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Truth Commissions

What is it all about?

In search of the causes of violence, listening to the victims

Truth commissions in the field of transitional justice are pillars in the quest for truth in societies that have decided to confront dark periods of their history, whether after a conflict, a dictatorship, or specific crimes committed, for example, against an indigenous population. Justice Info covers truth commissions when they play a significant role in addressing the most serious crimes of the past.

Colonial crimes committed by France in Cameroon: a report seeks to establish the truth. Photo: French President Emmanuel Macron receives a copy of the report.
What will be the legacy of the France-Cameroon commission?
8 April 2025 by Julia Crawford
After more than two years of work, a joint commission into French colonial crimes in Cameroon submitted its findings in January 2025. Some 1,000 pages eventually hailed by academics. Now the follow-up begins.
Antoine Garapon, French magistrate and head of the Commission for Recognition and Reparation for sexual crimes committed in the Church, advocates restorative justice. illustration: portrait of Garapon. “Restorative justice is the very soul of justice”
11 February 2025 by Clémentine Méténier
Are restorative processes, like those in France dealing with Church abuse, the future in dealing with crimes that courts cannot judge? This is the plea made by French magistrate Antoine Garapon, who heads the Recognition and Repar [...]
Will Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the President of Sri Lanka, be able to put in place a genuine transitional justice process? Photo: Dissanayake during his election campaign in September 2024. Can Sri Lanka now break with the past?
3 February 2025 by Julia Crawford
Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war ended nearly 16 years ago, with war crimes committed on all sides. Victims have seen no justice. A new President and parliament were elected last year, representing a break with traditional parties and [...]
In South Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu presents the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to South African President Thabo Mbeki on 21 March 2003 in Pretoria. The two personalities smile and shake hands. A South African betrayal
28 January 2025 by Thierry Cruvellier
On 20 January, 23 South Africans whose family members were murdered, forcibly disappeared or seriously injured under Apartheid have filed an unprecedented and damning application to the Constitutional Court. With the Foundation fo [...]
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In Australia, transitional justice is being undermined by politics. The Aboriginal community is trying to adapt to the failings of truth commissions following the recent change of government in Queensland. Photo: An Aboriginal man, with only his hands visible, burns herbs during a traditional smoking ceremony.
24 January 2025 by Maxim Shanahan
The retreating tide of transitional justice in Australia There have been many setbacks for transitional justice in Australia in the past year. The latest one happened in the state of Queensland. A new Truth-Telling and Healing Inquiry was shut down after the conservative opposition won [...]
Sihem Bensedrine, the former chairwoman of Tunisia's truth commission, is in prison. Many human rights organisations believe that the government is seeking to undermine transitional justice efforts.
6 January 2025 by Amin Taieb
Tunisia: why Bensedrine is in jail Sihem Bensedrine, the former president of Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission between 2014 and 2018, has been in pre-trial detention since 1 August 2024. Her lawyers have been fighting for her release ever since, denouncing “a [...]
Norway on the road to reconciliation with the Sami indigenous peoples, Kven, Norwegian Finns and Forrest Finns for its “Norwegianization politics” in the past. Photo : traditional dwellings of the Sami people - set up in front of the Storting, the Norwegian Parliament.
28 November 2024 by Astrid Nonbo Andersen + Amalie Drage Habbestad + Astri Dankertsen
The beginning of Norway’s reconciliation process On November 12, the Norwegian Parliament apologized to the Sami, Kven, Norwegian Finns and Forrest Finns for its “Norwegianization politics” in the past. It also acted on the report and recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliat [...]
Kasai Truth Commission (Democratic Republic of Congo) - Children play on ruins in this region affected by the Kamwina Nsapu conflict.
29 August 2024 by Caleb Kazadi
Kasai-Central Truth Commission renewed despite meagre record Having reached the end of its first three-year mandate, the Kasai-Central Truth Commission was extended on July 18. Underfunded and poorly managed, the provincial institution has achieved nothing for the victims and establishing t [...]
In the Central African Republic, the eleven commissioners of the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission (CVJRR) were dismissed in May 2024. Photo: The commissioners of the CVJRR pose outdoors.
21 June 2024 by Rodrigue le Roi Benga
Central African Republic: why the Truth Commission was dismissed The Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission (CVJRR) of the Central African Republic has been sacked and replaced. On May 3 2024, it saw a unit of the internal security forces close its offices. Later, the governme [...]
A national tribunal for war crimes in Liberia - Photo: Joseph Boakai speaks before parliament.
27 May 2024 by Aaron Weah
The evidence battleground for Liberia’s war crimes court On May 2nd 2024, Liberian president Joseph Boakai signed an executive order to establish a War and Economic Crimes Court – a historic and long-awaited move in the path of redressing the wounds of the country's 1989-2003 destructiv [...]
Hearing before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of The Gambia (TRRC)
4 March 2024 by Mariam Sankanu
How Gambia’s truth commission findings shaped the Sonko trial The trial of Ousman Sonko, former Interior minister of The Gambia, resumes today in Switzerland. Parties are expected to present their closing arguments. A striking fact of the evidence put before the Swiss court last January was [...]
Catholic residential school (named
22 February 2024 by Clémentine Méténier
Indian homes in French Guiana: truth commission project not yet ripe A request to create a "Truth Commission on Indian Homes in French Guiana (1935-2023)" was submitted on February 1, 2024, to the French National Assembly, in the form of a report by the Institut francophone pour la Justice et la Dé [...]
Sihem Bensedrine (former president of Tunisia's Truth and Dignity Commission) presents the IVD's report to President Béji Caïd Essebsi in 2018.
23 January 2024 by Olfa Belhassine
Attacks resume against Tunisia’s Truth Commission The former president of the UN-backed Truth and Dignity Commission, Sihem Bensedrine, on January 12 responded to the Tunisian government's latest accusations of "falsification". Attacks on the commission resumed immediately in med [...]
Art installation in Australia representing the aboriginal flag
9 November 2023 by Maxim Shanahan
Against tide, Yoorrook Commission goes on One year after the start of a unique Australian truth-telling commission run by First Peoples in the state of Victoria, known as the Yoorrook Commission, urgent recommendations have been made to authorities after hearings which gr [...]
Eduardo Andrés Celis, an investigator for Colombia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is under pressure and forced into exile.
6 November 2023 by Andrés Bermúdez Liévano
Colombia: when seeking the truth leads to forced exile In June 2022, Colombia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission unveiled its ten-volume final report and closed its doors two months later. For one of its investigators, Eduardo Andrés Celis, who agreed to speak to Justice Info, that [...]
George Weah, the President of Liberia, is keeping silent and leaving the truth about the war crimes he denounced at the start of his term of office on hold.
12 October 2023 by Aaron Weah
George Weah’s politics of silence The first round of presidential elections in Liberia was held on October 10. What is the legacy of George Weah's six-year presidency on justice for the crimes committed during the civil war? Before entering politics, the former in [...]
In Angola, stormy reconciliation between UNITA and government - Photo of a battalion of soldiers in 1982.
9 October 2023 by Maarten van Munster and Joris van Wijk
Polarized reconciliation in Angola A recent controversial search for victims of former guerilla UNITA’s internal purges by the Reconciliation commission has further harmed the work and reputation of the commission. Critics point to the increased politicization of t [...]
Human rights and transitional justice in the Maldives - Photo of a paradise beach with an image of a demonstration against the enforced disappearance of Ahmed Rilwan.
8 September 2023 by Julia Crawford
Justice in paradise The Maldives, an Indian Ocean tourist paradise with a history of political violence and human rights abuses, are to hold presidential elections on September 9. The outcome could determine the future of the archipelago’s difficult [...]
Truth Commission in Norway - A woman poses in traditional Sami clothing.
29 August 2023 by Astrid Nonbo Andersen, Astri Dankertsen and Otso Kortekangas
Will Norway’s truth and reconciliation process bring change? A public reading of Norway’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report took 35 hours and was broadcast live. But during its five years of work, the TRC rarely made national headlines. Most Norwegians know little about Indig [...]
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