Truth commission
Truth commissions are, under various names, occasionally set up by states emerging from periods of internal unrest, civil war, or dictatorship marked by human rights abuses.
[4] While it is generally assumed that truth and reconciliation commissions could investigate on a larger number of crimes, they are less effective in pursuing criminal punishment.
The Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor also aimed to tell a new "national narrative" to replace the version of history that had been prevalent under foreign rule.
Less commonly, truth commissions advocate forms of reparative justice, efforts to repair past damage and help victims of conflict or human rights violations to heal.
In other cases, governments see the opportunity to unite divided societies and offer truth and reconciliation commissions as the way to reach that goal.
It issued the Nunca Más (Never Again) report, which documented human rights violations under the military dictatorship known as the National Reorganization Process.
Other early commissions were established in diverse locations including Nepal (1990), El Salvador (1992), Guatemala (1994), and Ireland (1994).
South Africa's truth and reconciliation commission was formed in 1995, in the aftermath of apartheid, as a deal between the former white-minority regime and the African National Congress.
[15] Those who supported the hybrid truth commission hoped it would heal the wounds of the past, give dignity to victims, and permit the emergence of a post-apartheid "rainbow nation" led by Nelson Mandela.
The term used in Australia is "truth telling", and calls for a truth-telling commission about past injustices have been made over a long period into the 21st century.
The Referendum Council, which was established to consult with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples about their views on constitutional recognition, highlighted the importance of truth-telling in its 2017 final report.
[20] The Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples was appointed in March 2018, and presented its final report on 29 November 2018.
This could include the involvement of local organisations and communities, libraries, historical societies and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander associations.
[24] In July 2019, Minister for Indigenous Australians Wyatt gave an address to the National Press Club, in which he spoke of the theme of NAIDOC Week 2019: "Voice.
The Yoorrook Justice Commission aims to establish an official public record of the experience of Aboriginal Victorians since the start of British colonisation in Victoria.
[30] Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission focused on the legacies of Canadian Indian residential schools and Indigenous-settler relations.
The commission was established in 2006 as part of the settlement of a class-action lawsuit in which nearly 4,600 residential school survivors had sued the federal government.
[31] In June 2015, the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission released a summary report of its findings, concluding that the school system amounted to cultural genocide.
[36] In 2020, Sweden funded the establishment of an independent truth commission to examine and document past abuse of the Sámi by the Swedish.
