Abstract
Do truth commissions achieve truth? Do they achieve reconciliation? This article will consider these two questions in turn. I argue that truth commissions have failed to discern and report accurate and complete records of past atrocities, but they are socially and politically purposive. To reach this conclusion requires examining some theoretical concerns about the nature of truth and consideration of the accuracy and completeness of commissions’ reports. I argue that truth commissions do not achieve reconciliation, but they can catalyse it. I develop this argument through examining meanings of reconciliation, its (contested) relationship with truth and issues that complicate and advance its achievement. In this article I differentiate between truth as a product—a commission's report—and truth seeking as a process. I examine the contribution of both product and process to the achievement of truth and reconciliation.
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