sri lanka's commissions of inquiry - Law & Society Trust

Japanese Americans during the war, and that the treatment of Alaskan
Aleuts who were relocated to isolated camps under US control was
inhumane. The US government acknowledged the injustices caused
and passed the Civil Liberties Act in 1988. $1.2 Billion was distributed
in addition to formal apology.
South Africa is often held out to be the classic example of a country
where an experiment of a truth and reconciliation commission had,
in fact, succeeded. The formation of the South African Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was preceded by a long process
of discussion and consultation by all political parties in South Africa
in the post apartheid period. This was borne out by its detailed and
carefully thought out composition. The TRC was, in fact, made up
of three committees on Human Rights Violations, on Amnesty and
on Reparation and Rehabilitation which had specific tasks allotted to
them. The Committee on Human Rights Violations was responsible
for collecting the stories of victims while the Committee of Amnesty
heard evidence on political crimes committed during this period
and considered whether amnesty could be granted there was a full
confession by the perpetrator. Amnesty meant that they would be
pardoned for the crime that they had committed and if they were on
trial, the trial would be stopped. The Committee on Reparation and
Rehabilitation investigated ways to help people who had suffered.
Besides this, it was mandated to recommend the manner in which a
culture of human rights could be built in the police force, the prisons
and other government institutions. In addition, the TRC itself had an
independent investigation unit, made up of lawyers, members of the
police force and international experts, which were given powers to
question persons and to search and seize documents.
This experiment in national healing was accompanied by an emphasis
on its non political objectives. The Commission was established by
an Act of Parliament and the Commissioners were individuals whose
appointments were agreed upon by all the political parties. Before and
during the sittings of the TRC, the South African people were made
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