Truth and reconciliation commission

A truth commission or truth and reconciliation commission is a commission tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government, in the hope of resolving conflict left over from the past. They are, under various names, occasionally set up by states emerging from periods of internal unrest, civil war, or dictatorship. South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, established by President Nelson Mandela after apartheid, is generally considered a model of Truth Commissions, rarely if ever achieved in other parts. As government reports, they can provide proof against historical revisionism of state terrorism and other crimes and human rights abuses. Truth commissions are sometimes criticised for allowing crimes to go unpunished, and creating impunity for serious human rights abusers.

List of truth and reconciliation commissions

Argentina

*National Commission for Forced Disappearances "(Comisión Nacional sobre la Desaparición de Personas)"

Canada

*Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Chile

*National Truth and Reconciliation Commission "(Comisión Nacional de Verdad y Reconciliación;" "Rettig Report")
*National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture ("Valech Report")

El Salvador

*United Nations Truth Commission "(Comisión de la Verdad)" [http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/salvador/informes/truth.html]

Fiji

*Reconciliation and Unity Commission

Ghana

*National Reconciliation Commission [http://www.ghana.gov.gh/NRC/]

Guatemala

*Historical Clarification Commission "(Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico)"

Liberia

*Truth and Reconciliation Commission [http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51842]

Morocco

*Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER).

Panama

*Truth Commission "(Comisión de la Verdad)"

Peru

*Truth and Reconciliation Commission "(Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación)"

Rwanda

*Gacaca court

ierra Leone

*Truth and Reconciliation Commission

olomon Islands

As of September 2008, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been proposed by the government. Its aim would be to "address people’s traumatic experiences during the five year ethnic conflict on Guadalcanal (1999-2004)". It would be modelled on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa. In late August 2008, Sam Iduri, Minister for Peace and Reconciliation, introduced a Truth and Reconciliation Commission Bill to Parliament. [ [http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=41836 "Solomon Islands moves closer to establishing truth and reconciliation commission"] , Radio New Zealand International, September 4, 2008]

outh Africa

*Truth and Reconciliation Commission After the transition from apartheid, President Nelson Mandela authorized a truth commission to study the effects of apartheid in that country. [http://www.doj.gov.za/trc/]

outh Korea

* Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Republic of Korea) ( _ko. 진실·화해를 위한 과거사 정리 위원회), [http://www.jinsil.go.kr/English/Commission/outline.asp] government [http://english.chosun.com/cgi-bin/printNews?id=200801170011]

Under the "Framework Act on Clearing up Past Incidents for Truth and Reconciliation", the Commission’s purpose is to foster national legitimacy and reconcile the past for the sake of national unity by honoring those who participated in anti-Japanese movements and exposing the truth by investigating incidents regarding human rights abuses, violence, and massacres occurring since Japanese rule to the present time, specifically during the nation’s authoritarian regimes.

East Timor

*Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor ("Comissão de Acolhimento, Verdade e Reconciliação de Timor Leste"; 2001-2005)
*Truth and Friendship Commission (2005–) [http://www.globalpolicy.org/intljustice/etimorindx.htm]

United States

*Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission (GTRC)
*Joshua Micah Marshall has called for a truth and reconciliation commission about U.S.-sponsored torture in Iraq and elsewhere. [http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/006992.php]
*Kenneth Brady outlines a potential U.S. Truth and Reconciliation Commission in his movie "The Time Is Now," and examines human rights abuses resulting from U.S. foreign policy actions taken over the last 40 years. [http://www.thetimeisnowthemovie.com]

ee also

* The German policy of "Vergangenheitsbewältigung" is commonly compared to "truth and reconciliation"

External links

* [http://jinsil.go.kr/English/index.asp Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Republic of Korea]
* [http://www.usip.org/library/truth.html Truth Commissions Digital Collection] (United States Institute of Peace)
* [http://www.truthcommission.org Truth Commission]
* [http://www.ictj.org International Center of Transitional Justice]