Amnesty International document: Truth, justice and reparation. Establishing an effective truth commission

Truth commissions have been defined as “official, temporary, non-judicial fact-finding bodies that investigate a pattern of abuses of human rights or humanitarian law, usually committed over a number of years”. The object of their inquiry (a pattern of human rights violations, rather than a specific event) distinguishes truth commissions from other commissions of inquiry. Their temporary character distinguishes truth commissions from many national human rights commissions and other national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, which are permanent monitoring and enforcement bodies. Truth commissions are established by national authorities, generally during a political transition. They take a victim-centred approach and conclude their work with a final report containing findings of fact and recommendations.