Beyond Words: Latin American Truth Commissions' Recommendations (completed)

Over 40 countries have established truth commissions (TCs) to investigate past patterns of gross human rights violations and recommend measures of redress. More than a third of these commissions have been in Latin America.

Visit the project homepage.

Congreso Nacional

Congreso Nacional, Buenos Aires. Photo: Colourbox.com

About the project

Over the past three decades, over 40 countries have established truth commissions (TCs) to investigate past patterns of gross human rights violations and recommend measures of redress. More than a third of these commissions have been in Latin America. An otherwise large literature on transitional justice (TJ) has paid virtually no attention to TC recommendations and their fate. Focusing on Latin America, the aim of this project is to examine the formulation and implementation processes around TC recommendations.

The project will analyse the recommendations of 14 TC reports in 12 Latin American countries since 1982 in order to identify (1) contexts, actors and processes that shape TC recommendations; and (2) conditions which are more/less conducive to implementation of what kind of recommendation.

See the project's homepage for the latest publications and activities.

Background

The research has primary relevance to intellectual and policy debates on TJ in Latin America, but carries a broader theoretical potential. By establishing an empirically-based typology of recommendations and related trajectories of implementation, the project provides an analytical basis for cross-regional research on the impact of collective truth-seeking mechanisms.

Furthermore, the project has policy implications for the design of recommendations that are credible and likely to be implemented, and for the management of expectations generated by TCs among policymakers, activists, and mass publics.

Partners

  • Chr. Michelsen Institute, Norway
  • University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA
  • CELS, Argentina
  • IDEHPUPC, Peru
  • FLACSO, Guatemala

Funding scheme

Project period

October 2014 - December 2017

Tags: Truth commissions, democratization, Guatemala, Peru, Argentina, Global South
Published Nov. 21, 2016 11:36 AM - Last modified Nov. 3, 2023 12:14 AM

Contact

Jemima Garcia-Godos, UiO

Elin Skaar
Head of Project

Participants

Detailed list of participants