Truth commission recommendations are critical to their legacies, yet there is little research examining their fates. Based on fieldwork that is unprecedented in scope, this double-volume project provides the first systematic study of the formulation and implementation of the recommendations of 13 Latin American truth commissions.Beyond Words Vol. I examines the variations in truth commission recommendations across 13 Latin American cases. Insights are provided regarding how the internal dynamics of truth commissions, as well as the political, social and economic context in which they operate, influence how recommendations are formulated. The authors then explore how the nature of these recommendations themselves, along with the aforementioned factors, influence which recommendations are actually implemented. The conclusion considers the findings' relevance for the crafting of future truth commission recommendations and reflects upon how the formulation and implementation of these recommendations shape the impact of truth commissions on societies emerging from periods of violence and repression.Beyond Words Vol. II is a unique collection of 11 Latin American country studies covering all 13 formal truth commissions established in this region that submitted their final reports between 1984 and 2014. Based on qualitative original data and a common analytical framework, the main focus of each of the country chapters is threefold: (1) to provide a brief background to the truth commission(s); (2) to provide a detailed account of the formulation of the truth commission's recommendations; and (3) to analyze the implementation record of the recommendations, taking into account the actors and factors that have aided or obstructed the implementation process.

This book seeks to refine our understanding of transitional justice and peacebuilding, and long-term security and reintegration challenges after violent conflicts. As recent events following political change during the so-called 'Arab Spring' demonstrate, demands for accountability often follow or attend conflict and political transition. While traditionally much literature and many practitioners highlighted tensions between peacebuilding and justice, recent research and practice demonstrates a turn away from the supposed 'peace vs justice' dilemma. This volume examines the complex relationship between peacebuilding and transitional justice through the lenses of the increased emphasis on victim-centred approaches to justice and the widespread practices of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) of excombatants. While recent volumes have sought to address either DDR or victim-centred approaches to justice, none has sought to make connections between the two, much less to place them in the larger context of the increasing linkages between transitional justice and peacebuilding. This book will be of great interest to students of transitional justice, peacebuilding, human rights, war and conflict studies, security studies and IR.

This book seeks to refine our understanding of transitional justice and peacebuilding, and long-term security and reintegration challenges after violent conflicts. As recent events following political change during the so-called 'Arab Spring' demonstrate, demands for accountability often follow or attend conflict and political transition. While, traditionally, much literature and many practitioners highlighted tensions between peacebuilding and justice, recent research and practice demonstrates a turn away from the supposed 'peace vs justice' dilemma. This volume examines the complex, often contradictory but sometimes complementary relationship between peacebuilding and transitional justice through the lenses of the increased emphasis on victim-centred approaches to justice and the widespread practices of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) of excombatants. While recent volumes have sought to address either DDR or victim-centred approaches to justice, none has sought to make connections between the two, much less to place them in the larger context of the increasing linkages between transitional justice and peacebuilding . This book will be of much interest to students of transitional justice, peacebuilding, human rights, war and conflict studies, security studies and IR.

This book addresses current developments in transitional justice in Latin America - effectively the first region to undergo concentrated transitional justice experiences in modern times. Using a comparative approach, it examines trajectories in truth, justice, reparations, and amnesties in countries emerging from periods of massive violations of human rights and humanitarian law. The book examines the cases of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, developing and applying a common analytical framework to provide a systematic, qualitative and comparative analysis of their transitional justice experiences. More specifically, the book investigates to what extent there has been a shift from impunity towards accountability for past human rights violations in Latin America. Using 'thick', but structured, narratives - which allow patterns to emerge, rather than being imposed - the book assesses how the quality, timing and sequencing of transitional justice mechanisms, along with the context in which they appear, have mattered for the nature and impact of transitional justice processes in the region. Offering a new approach to assessing transitional justice, and challenging many assumptions in the established literature, this book will be of enormous benefit to scholars and others working in this area.

This book addresses current developments in transitional justice in Latin America - effectively the first region to undergo concentrated transitional justice experiences in modern times. Using a comparative approach, it examines trajectories in truth, justice, reparations, and amnesties in countries emerging from periods of massive violations of human rights and humanitarian law. The book examines the cases of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, developing and applying a common analytical framework to provide a systematic, qualitative and comparative analysis of their transitional justice experiences. More specifically, the book investigates to what extent there has been a shift from impunity towards accountability for past human rights violations in Latin America. Using 'thick', but structured, narratives - which allow patterns to emerge, rather than being imposed - the book assesses how the quality, timing and sequencing of transitional justice mechanisms, along with the context in which they appear, have mattered for the nature and impact of transitional justice processes in the region. Offering a new approach to assessing transitional justice, and challenging many assumptions in the established literature, this book will be of enormous benefit to scholars and others working in this area.