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Definition
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions are official bodies formed to investigate a pattern of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law over a period of time. These commissions have a temporary duration. They conclude with a final report and recommendations for changes. Because of their purpose they have a specific mandate, or goal. They work through a variety of organisational arrangements and adopt a range of procedures.
TRCs don’t have judicial powers; they are not tribunals or judicial bodies. They may make public the names of those found responsible for human violation, but they cannot prosecute, judge or sanction them.
Establishment
The TRCs can be established by:
- Governments (for example by transitional governments after conflicts),
- Pace agreements between the Parties to a conflict
- The United Nations, and
- Local organisations (like religious institutions)
TRCs can be formed by a variable number of members, from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 12. These could be national or international personalities. Depending on the situation the members are chosen by the government, United Nations or by the parties to a conflict. The common characteristics to these members are their independence and impartiality, preferably belonging to a group vulnerable to human right violations.
It is important to emphasize that the decision to establish this type of commission, define its terms of reference and determine its composition should be based on broad public consultation so that views of victims and survivors are taken into account.
TRCs and domestic tribunals and international mechanisms
The objective of the TRCs is to remind and recommend domestic judicial authorities of their international obligation to investigate violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and, judge and sanction those found to be responsible.
At the end of their mandate, TRCs have referred a number of cases to judicial authorities, recommending them to judge and sanction those responsible.
Sometimes, TRCs have shared their archives with prosecuting authorities TRCs’ final reports have often been used by domestic and international tribunals as evidence in proceedings against perpetrators of human rights violations.
In some cases, the adoption of amnesty laws or similar measures has prevented domestic authorities from implementing the TRC’s recommendation to judge the alleged perpetrators of serious human rights violations (e.g. El Salvador). These amnesty laws are incompatible with international human rights law and must be declared null and void.
TRCs final reports
The TRCs’ final report must be made public in full. Also it has to be disseminated as widely as possible. It is a fundamental document of reference and can be used as evidence both in domestic and international proceedings (e.g. in the case of Guatemala, both domestic tribunals and the Inter American Court of Human Rights have taken into account the findings of the Truth Commission as further evidence in their proceedings to establish individual or State responsibility).
Depending on the mandate of the TRCs, recommendations can be binding or not (e.g. in the cases of El Salvador and Peru, recommendations are binding).
Role of the NGO’s
NGOs can play an important role in the setting up and during the work of the TRCs:
- Lobbying governments for setting of TRCs
- Establishing a relation with the Commission by reporting the violations of human rights they already documented.
- Assisting relatives of the disappeared people in presenting their testimonies to the TRC and keep them updated of their findings
- Informing the general public of their possibilities with regard to the TRC.
- Helping in the diffusion of the final report and contribute to explaining
- Monitoring on the implementation of the recommendations