |
| + 1 unofficial |
| |
| | |
|
AFRICA
Burundi
International Commission of Inquiry (Nikken Commission)
Time frame: 1995-96
Process: official, under UN auspices.
Mandate: to investigate killings from coup attempt in October
1993 to August 1995.
Report: published August 1996.
Outcome: overtaken by the reality of mass killings since.
Chad
Commission of Inquiry into the Crimes and Misappropriations
Committed by Ex-President Habré, his Accomplices and/or
Accessories, Commission d'Enquête sur les Crimes et Détournements
commis par l'ex-président Habré, ses co-auteurs
et/ou complices
Time frame: 1990-92
Process: official, established by presidential decree.
Mandate: to investigate conduct of the Hisse"ne Habré
government (1982-90), including extrajudicial killings.
Report: published in May 1992.
Outcome: report was detailed, despite limited resources,
and was widely regarded as credible when issued, but its impact
was reduced by abuses attributed to the government which established
it. Many recommendations ignored, although a human rights commission
was created.
Ethiopia
Office of the Special Prosecutor
Time frame: created in 1992.
Process: official, established by the President.
Mandate: to create a historical record of abuses by the Mengistu
regime (1974-91) and to prosecute instances of corruption and
human rights violations.
Report: the Office is still in operation, providing information
for trials, which began in 1994 and are still under way, of hundreds
of former officials.
Outcome: logistical and financial problems; long delays in
charging and prosecuting those detained led to accusations of
human rights violations within the investigative process.
Ghana
National Reconciliation Commission
Time frame: 2002-
Process: official, National Reconciliation Commission Act
2002.
Mandate: to promote national reconciliation by establishing
an accurate and complete historical record of human rights violations
and abuses related to killing, abduction, disappearance, detention,
torture, ill-treatment, and seizure of properties in the period
from 6 March 1957 to 6 January 1993. The Commission is also charged
with making recommendations for redress of victims of human rights
abuses, and for institutional reforms to prevent such occurrences
in the future.
Report: still in operation.
Nigeria
Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (HRVIC,
also known as the Special Human Rights Commission, or Oputa Panel)
Time frame: 1999-2002
Process: official, appointed by President Obasanjo.
Mandate: to investigate human rights abuses committed from
1966 to 1999.
Powers: investigation of individual and institutional responsibilities,
recommendations.
Report: report delivered in May 2002, not made public to
date although an unofficial version has just appeared in a news
magazine.
Outcome: no reported implementation measures; NGOs are still
campaigning to have the report released.
Rwanda
International Commission of Investigation of Human Rights
Violations in Rwanda since 1 October 1990
Time frame: 1993
Process: official, set up by four international NGOs but
reconstituted as an official commission after the Arusha Accords
(1992) between the government and the armed opposition.
Mandate: investigation of abuses (by government forces only)
in 1990-92.
Report: Final Report of the International Commission of Investigation.
Outcome: widely circulated report, significant impact on
the policies of Belgium (accepted criticism) and France (withdrew
troops after ceasefire was agreed, two days after publication
of report). Positive impact obviously overtaken by the 1994 genocide.
Sierra Leone
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Time frame: 2000-04
Process: official, created by law following the Lomé
peace accord.
Mandate: to produce a report on human rights violations from
the beginning of the conflict in 1991 until its end in 1999, and
to make recommendations to facilitate reconciliation and prevent
a repetition of past abuses.
Report: issued in October 2004.
South Africa
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Time frame: 1995-2000
Process: official, set up by the parliament.
Mandate: to document past human rights violations 1960-93
(individual cases and structural causes), and to propose measures
of reparation and prevention.
Powers: subpoena powers, judicial powers (including power
to grant amnesty).
Report: Final Report published in 1998, five volumes, available
online; the Commission continued hearings for a further two years.
Outcome: despite official endorsement, the recommendations of
the Commission have not yet been fully implemented.
Commission of Inquiry into Complaints by Former ANC Prisoners
and Detainees (the Skweyiya Commission)
Time frame: 1992
Process: unofficial, established by the African National
Congress.
Mandate: to investigate abuses in ANC-run detention camps
in 1979-91.
Report: published October 1992.
Outcome: the ANC accepted collective responsibility for the
abuse of many of its prisoners but no individuals were made accountable;
the process lacked independence (two senior ANC members serving
as commissioners) and lacked procedural safeguards.
Commission of Inquiry into Certain Allegations of Cruelty and
Human Rights Abuses against ANC Prisoners and Detainees by ANC
Members (the Motsuenyane Commission)
Time frame: 1993
Process: unofficial, established by the African National
Congress.
Mandate: as above, established following criticism of the
adequacy of the 1992 process.
Report: published August 1993.
Outcome: the ANC accepted severe criticism and called for
the establishment of what became the national Truth and Reconciliation
Commission.
UGANDA
Commission of Inquiry into Violations of Human Rights
Time frame: 1986-94
Process: official, established by the President.
Mandate: to investigate human rights violations under the
governments of Milton Obote and Idi Amin between 9 October 1962
and 25 January 1986, and to make recommendations into ways of
preventing the recurrence of such events.
Report: Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations
published in October 1994.
Commission of Inquiry into the Disappearances of People in
Uganda since 25 January 1971
Time frame: 1974
Process: official, established by President Amin.
Mandate: to investigate "disappearances" allegedly
caused by military personnel in 1971-74.
Report: published in 1974.
Outcome: the Amin regime did not respond to the findings
in the report but it has been accepted as an historical account.
ZIMBABWE
Commission of Inquiry
Time frame: 1985
Process: official, set up by President Mugabe.
Mandate: to investigate the killing of an estimated 1,500
political dissidents and other civilians in the Matabeleland region
in 1983.
Report: has not been made public by the government.
Outcome: while the defence ministry acknowledged that abuses
had taken place, the government took the line that publication
of the report would endanger peace and stability.
AMERICAS
ARGENTINA
National Commission on the Disappeared, Comisión Nacional
sobre la Desaparición de Personas (CONADEP)
Time frame: 1983-84
Process: official, established by President Alfonsón
(Decree Law 187/83, 15 December 1983).
Mandate: to investigate human rights violations during the
"dirty war" of the military regime 1976-83, including
some 9,000 "disappearances".
Powers: no subpoena, no judicial powers but supportive evidence
for courts.
Report: Argentina—Nunca Más: Informe de la
Comisión Nacional sobre la Desaparición de Personas
(November 1984), based on 50,000 pages of testimony.
Outcome: fully endorsed by government but rejected by armed
forces; recommendations on follow-up and compensation partially
implemented; prosecutions and structural reforms.
BOLIVIA
National Commission on the Disappeared, Comisión Nacional
de Investigación de Desaparecidos
Time frame: 1982-84
Process: official, established by President Siles Suazo.
Mandate: to investigate the disappearance of citizens under
military rule, 1967-82.
Report: no final report: commission was dissolved before
completing its work.
Committee for the Trial of García Meza, Comité
impulsor del Juicio contra García Meza
Time frame: 1984-90
Process: unofficial, established at instigation of church,
trade unions etc.
Mandate: to investigate human rights violations under military
rule, 1973-90.
Report: gathered some 30,000 pages of testimony against Gen.
García Meza and his staff.
Outcome: led to prosecution of the ex-dictator, who was sentenced
in 1992 to 30 years' imprisonment, and to more than 50 other trials.
BRAZIL
Brazil "Never Again" Project, Projeto Brasil Nunca
Mais
Time frame: 1979-85
Process: unofficial, created by Catholic and Protestant churches.
Mandate: to investigate violations under military rule 1964-79.
Report: Brasil Nunca Mais (November 1985), supplemented by
a detailed listing of victims in Dossiê dos Mortos e Desaparecidos
Políticos a partir de 1964 (1995).
Outcome: no significant follow-up until 1995, when a new
statute (Decree Law 869/95) provided for compensation to victims
of past abuses.
CHILE
National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation, Comisión
Nacional de Verdad y Reconciliación (the Rettig Commission)
Time frame: 1990-92
Process: official, established by President Aylwin (Supreme
Decree 355, 24 April 1990).
Mandate: human rights abuses resulting in death or disappearance
during years of military rule from 11 September 1973 to 11 March
1990 (ie the Pinochet regime).
Powers: no subpoena or judicial powers, but provided supportive
evidence for courts.
Report: Report of the Chilean National Commission on Truth
and Reconciliation, known as the Rettig Report. It includes
an account of abuses (over 1,000 pages), a set of recommendations
(72 pages) and biographical details of victims (635 pages).
Outcome: fully endorsed by government, presidential apology;
rejected by armed forces and Pinochet. Comprehensive implementation
of recommendations, including compensation and reparation.
Colombia
Colombia Never Again, Crimes Against Humanity, Colombia nunca
más, crímenes de lesa humanidad
Time frame: 1995-
Process: unofficial, established by a group of NGOs.
Mandate: To document human rights abuses in Colombia since
1965.
Report: still under way but a partial report on abuses that
took place in two regions (out of 18) was made available in 2000.
Ecuador
Truth and Justice Commission, Comisión de la Verdad
y Justicia
Time frame: 1996-97
Process: official, established by President Bucaram.
Mandate: to investigate at least 176 cases of human rights
abuses over the previous 17 years.
Report: no final report.
Outcome: ceased to function five months after it started
its work (when Bucaram was removed from office by Congress).
El Salvador
Truth Commission, Comisión de la Verdad
Time frame: 1992-93
Process: official, set up by the peace agreement with UN
support.
Mandate: to investigate serious human rights abuses during
the 1980-91 conflict.
Powers: no subpoena, no judicial power, binding recommendations.
Report: From Madness to Hope: the 12-year war in El Salvador.
Outcome: rejected by armed forces and government on the basis
that the Commission had gone beyond its mandate. The FMLN guerrilla
movement had made its acceptance of the report conditional on
the government's. Slow and limited implementation of recommendations
(which included reparation and compensation).
Guatemala
Commission for Historical Clarification, Comisión
para el Esclarecimiento Histórico (CEH)
Time frame: 1994-99
Process: official, set up by the Oslo peace accord between
the government and UNRG guerrilla movement, with UN assistance.
Mandate: to investigate human rights violations in the 36-year
armed conflict.
Powers: no subpoena, no judicial powers, confidential hearings,
recommendations.
Report: Guatemala: Memoria del Silencio ("a memoir
of silence", February 1999).
Outcome: lukewarm endorsement by government, presidential
apology but no commitment to implementation. The US administration
said that it was "surprised" by the conclusions. No
action on compensation or reparation, no prosecutions.
Project for the Recovery of Historical Memory, Proyecto de
la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica (REMHI)
Time frame: 1995-98
Process: unofficial, established by a church-based NGO.
Mandate: to investigate human rights violations during the
armed conflict, 1970-94.
Report: Guatemala: Nunca Más (1998).
Outcome: this report of over 1,400 pages, dealing with the
fate of some 1.44 million victims of human rights violations,
formed the basis for the work of the official truth commission.
Haiti
National Truth and Justice Commission, Commission nationale
de vérité et de justice (CNVJ)
Time frame: 1994-96
Process: official, established by President Aristide.
Mandate: to investigate human rights abuses from the September
1991 coup that overthrew President Aristide until his restoration
to power following the September 1994 occupation of Haiti by US
troops.
Report: Rapport de la Commission nationale de vérité
et de justice (February 1996).
Outcome: recommendations for structural reforms and creation
of commission for reparation to victims were not fully implemented;
Aristide was subsequently ousted.
Panama
Truth Commission, Comisión de la Verdad
Time frame: 2001-04
Process: official, established by President Moscoso.
Mandate: to investigate human rights violations, including
150 "disappearances", during the military-dominated
governments of Generals Omar Torrijos and Manuel Noriega between
1968 and 1989.
Report: interim report issued in 2002. The Commission was
reported to be still in operation in December 2004, but with no
funding beyond the end of the year.
Paraguay
Paraguay "Never Again", Paraguay Nunca Más.
Time frame: 1984-90
Process: unofficial, set up by Churches' Committee for Emergency
Aid (Comité de Iglesias para Ayudas de Emergencia, CIPAE).
Mandate: to investigate human rights abuses in 1974-89, ie
under the Stroessner regime.
Report: published a series of four reports in 1990.
Outcome: the involvement of CIPAE and other church-based
groups in denouncing human rights abuses is generally held to
have contributed to the downfall of the Stroessner regime in 1989.
Peru
Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Comisión de la
Verdad y Reconciliación en el Perú
Time frame: 2001-03
Process: official, established by President Paniagua (Supreme
Decree 065-2001-PCM).
Mandate: to investigate human rights violations committed
in Peru between 1980 and 2000 as result of the armed conflict
between state forces and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement
and Sendero Luminoso guerrillas.
Report: Final Report, August 2003.
Outcome: recommended structural reforms and reparations for
victims, with a mechanism to monitor implementation. Findings
were endorsed by the Toledo government but without firm commitments
on implementation. (This commission followed earlier, smaller-scale
investigations into killings of prisoners and of journalists.)
Uruguay
Investigative Commission on the Situation of "Disappeared"
People and its Causes, Comisión Investigadora sobre la
Situación de Personas Desaparecidas y Hechos que la Motivaron
Time frame: April-November 1985
Process: official, established by parliament.
Mandate: to investigate disappearances during the period
of military rule (1973-82).
Report: Informe Final (1985). At the same time as this investigation,
there was also a smaller parliamentary Investigating Commission
on the Kidnapping and Assassination of National Representatives
Zelmar Michelini and Hector Gutiérrez Ruiz. This inquiry
released its findings in October 1985.
Outcome: minimal impact, report (presented to the courts)
not widely distributed inside or outside Uruguay. The president
opposed any serious attempt to investigate past abuses and the
Commission's mandate prevented investigations into illegal imprisonment
or torture, although these constituted the more common form of
violations. In 1986, an amnesty decree gave immunity from prosecution
to military and police personnel for human rights violations committed
prior to 1 March 1985 for political motives or in fulfilment of
orders.
Uruguay "Never Again", Uruguay—Nunca más
Time frame: 1986-89
Process: unofficial, set up by a church-based NGO, Service
for Peace and Justice (SERPAJ)
Mandate: investigation of human rights abuses by the state
in 1972-85.
Report: Uruguay—Nunca más, informe sobre la
violación de derechos humanos (February 1989).
Outcome: the report had wide circulation and was said to
have made up for some of the deficiencies of the official commission's
investigation.
Peace Commission, Comisión para la Paz
Time frame: 2000-03
Process: official, established by President Batlle.
Mandate: investigation of the fate of the disappeared during
the military regime in power from 1972 to 1985.
Report: Final Report (2003) dealing with 31 disappearances.
Outcome: the Commission recommended "comprehensive and
complete" reparation to victims. No implementation to date,
and ongoing debates about review of 1985 amnesty laws which some
victims' families say deprives them of justice.
ASIA
East Timor
Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation
Time frame: 2001-05
Process: official, established by the UN Transitional Administration
in East Timor.
Mandate: to investigate human rights violations committed
there between April 1974 and October 1999, resulting in the death
of an estimated 200,000 East Timorese; to facilitate reconciliation
and reintegration of minor criminal offenders who submit confessions,
through local "Community Reconciliation Processes";
and to recommend further measures to prevent future abuses and
address the needs of victims.
Powers: no power to grant amnesty.
Report: due in July 2005.
Nepal
Commission of Inquiry to Find the Disappeared Persons
Time frame: 1990-91.
Process: official, created by the provisional government
of Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai.
Mandate: to examine allegations of human rights violations
during the Panchayat system under which political parties were
banned from 1962-90.
Powers: investigation, recommendations.
Report: completed 1991, published in 1994.
Outcome: few of the recommendations were implemented. The
Commission itself was controversially dissolved and reconstituted.
Philippines
Presidential Committee on Human Rights
Time frame: 1986
Process: official, established by President Corazon Aquino.
Mandate: to investigate human rights violations attributed
to the military during the 1972-86 rule of President Ferdinand
Marcos.
Powers: broad mandate, but not given appropriate staff or
budget.
Report: no final report.
Outcome: the Committee was overwhelmed with complaints and,
given its lack of resources, was unable to operate effectively.
Human rights violations continued.
South Korea
Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths (PTCSD)
Time frame: 2000-04
Process: official, established by President Kim Dae-Jung
under a Special Act to Find the Truth on Suspicious Deaths.
Mandate: to investigate deaths of pro-democracy activists
under past authoritarian regimes in South Korea; "to give
proper reparation to the victims and their families [and] to rebuild
the trust between the state and the people".
Powers: limited investigative authority.
Report: the Commission reported on a total of 89 deaths,
56 of which it regarded as falling within its mandate (ie killings
for which the state was responsible).
Outcome: ineffective in terms of leading to prosecutions.
The mandate of the original Commission expired in 2002, and was
extended for a further two years.
Sri Lanka
Commissions of Inquiry into the Involuntary Removal or Disappearance
of Persons
Time frame: 1995-97
Process: official, established by President.
Mandate: three commissions (each covering a specific geographic
area) to investigate whether individuals had "disappeared"
from their abodes since 1 January 1988, to determine the fate
of the disappeared and bring charges against those responsible
for abductions. When the three commissions reported, the government
created a follow-up body, the presidential commission for the
investigation and elimination of involuntary disappearances.
Powers: investigation, report, evidence for courts.
Report: three final reports were published in 1997, following
eight interim ones.
Outcome: compensation payments were made and over 400 security
force personnel were charged with abuses.
EUROPE
Germany
Study Commission for the Assessment of the History and Consequences
of the Socialist Unity Party Dictatorship in Germany, Enquete-Kommission
Aufarbeitung von Geschichte und Folgen der SED-Diktatur in Deutschland
Time frame: 1992
Process: official, set up by parliament.
Mandate: to investigate human rights violations under communist
rule in East Germany from 1949 to 1989.
Report: Bericht der Enquete-Kommission, June 1994, 15,000
pages; files of former security apparatus were opened for individual
consultation.
Outcome: seen as a largely academic exercise, limited effect
on public awareness of the past but successful in terms of documentation
of abuses.
Serbia and Montenegro
Truth and reconciliation commission
Time frame: 2001-03
Process: official, established by President Vojislav Kostunica
(Decision 15/2001, 31 March 2001).
Mandate: to investigate the causes of war crimes committed
in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo over the last decade;
to make recommendations on structural reforms and "symbolic
reparation".
Report: the Commission was wound up, without a final report,
when the federal presidency was abolished in 2003.
Outcome: the Commission has been described as an object lesson
in how not to run an effective truth process. It was established
without adequate consultation and with limited representativity,
and had an essentially academic focus on the causes (rather than
effects) of the conflict and atrocities.
TRUTH COMMISSIONS AND RELATED PROCESSES IN TIME
| 1970-80 | 1980-90
| 1990-2000 | 2000-
|
1979: Brazil
| 1982: Bolivia
1983: Argentina
1984: Paraguay
1985: Zimbabwe
1986: Philippines
: Uganda
| 1990: Chad
: Chile
1991: Nepal
1992: Germany
: El Salvador
1994: Haiti
: Guatemala
1995: Sri Lanka
: South Africa
1996: Ecuador
1999: Nigeria
: Malawi
| 2000: South Korea
: Uruguay
: Panama
: Sierra Leone
2001: Serbia/M'negro
: East Timor
: Peru
2002: Ghana
|
| | |
|
OFFICIAL TRUTH
COMMISSIONS PRINCIPALLY
AIMED AT
HEALING OR
RECONCILIATION
Chile, National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation
East Timor, Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation
El Salvador, Truth Commission
Ghana, National Reconciliation Commission
Guatemala, Commission for Historical Clarification
Haiti, National Truth and Justice Commission
Peru, Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Sierra Leone, Truth and Reconciliation Commission
South Africa, Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
TRUTH COMMISSIONS
AND RELATED
PROCESSES GENERALLY
CONSIDERED SUCCESSFUL
This is a subjective assessment based on the consensus among
academics and practitioners. In some cases success is measured
in terms of the overall achievements of the commission, in others
it may be limited to its favourable impact at a time of transition,
or the efficiency or credibility of the process.
Argentina, National Commission on the Disappeared
Chile, National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation
El Salvador, Truth Commission
Germany, Study Commission for the Assessment of the History
and Consequences of the Socialist Unity Party Dictatorship in
Germany
Guatemala, Commission for Historical Clarification
South Africa, Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Sources include:
United States Institute of Peace survey of truth processes:
www.usip.org/library/truth.htm
Priscilla B. Hayner, "Fifteen Truth Commissions-1974
to 1994: A Comparative Study," Human Rights Quarterly 16:4,
November 1994, pp597-655.
Jorge Morales Morales, Comisin de la verdad y reconciliación,
at www.monografias.com/trabajos14/comision-verdad/comision-verdad.shtml.
Daan Bronkhorst, Truth Commissions and Transitional Justice:
A Short Guide, Amnesty International.
Comisión Andina de Juristas, Comisión de la
Verdad, online resource of the Red de Información Juródica
at www.cajpe.org.pe/RIJ/.
| 
