Truth Commissions and Transitional Justice: The Impact on Human Rights and Democracy »

Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm is a consultant on issues ranging from the politics of post-conflict justice and reconstruction to labour and employment law and welfare state politics. He has previously taught at the University of Nevada — Las Vegas and worked with the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Diaspora Project.

Despite the increasing frequency of truth commissions, there has been little agreement as to their long-term impact on a state's political and social development. This book uses a multi-method approach to examine the impact of truth commissions on subsequent human rights protection and democratic practice.

Providing the first cross-national analysis of the impact of truth commissions and presenting detailed analytical case studies on South Africa, El Salvador, Chile, and Uganda, author Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm examines how truth commission investigations and their final reports have shaped the respective societies. The author demonstrates that in the longer term, truth commissions have often had appreciable effects on human rights, but more limited impact in terms of democratic development. The book concludes by considering how future research can build upon these findings to provide policymakers with strong recommendations on whether and how a truth commission is likely to help fragile post-conflict societies.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Transition Justice, Human Rights, Peace and Conflict Studies, Democratization Studies, International Law and International Relations.

List of tables

Pt. I Truth-seeking as an article of faith 1

1 An inconvenient truth 3

2 Uncovering the truth: theorizing truth commission expectations 22

Pt. II Experiments in truth 33

3 South Africa's paradigmatic Truth and Reconciliation Commission 35

4 Chile's persistent past 52

5 Truth and peacebuilding in El Salvador 80

6 Historical oblivion in Uganda 104

Pt. III Truth commissions in cross-national context 127

7 Truth commissions, human rights, and democracy around the world 129

Pt. IV The promise and pitfalls of truth commissions 143

8 The consequences of truth 145

App Countries in the statistical models 163

Notes 165

Bibliography 198

Index 217