Truth commissions, Transitional Justice, and Civil Society

Abstract

Many societies seeking a just transition from authoritarian regimes or civil wars todemocracy have employed official truth commissions to investigate systematic violations of internationally recognized human rights. These abuses – which include extrajudicial killing, genocide, disappearance, rape, torture, and severe ill treatment – may have been committed by a previous government against its own citizens (or those of other countries), by its opponents, or by combatants in a civil or international armed conflict.