Unspeakable Truths

Unspeakable Truths: Facing the Challenge of Truth Commissions, by Priscilla B. Hayner (Routledge, New York, 2002) 353 pp., paperback

I. Introduction

There is "an expanding universe of official truth-seeking" as Priscilla Hayner—one of the youngest and brightest thinkers on transitional justice issues—notes in the afterword of the new edition of her Unspeakable Truths. ¹ Since she first published her well-known article "Fifteen Truth Commissions—1974 to 1994: A Comparative Study," ² many countries have established truth commissions (TC), among other forms of truth-telling. This has attracted the attention of the international community, universities, foundations, and national organizations. Official truth-telling is perceived as a powerful means to overcome impunity for past abuses. ³

Unspeakable Truths has the ambitious objective to clarify exactly what truth commissions are; what they have the potential to contribute; and what their limitations are. With that intention, the author systematizes different experiences to learn from various models of past commissions, in order to better understand them and continue to improve these exercises in the future.

To reach that goal, Hayner interviewed survivors and victims' relatives, human rights advocates, commissioners, government and church officials, and scholars. She also visited almost every country which has had a truth commission or where there is a discussion to establish one. In addition, she took into consideration an impressive list of truth commissions' reports, books, and articles, which incidentally provides a useful bibliography for those who are interested in the field. This combination of sources enriches her work and forces the reader to think about the multifaceted world of truth commission from very different perspectives, thus providing an integral knowledge of these bodies.

At the beginning of the book, Hayner describes and compares those commissions which are considered more successful in terms of their impact on the transition to democracy in their countries, or for the national or international attention they have received. Although the majority of these bodies have been established in Africa, four of these fiveillustrative truth commissions are Latin-American. ⁴ Also, the author examines other more modest bodies. ⁵ Some of them did not conclude their work, or the report was not published; others had a limited coverage or failed in producing "a national truth." Even in some of these less prominent experiences, the author finds some aspects to highlight. Notably, Hayner is able to focus on the useful and valuable components of each truth commission or similar body.

The remainder of the book is organized thematically and Hayner considers in depth almost all of the relevant topics about the establishment of a truth commission. In "What is Truth" she analyzes the abuses to be covered by the report or the scope of the commission's mandate. There is already an interesting body of literature on this matter, and Hayner demonstrates familiarity with it as well as with differing positions on what their mandates should be. Experience shows that these bodies have had different mandates, from investigating disappearances (Argentina, Uruguay, among others) to a search for reconciliation (South Africa), to providing "historical clarification" (Guatemala). In this chapter, she also points out a number of methodological aspects of truth-seeking, as well as the most commonly underreported abuses—those suffered by women, especially sexual abuse and rape.

Probably, one of the most controversial issues in transitions to democracy is the relationship between truth and justice. As Hayner says in "Truth and Justice: Is It a Trade-off?,"some policymakers and scholars have suggested that "a non judicial endeavor (. . . as a truth commission . . .) can successfully take the place of prosecutions" in some transitions to democracy. This point of view not only "misunderstands these differing roles and underestimates the importance of legal prosecutions to victims and society at large" as Hayner correctly states. It also ignores that international law compels states to prosecute and punish perpetrators of the most serious human rights abuses, as Hayner recognizes later. In this sense, Hayner underlines that:

[T]ruth commissions...