The following report represents original research by IRIN charting 59 processes of transitional justice (TJ), enquiries or commissions in 41 countries. This is currently the most comprehensive listing of TJ processes that have taken place since the end of the Second World War. The summarised information is presented alphabetically.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: The National Consultative Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (CNCPPDH)

Duration Period: 2003 - 2005

Cause: The Commission was set up to investigate cases of torture, violence, and disappearances since 1992 when the Algerian army annulled the democratic elections and began the “dirty war”. Seven thousand people are reported to have disappeared and approximately 150,000 Algerians were killed.

Outcome and Status: The Commission presented its final report to the President in 2005. The complete report has not been published, but commission chairman Farouk Ksentini has made some public statements. The findings of the commission indicate that the Algerian Army is responsible for more than 6,000 of the disappearances and many more deaths. The Commission was followed by a referendum, passing a law that gives total amnesty for most crimes committed during this period.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: National Commission on the Disappeared / Comision Nacional sobre la Desaparicion de Personas (CONADEP)

Duration Period: 1983 - 1984

Cause: The commission was initiated to investigate disappearances and torture conducted by the military regime, from 1967 to 1982. The commission was to receive depositions and evidence concerning these events, and pass the information to the courts, in those cases where crimes had been committed. The commission's report would not extend, however, to determining responsibility, only to deliver an unbiased chronicle of the events.

Outcome and Status: An extensive report was presented in 1984 and the Spanish summary, Nunca Mas , became a bestseller. It was later published in English.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: National Commission of Inquiry into Disappearances

Duration Period: 1982 - 1985

Cause: On 28 October 1982, President Hernan Siles Suazo issued a decree establishing the commission to investigate the disappearance of citizens during 1967-1982.

Outcome and Status: The commission documented 155 cases of disappearances, but disbanded three years after its creation without issuing a final report.

Type of action: International Process

Specific Title: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

Duration Period: 1993-

Cause: The Tribunal was established by the UN Security Council, as the first international war crimes tribunal since Nuremberg , to prosecute people responsible for violations of international humanitarian law, genocide and crimes against humanity since 1991 in the territory of former Yugoslavia .

Outcome and Status: The Tribunal, with its Headquarters in The Hague , has indicted 161 persons. As of April 2006, 12 persons are on trial, 43 persons have been found guilty and 8 persons have been acquitted. Six persons are at large, including Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

Link of Interest: www.un.org

Type of action: Hybrid Process

Specific Title: State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and War Crimes Chamber

Duration Period: 2002 and 2005 respectively

Cause: The War Crimes Chamber was set up within the State Court to specifically deal with cases transferred from ICTY. Due to its mix of national and international staff it is seen as a hybrid court.

Outcome and Status: The War Crimes Chamber has only dealt with a couple of cases so far, but additional ICTY referrals to the WCC are expected.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Commission for Investigation of the Events in and around Srebrenica between 10 and 19 July 1995 (Srebrenica commission)

Duration Period: 2003-2004

Cause: The commission was set up by the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska to reveal the full truth about the massacre in Srebrenica.

Outcome and Status:After initial problems the commission presented their final report in June 2004, including information about 32 previously unknown mass graves.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Commission to Investigate Killings in Coup Attempt 1993 (also known as the Nikken Commission )

Duration Period: 1995 - 1996

Cause: The commission was set up by the UN Security Council, to investigate the assassination of President Melchior Ndadaye and other killings during and after the coup attempt in 1993.

Outcome and Status: The five commissioners, all foreign, presented their report in August 1996, but it was soon overtaken by the subsequent violence and continued civil war.

Type of action: Hybrid Process

Specific Title: Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed during the Period of Democratic Kampuchea .

Duration Period: 2003 (UN resolution adopted)

Cause: The Extraordinary Chambers were set up to try those responsible for crimes against humanity committed during the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979, when more then one million people were killed. The Extraordinary Chambers were created by a UN resolution, following negotiations between the Cambodian government and the UN.

Outcome and Status: The Panel of 30 judges and prosecutors, international and Cambodian, that will work for the Extraordinary Chambers were recently selected and trials are expected to begin early 2007.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Commission of Inquiry into the Crimes and Misappropriations Committed by Ex-President Habre, His Accomplices and/or Accessories

Duration Period: 1990 - 1991

Cause: The mandate of the commission included investigating crimes such as disappearances, imprisonment, killings and torture, as well as acts of barbarity, attacks on physical or mental integrity of persons and illegal trafficking in narcotics. The time limit was set to the years 1982-1990, during which Hissene Ha bre was president.

Outcome and Status: The lack of funds seriously hindered the commission in its duties, and they also received threats from members of the Intelligence Service who had been members of the former Secret Service. In spite of all the problems, they published a report that stated the involvement of foreign governments in funding the worst perpetrators.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation / Comision Nacional para la Verdad y Reconciliacion (also known as the Rettig report after the chairman)

Duration Period: 1990 - 1991

Cause: The commission was created to investigate abuses resulting in deaths or disappearances during the previous seventeen years of military rule.

Outcome and Status: The commission reviewed approximately 3,400 cases, of which 2,920 fell under its mandate. The commission had a large group of staff members that thoroughly investigated each case and their 1,800-page report was much acclaimed. It was however followed by three assassinations, which effectively brought an end to the discussion on the report. Many of its recommendations have nonetheless been implemented.

In 2004-2005 there was, at the request of President Ricardo Lagos, another commission investigating political imprisonment and torture ( The National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture ). It reported 29,000 cases of torture or imprisonment, mostly during 1973. The report has been heavily criticised for using definitions that would give the kind of result they wanted. The commission made it difficult for victims to testify, and used a different definition of torture to that of the UN. The report can be found on the Internet.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Truth and Justice Commission

Duration Period: From 1996

Cause: The commission was established by President Abdala Bucaram to investigate at least 176 cases of human rights abuses committed since 1979.

Outcome and Status: The commission was aborted before they could publish a report.

Type of action: Truth Commission under UN supervision.

Specific Title: United Nations Commission on the Truth for El Salvador

Duration Period: 1992 - 1993

Cause: The Commission was created to investigate serious acts of violence from 1980. It was established following the peace accords between the government and the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN).

Outcome and Status: The commission was set up by the Secretary-General of the UN, and due to neutrality reasons no Salvadorans were part of either the commission or their staff. In 1993, they published a report that names more than 40 people that were found responsible for human rights crimes. In general the report was well received, but it was also criticised for not fully investigating things like death squads. Less then a week after the report was published, a general amnesty was passed by the legislature.

Type of action: National Process

Specific Title: Special Prosecutor's Office

Duration Period: 1992-

Cause: The Special Prosecutor's Office was established to investigate and report on human rights violations and corruption during the 17-year rule of former President Mengistu Haile-Mariam, as well as to bring those responsible for such crimes to justice.

Outcome and Status: The Special Prosecutor has charged over 2,200 persons with genocide and other crimes against humanity. The trials were supposed to be finished by 2004, but were not.

Type of action:International Process

Specific Title: Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal (The Nuremberg Trials)

Duration Period: 1945 - 1946

Cause: The trials were held to try the most important leaders of Nazi Germany, who were charged with crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Outcome and Status: The legal basis for the trials was established in the London charter of the International Military Tribunal, which allowed trials against the major war criminals of the Axis countries. It was derived from the German Instrument of Surrender, which transferred political authority, including the rights to punish violations of international law to the Allied countries, and acknowledged the fact that Germany had signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact. The judges and the prosecutors all came from the allied countries. The accused were 24 major war criminals, together with six criminal organisations including the Nazi party leadership, the Gestapo and the command of the German Army. Of the 24 accused persons, 12 were sentenced to death by hanging, seven were imprisoned, three were acquitted, one was considered medically unfit for trials and one committed suicide before the trials begun.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Enquete Kommission Aufarbeitung von Gesichte und Folgen der SED-Diktator in Deutchland / The Study Commission for the Assessment of History and Consequenses of the SED Dictatorship in Germany

Duration Period: 1992 - 1994

Cause: The commission was set up to investigate human rights violations committed during the communist regime 1945-1989. It was headed by Rainer Eppelman, an East German parliamentarian and human rights activist, and is thus sometimes referred to as the Eppelman-commission.

Outcome and Status: In 1994 the commission presented a 15,000-page report. It is also possible for people to read their own files from the Stasi archives.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: National Reconciliation Commission

Duration Period: 2002 - 2004

Cause: The commission was set up to investigate human rights crimes committed by unconstitutional governments between 1957 and 1993 as well as recommend reforms for the future.

Outcome and Status: The commission took around 4,000 statements from victims and witnesses as well as conducted over 2,000 public hearings before presenting its final report to the government in October 2004. The report was made public in April 2005.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Comision para el Esclarecimiento Historico / Historical Clarification Commission

Duration Period: 1997 - 1999

Cause: The Commission was established as a part of the peace agreement that put an end to more than three decades of civil war in Guatemala , and it was mandated to deal with all kinds of violations against human rights committed between 1962 and 1996.

Outcome and Status: The Commission was chaired by Christian Tomuschat, a German law professor, together with two Guatemalans. Their report does not name perpetrators, but attributes most of the atrocities to the security forces, and is gives a comprehensive picture of the crimes committed. The report was presented to the Guatemalan president, representatives from National Guatemalan Revolutionary Unit (URNG), and the Secretary-General of the UN at the same time. The UN later made the report public in English and Spanish.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Commission of Inquiry

Duration Period: 1985-

Cause: The commission was set up to investigate violations of human rights committed during the regime of Ahmed Sekou Toure.

Outcome and Status: The commission was abandoned before it could deliver a final report

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: National Commission on Truth and Justice

Duration Period: 1995 - 1996

Cause: The commission was set up to investigate human rights violations committed from 29 September 1991, the coup that overthrew the elected president Aristide, to 15 October 1994, the end of the military junta.

Outcome and Status: The seven-man commission was comprised four Haitians and three foreigners. Their focus was to come up with recommendations on how to change the judicial system and in February 1996 they delivered their final report to the president and the judiciary. The report does not name any perpetrators.

Type of action: National Process

Specific Title: Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal

Duration Period: 2003-

Cause: The tribunal was originally set up by a specific statute issued under the Coalition Provisional Authority, and was integrated into Iraqi national law in October 2005. The purpose of the tribunal is to try people accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious crimes committed between 1968 and 2003.

Outcome and Status: The most well known of the persons that will be tried before the Tribunal is former president Saddam Hussein, whose case is currently being heard. Apart from Saddam, 11 high-ranking Iraqi officials are in custody awaiting their trials, including Ali Hassan al-Majid (“Chemical Ali”), and Tariq Aziz, the former deputy prime minister. International voices, including Amnesty International, have raised concerns that the trials will not be fair according to international standards.

Link of Interest: www.iraqispecialtribunal.org

Type of action: International Process

Specific Title: International Military Tribunal for the Far East

Duration Period: 1946-1948

Cause: The Tribunal was held to try the leaders of Japan for Crimes against Peace (Class A), War Crimes (Class B) and Crimes against Humanity (Class C) committed during World War II.

Outcome and Status: The Japanese government had not signed the Geneva Convention prior to World War II, and could therefore not be charged with breaking international law. They had, however, signed the Kellogg-Briand pact in 1929, which made it possible to accuse them of crimes against peace. The prosecutors, as well as the judges, came from 11 different Allied countries. During the tribunal, 28 Japanese military and political leaders were charged with Class A crimes. Of them, 25 were convicted, two died during the trial and one person had a nervous breakdown and was removed. Of the 25 convicted, seven were sentenced to death, 16 to life imprisonment and two were given finite sentences. More than 300,000 Japanese were charged with Class B and C crimes.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths

Duration Period: 2000

Cause: The commission was set up to investigate the death of citizens opposed to past authoritarian regimes, during the democratisation movement.

Outcome and Status: The Commission was set up under the office of the president, but was moved to the parliament in 2004. By that time, it had confirmed 30 suspicious deaths out of 85 reviewed cases.

Type of action: Hybrid Process

Specific Title: Regulation 64 Panels

Duration Period: 2000-

Cause: The Hybrid Court was set up by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), after regulations were passed in the Security Council. The purpose of the court is to try those responsible for atrocities committed during the 1999 Kosovo war. The court consists of a mixture of national and international judges, serving together.

Outcome and Status: The hybrid court has so far conducted almost 30 trials, including against several people indicted for war crimes or genocide. There are still ongoing processes.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Commission of Inquiry

Duration Period: 2000 - 2001

Cause: The commission was set up to investigate disappearances during the war between 1975 and 1990. A total of 17,415 people are listed as missing since this period, some were immediately killed and some were imprisoned, either in Lebanon , Syria or Israel .

Outcome and Status: The commission concluded that none of the disappeared was alive and that anyone missing for at least four years should be considered dead. They also advocated that compensation and social rehabilitation should be provided to families of the victims, but the whole report of the commission was never made public.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Relatives of the Disappeared Complaints Commission

Duration Period: 2001 - 2002

Cause: The commission was set up by the president after complaints from families with disappeared relatives, since they were not satisfied with the results of the first commission.

Outcome and Status: The commission spent 18 months collecting evidence, receiving complaints from families and conducting hearings covering around 700 cases but they did not publish a final report or even make a public statement about their findings. Neither was it explained by the authorities whether the Commission had been disbanded, or not.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Commission of Inquiry

Duration Period: 2004-

Cause: Since the former commissions had not delivered satisfactory results to the relatives of the disappeared, yet another commission was set up to investigate disappearances during the war between 1975 and 1990. This new commission was set up by the Lebanese and Syrian governments jointly and is mandated to investigate disappearances from both countries.

Outcome and Status: So far, the commission has not produced any results. As long as the question of the disappeared remains unanswered, relatives of the missing are demanding that the UN Security council consider the implementation of the resolution that forces Syrian troops to leave Lebanon .

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Duration Period: 2006-

Cause: Following years of instability and violence, the UN- administered peace accord signed in 2003 authorised the setting up of a truth and reconciliation commission and in February 2006 it was officially launched.

Outcome and Status: The Commission is mandated to examine human rights violations and war crimes committed between 1979 and 2003. In addition to the nine local commissioners there will be three internationally appointed technical advisors, two of whom will be chosen by ECOWAS and the third by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The peace accord does not provide for any criminal tribunal to be set up, but a Dutch citizen, Guus Kouwenhoven, is facing charges in The Hague for his involvement in the Liberian civil war, including providing arms to Charles Taylor in spite of the UN ban on arms exports to Liberia .

Type of action: National Process

Specific Title: Special Prosecutors Office

Duration Period: 2002-

Cause: The Special Prosecutors Office was set up to investigate crimes that public servants had committed during the “dirty war” of the 1970s and 80s, when thousands of people were killed or disappeared by the state.

Outcome and Status: The same presidential accord that created the Special Prosecutors Office also released a large quantity of formerly secret documents from the national archives. These documents have been very helpful in the investigations but still the Special Prosecutor has been criticised for not being efficient enough. One of the most well known persons inspected is Luis Echeverria Alvarez, who was president during the Corpus Christi massacre in 1971, when government supporters killed around 50 student demonstrators. It was established by the Supreme Court that Echeverria could be charged with genocide in connection with the Corpus Christi massacre.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Equity and Reconciliation commission / Instance Equite et Reconciliation (IER)

Duration Period: 2004 - 2005

Cause: The commission was established by King Mohammed VI to investigate crimes committed during the Years of Lead (1956-1999), the regime of the two former kings, Muhammed V and Hassan II. Among those crimes were indiscriminate arrests, killings and disappearances.

Outcome and Status: The final report was delivered to the King on 30 November 2005, and publicly distributed two weeks later.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Commission of Inquiry to Find Disappeared Persons

Duration Period: 1986 - 1991

Cause: The commission was mandated to examine allegations of human rights violations during the autocratic Panchayat system.

Outcome and Status: The Commission presented its report in 1991, but it was not made public until 1994. Almost none of the recommendations made in the report were later implemented.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: The Special Human Rights Commission

Duration Period: 1999 - 2002

Cause: The Commission, some times referred to as the Oputa Panel after its chairperson Justice Chukwudifu Oputa , was initially set up to investigate crimes against human rights committed between 1994 and 1999, but its mandate was soon extended to 1984-1999. The mandate included investigating extra-judicial killings and other human rights abuses, the persons who committed them, if they were deliberate acts of the state, as well as come up with recommendations for the future.

Outcome and Status: The commission presented its report in 2002, but it was not made publicly available. The final report, among other things, included the recommendation that three former military rulers, Ibrahim Babangida, Muhammadu Buhari and Abdulsalami Abubakar should be investigated for suspicious deaths and barred from ever governing Nigeria again. Later, the commission was annulled on the grounds of unconstitutionality, and thus its report was no longer valid. I n 2005 it was published by civil rights groups, and is now accessible on the Internet.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Comision de la Verdad / Truth Commission

Duration Period: 2001-2002

Cause: The Commission was set up to investigate human rights violations committed between 1968 and 1989, during the military dictatorships of Generals Omar Torrijos and Manuel Noriega.

Outcome and Status: The commission presented its report in 2002, including a list of over a hundred documented extra-judicial killings or disappearances. The report clearly states how the military was involved, as well as recommends reparations to relatives of the victims.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Truth and Justice Commission

Duration Period: 2004-

Cause: The commission was set up to investigate human rights violations committed from 1954 to 2003. The main focus of the commission is the 34-year long Stroessner regime that ended in 1989.

Outcome and Status: The Commission aims to identify perpetrators and establish an official number of disappeared persons. They are also mandated to contribute to prosecutorial efforts.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Comision de la Verdad y Reconciliacion / Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Duration Period: 2001-2003

Cause: The commission was set up to investigate human rights abuses committed between 1980 and 2000, during the administrations of former Presidents Fernando Belaunde (1980-1985), Alan Garcia (1985-1990) and Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000). It was mandated to look into crimes committed both by the military, and rebel groups such as the Shining Path and Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.

Outcome and Status: The commission presented its 9-volume report in 2003, having documented over 69,000 deaths. The worst perpetrator, according to the commission, was the Shining Path guerrillas, with the military in second place and Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement in third.

Link of Interest: www.cverdad.org.pe

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Presidential Committee on Human Rights

Duration Period: 1986-1987

Cause: The mandate of the committee was to investigate human rights violations committed since 1972, when martial law was introduced. It was however restricted to crimes committed by the government or anyone acting on its behalf, since crimes committed by the guerrilla groups were seen as common crimes that could be dealt with by ordinary courts.

Outcome and Status: The committee was from the beginning underfunded and lacked resources to deal with the numerous testimonies given. After less than a year, the committee chairman died of cancer and shortly after almost all of the members resigned. They never finished their report, and no soldiers or other government officials were ever prosecuted.

Type of action: International Process

Specific Title: International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

Duration Period: 1994-

Cause: The Tribunal was set up to try those responsible for the genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the territory of Rwanda, or by Rwandan citizens in nearby states, between 1 January and 31 December 1994. The Tribunal was created by the UN Security Council, resolution 955 of 8 November 1994.

Outcome and Status: The Tribunal, with its headquarters in Arusha, has indicted 81 persons of whom nine are still at large. As of May 2006, the Tribunal has handed down 21 judgments involving 27 accused and another 27 are in trial. Fifteen people are awaiting the beginning of their trials, three persons have been released and two persons had their indictments withdrawn.

Link of Interest: www.ictr.org

Type of action: National Process

Specific Title: Gacaca Court

Duration Period: 2001-

Cause: The community-based Gacaca system was put in place to investigate crimes against humanity committed during the civil war and genocide. It was estimated that it would take the common legal system a hundred years to try all the accused of atrocities during the war, so to speed up the process Gacaca Courts were created. Another important aim of the Gacaca Courts is to reconcile the Rwandans and reinforce their unity through involvement in the judicial process.

Outcome and Status: The Gacaca Courts are mandated to try people accused of type 2-4 crimes, which includes accomplices of deliberate homicides and maiming, but not the leaders of the genocide or rapists who will be tried according to common law rules. During 2005, 6,734 trials were held, and 6,267 verdicts returned. Six hundred and ninety-five people were acquitted. The list of suspects to be tried by Gacaca Courts contains almost 60,000 names.

Link of Interest: www.inkiko-gacaca.gov.rw

Type of action: International Process

Specific Title: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

Duration Period: 1993-

Cause: The Tribunal was established by the UN Security Council, as the first international war crimes tribunal since Nuremberg , to prosecute people responsible for violations of international humanitarian law, genocide and crimes against humanity since 1991 in the territory of former Yugoslavia .

Outcome and Status: The Tribunal, with its Headquarters in The Hague , has indicted 161 persons. As of April 2006 12 persons are in trial, 43 persons have been found guilty and 8 persons have been acquitted. Six persons are at large, including Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

Link of Interest: www.un.org

Type of action: National Process

Specific Title: Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor and War Crimes Panel

Duration Period: 2003-

Cause: The special prosecutors office, and the War Crimes Panel was set up to handle war crimes that are not dealt with by the ICTY.

Outcome and Status: Closely monitored by the ICTY, that can always transfer cases from national level to the tribunal, the War Crimes Panel has handled a few specific cases, among them the Ovcara massacre, where around 200 civilians were taken from a hospital and killed.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Yugoslav Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Duration Period: 2001 - 2003

Cause: The commission was created by then-president Kostunica to investigate war crimes committed in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo since 1991.

Outcome and Status: The commission was disbanded when the office of the federal presidency was abolished, and no report was ever published.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Duration Period: 2000 - 2004

Cause: The Commission was set up through the peace accord signed under UN-supervision in 1999. The mandate for the commission included investigating human rights violations in 1991 and 1999, as well as making recommendations for the future.

Outcome and Status: There were originally extensive possibilities for impunity offered in the peace accord, and the truth and reconciliation commission was seen as an alternative to justice through a criminal process. The possibilities for impunity were however later reduced, and the international criminal tribunal was created. The Commission presented its report to the president in October 2004, and to the Secretary-General of the UN a few weeks later.

Link of Interest: www.trcsierraleone.org

Type of action: Hybrid Process

Specific Title: Special Court for Sierra Leone

Duration Period: 2002-

Cause: After the peace accord had been signed, there was another outbreak of violence in Sierra Leone , and UN peacekeepers were captured by one of the fighting groups. In August 2000, the UN Security Council adopted resolution number 1315, which mandates the creation of the Special Court , and in 2002 the court was set up trough an agreement between the UN and the government of Sierra Leone .

Outcome and Status: The Special Court is mandated to try those who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of human rights as well as Sierra Leonean law committed since 30 November 1996. As of May 2006, the court has indicted 11 people from all three of the former warring factions. They are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as specified charges of rape, torture, murder, acts of terror, sex slavery, and other atrocities. The single most well known person indicted by the Special Court is former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who recently appeared before the court in Freetown for the first time. His trial will be held in The Hague , albeit still under the jurisdiction of the Special Court for Sierra Leone .

Link of Interest: www.sc-sl.org

Type of action: Truth Commission (under ANC, not government or parliament)

Specific Title: Commission of Enquiry into Complaints by Former African National Congress Prisoners and Detainees

Duration Period: 1992-

Cause: The Commission was set up by Nelson Mandela after a group of 32 former ANC members and detainees of ANC camps had confronted the ANC on detention camp abuses. The commission was mandated to investigate detention camps located throughout Southern Africa .

Outcome and Status: The commission presented its 74-page report to Nelson Mandela after seven months. Without naming any perpetrators, it stated that torture and other abuses had been used against the detainees and Mandela accepted collective responsibility for the leadership of the ANC. The report was published, but was later withdrawn and is now difficult to find. The commission was criticised for being biased since two of three commissioners were ANC members.

Type of action: Truth Commission (under ANC, not government or parliament)

Specific Title: Commission of Enquiry into Certain Allegations of Cruelty and Human Rights Abuses Against ANC Prisoners and Detainees by ANC Members

Duration Period: 1993-

Cause: Since the former ANC Truth Commission had been accused of being biased and not giving enough opportunity for individuals to testify, Mandela initiated another commission, headed by three independent commissioners from USA , Zimbabwe and South Africa . The commission is sometimes referred to as the Motsuenyane Commission, after Dr Samuel Motsuenyane, the president of the commission.

Outcome and Status: The work of the second commission was very different from that of the first commission. Public hearings were held in the manner of a regular court, with people employed as “prosecutors” and “defenders”. Eleven people who were accused of human rights abuse faced “trials” during these hearings. Regardless of that, the findings of the Motsuenyane report do not differ much from the report of the first commission, even though the second report names perpetrators and is in all more extensive. The Motsuenyane commission was much criticised for mixing up the two roles of truth seeking and disciplinary procedures.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Commission of Truth and Reconciliation

Duration Period: 1995 - 1998

Cause: The commission was set up to investigate atrocities committed during the Apartheid regime. The Tutu-commission, as it is often referred to after its chairperson Desmond Tutu, was mandated to cover the period 1960-1994.

Outcome and Status: After extensive hearings, in both open and closed sessions, the commission presented its final report to the president in October 1998. It was made public, and is accessible on the Internet. Perpetrators were named and they could apply for amnesty. A separate reparation and rehabilitation committee was established to recommend appropriate forms of compensation for human rights victims.

Link of Interest: www.doj.gov.za

Type of action: Truth Commissions

Specific Title: Commissions of Inquiry into the Involuntary Removal or Disappearance of Persons

Duration Period: 1995 - 1997

Cause: The three parallel commissions were set up on identical mandates to investigate disappearances dating back to 1988, as well as to bring about charges against those found responsible for the abductions.

Outcome and Status: The different commissions were set up to cover different geographical regions of Sri Lanka . They all worked independently, covering more than 16,700 of cases of disappearances, before they presented a report together in 1997. The report was first presented to the president, and later it was made public. Compensation was paid to families of some of the victims.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation / Comissao de Acolhimento, Verdade e Reconciliacao em Timor Leste (CAVR)

Duration Period: 2002 - 2005

Cause: The commission was initiated to investigate the systematic human rights violations committed during the Indonesian occupation of Timor , between 1974 and 1999.

Outcome and Status: The final report was delivered to the President on 31 October 2005. It was released to parliament and cabinet on 28 November 2005.

Type of action: National Process

Specific Title: Ad Hoc Human Rights Court for East Timor (based in Jakarta, Indonesia)

Duration Period: August 2001 (presidential decree); January 2002 indictments; Hearings March 2002 – August 2003

Cause: The ad hoc court was established by Indonesian Law to try individuals responsible for crimes against humanity committed in Timor-Leste, at the end of the Indonesian occupation (April 1999 and September 1999).

Outcome and Status: 18 defendants were tried and six of them convicted. Five of them were later acquitted and the last case is still pending. Many voices, such as the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), have criticised the ad hoc court, and a UN-report concludes that the prosecutions before the ad hoc court were manifestly inadequate.

Type of action: Hybrid Process

Specific Title: The Special Panel for Serious Crimes, of Dili District Court.

Duration Period: 2000 - 2005

Cause: The Special Panel was a mixed court, a combination of International and Timor Leste-judges, with jurisdiction over violations of humanitarian and human rights law. UN's Transitional Administration in East Timor passed a regulation on the organisation of courts in East Timor , which gave the Dili District Court and the Court of Appeal exclusive jurisdiction over genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, murder, sexual offences and torture. This applied to the territory of East Timor and was limited to 1 January 1999 – 25 October 1999. The time restriction did not, however, apply to genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, or torture.

Outcome and Status: Many have been convicted, but mostly low-ranking Timorese former militia or soldiers. Higher-ranking officers were indicted but remained at large in Indonesia .

Initially the ad hoc court in Jakarta was supposed to be the main way of prosecuting those who committed crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999. The Dili-processes were supposed to deal solely with people from Timor Leste, but when the results from the ad hoc court were not satisfactory to the Timorese, they decided to indict Indonesians as well, five of them already prosecuted by the ad hoc court.

The UN wants retrials of the ones conducted by the ad hoc court. This could clash with the principle of ne bis in idem which protects a person from being judged twice for the same crime , but according to internationally acclaimed exceptions it is possible to have a retrial if the first one had serious flaws. The retrials should preferably be done by the ad hoc court in Jakarta again.

Type of action: International Process

Specific Title: International Criminal Tribunal for Timor-Leste at the International Criminal Court

Duration Period: (not yet operational)

Cause: If retrials cannot or will not be held by the ad hoc court in Jakarta , the UN suggests that an international tribunal should be created.

Outcome and Status: Proposed, but not yet in practice. The crimes committed in Timor-Leste do not fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC, but the UN intends to use competence there through a special agreement, where the tribunal would be a separate legal entity, but its judges, staff, and premises would be those of the ICC.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Commission of Inquiry into the Disappearances of People in Uganda since the 25 January 1971.

Duration Period: 1974 - 1975

Cause: Investigating violations against human rights between 1971 and 1974, the first years of Idi Amin's regime.

Outcome and Status: The Commission was working under Amin, investigating crimes his government had committed, and in the end their report was not officially published. They recommended reform of the police and the security forces, as well as training in human rights. None of the recommendations were followed, and it did not prevent Amin from continuing to commit serious human rights abuses, even if the pace slowed down during the period of the commission. Afterwards, the commissioners faced retaliation from the state, but had at least put the abuses of the pre-1974 period onto the state record. Despite its shortcomings, this is commonly seen as the first Truth Commission.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Commission of Inquiry into Violations of Human Rights

Duration Period: 1986 - 1994

Cause: Investigating violations against human rights committed between 9 October 1962 and 25 January 1986, including the governments of the two former presidents Milton Obote (1966-1971, 1980-1985) and Idi Amin (1971-1979).

Outcome and Status: The commission published the results of its investigations in 1994.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Duration Period: 2004 - 2006

Cause: The Commission was set up to investigate the truth about what happened in Greensboro on the 3 November 1979, the so-called “Greensboro Massacre”. During a statewide “Death to the Klan” rally, initiated by members of the Communist Workers Party, five people were killed and 10 others were wounded, when members of the Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi party started shooting during the demonstration. Even though four TV crews captured the killings on film, the perpetrators were still twice acquitted.

Outcome and Status: The commission collected statements and held several public hearings, as well as a public dialogue meeting in November 2005.

Link of Interest: www.greensborotrc.org

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Investigative Commission on the Situation of ‘Disappeared' People and its Causes

Duration Period: 1985

Cause: Investigating disappearances committed by the military regime from 1973 to 1982. The mandate did, however, not extend to investigate illegal imprisonments and torture, which was much more common than disappearances.

Outcome and Status: A final report was published at the end of 1985, but it was never widely distributed. It presented 164 cases and provided evidence that the Uruguayan security forces had been involved. The report, including the evidence, was forwarded to the Supreme Court, but no legal actions were taken.

Type of action: Truth Commission

Specific Title: Zimbabwe Truth Commission

Duration Period:1985

Cause:The commission was established to investigate atrocities committed by the Mugabe government in suppressing a rebellion in the Matabeleland region two years earlier. An estimated 1,500 civilians were killed in the conflict, a figure that has never been acknowledged by the government.

Outcome and Status: The commission reported directly to the president and their report was never made public.