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Why truth commissions? |
| Ten Questions
and Answers About the Role of Truth Commissions and the Recent Findings
of the Liberian
Q: Given that findings are sometimes controversial, what are the long-term benefits of truth commissions?A: Truth commissions help people understand the effect of past decisions and their impact on the future. They help people consider, for example, what a coup d'état looks like and what the costs are in terms of human lives. In Liberia, the findings of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) show that the costs were very high indeed, in terms of the number of people killed or displaced from their homes.
Q: Why is this important?A: It is essential for societies to understand which parties have caused the majority of the violence in times of conflict. This type of accountability does not necessarily mean punishing people through trials and prison sentences. But before people can be forgiven, we must first understand what they have done. The first step towards reconciliation is the truth.
Q: Will knowing the history of a conflict change how people think? Will it change the future actions of political leaders in Liberia?A: Some members of the political elite in Liberia supported a 1989 coup led by former Liberian president Charles Taylor. But when people read our findings in the final Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission report and reflect on just how bad the violence was during this coup, they may think again before supporting another coup. For example, our analysis of the information reported to the TRC in statements, revealed that the greatest number of abuses took place in 1990, immediately following the 1989 Christmas Eve coup in Liberia. Perhaps the findings will lead them to decide that a coup is worse than the current government. Information is power. The scientific findings we generated for the Liberian TRC, may help give policy leaders the information they need to reflect upon past policies - and perhaps to predict the impact of future policies.
Q: How do truth commissions impact the citizens of the country where the conflict took place?A: Truth commissions allow people to reflect on what happens when they choose violence to solve problems. Some people think that they can engage in violence to make policy without affecting lots of people in society. Truth commissions help us discover the true cost of political violence and to remember that violent policies tend to result in lots of unintended consequences. This violence may be far more severe than coup leaders, military officials, civilians or other policy makers anticipated or intended. It seems obvious, but very often this violence impacts the entire society for a long period of time.
Q: Can't people consider policy options without a truth commission?A: When violence is massive and widespread, it's nearly impossible to get accurate information about what happened, let alone analyze the full impact of these events. Truth commissions can provide certain kinds of data and on a scale that might not be available otherwise. Without the findings of a truth commission, people simply can't know for sure what happened in a conflict. Furthermore, a scientific analysis of the data gives decision makers objective information that helps them learn from the past. They then can make informed decisions based on objective facts.
Q: Should we be surprised by the strong reaction to the report of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission? The report's recommendation that President Johnson-Sirleaf not be allowed to run for reelection has stirred controversy.A: We are not Liberian, so it is not our role to be surprised or not surprised by the response to the report. Furthermore, we are politically nonpartisan. Our role is to provide information and analyze it scientifically. In this case, the information we provided is not at the heart of this debate. The debate centers on President Johnson-Sirleaf and her statements to the TRC about her past support for Charles Taylor. We are more interested in encouraging people to consider all the information in the report. It's important to remember that the report analyzes data provided by more than 18,000 Liberians to the TRC — including more than 17,000 statement-givers in Liberia and over 1,000 Liberians living outside of Liberia. Our analysis of this data helps to understand what these 18,000 plus people — not just President Johnson-Sirleaf — have said. We hope that people will read the report in its entirety, including the statistical annex contributed by HRDAG, and reflect on this data in the years to come.
Q: Why should Americans care about the TRC process in Liberia?A: Americans should care because American politicians and decision makers often have great influence over regime changes in other countries. Thanks to the work of truth commissions, Americans can learn the history of regime changes around the world and can predict their potential impact. Truth commissions reveal that forced regime changes almost always result in violence — often widespread and massive violence against civilians.
Q: What are the most important statistical findings of the Liberian TRC report?The HRDAG report found that Charles Taylor's group of combatants, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), was responsible for more than three times the number of reported violations as the next closest perpetrator group. The Benetech HRDAG analysis also:
Older men were at greater risk for being killed or subject to looting violations than younger men. In contrast, the data suggests that young men, between the ages of 15-19 in particular, were at the greatest risk for forced recruitment as combatants.
Q: Does it matter what is done with the Liberian TRC data from a historical perspective?A: What is important is that people talk about the TRC report, debate what it says, and ensure that it becomes part of the national consciousness. It is now the job of the Liberian government, the NGO community and broader civil society to carry the debate forward in a peaceful way. A key component of that is determining what institutions committed the most violence and why they did it. What was their reasoning and justification? Often, coup leaders justify the overthrow of an existing government to restore justice. But often, as the Liberian TRC shows, those coups come at a great cost: massive violence and the loss of human life. The data shows us that when public order is used as an excuse to commit violence against civilians, we should always be skeptical.
Q: Should truth commission data be used to prosecute people?A: We don't make judgments about whether societies should prosecute or shame people publicly. But if they are going to take actions against people or organizations after a conflict, they should do it based on data that is gathered using scientific and defensible methods.
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© Copyright © 2002-2010 Beneficent Technology,
Inc. (The Benetech® Initiative) The Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) applies information technology solutions and statistical techniques to help human rights advocates build evidence-based arguments. |
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