“Implementing Truth Commission Recommendations: The Latin American Experience”
Truth commissions have become an indispensable part of the transitional justice tool-kit in recent years. The anticipated impact of such commissions is usually related to two things: the issuing of a report and the implementation of the recommendations made in this reports. The recommendations of truth commissions may have bearings on how societies heal and develop after violent conflict – intersecting and overlapping with good governance and development concerns. Yet, we know very little about whether, how, why, and which recommendations are actually implemented – and when they are, with what effect. This paper takes stock of what we know and what we do not know concerning the implementation of truth commission recommendations (TCRs). It proposes a typology for classifying TCRs, as well as a methodology for how to collect and analyse data on this under-researched phenomenon. The research project, of which this paper forms a part, focuses on Latin American truth commissions, but the analytical framework for analysing the implementation of TCRs presented here should also be applicable to commissions in other parts of the world.
