Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: There is near unanimity among scholars and practitioners that, in order to move forward, societies coming out of periods of violence must in some way examine, acknowledge, and account for past violence committed by various groups. One mechanism for producing and delivering this truth is a truth commission. Truth commissions have become a near-global phenomenon for delivering transitional justice to individual victims and for providing a common truth to society as a whole. At least twenty-five truth commissions have existed or currently exist in Latin America, Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and the Far East. This examines whether truth-telling mechanisms can contribute to sustainable peace, and, if so, how and under what conditions. It does so by examining whether truth telling contributes to the following elements, all of which are deemed to be constitutive of sustainable peace: reconciliation, human rights, gender equity, restorative justice, the rule of law, the mitigation of violence, and the healing of trauma.