ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on key questions concerning truth commissions' work and presents important examples throughout the discussion. It considers the definition of a truth and reconciliation commission, and that its key components of truth, reconciliation and commission carry a broad plethora of responsibilities and expectations. Most truth commissions base their work on testimonies gathered from thousands of victims, witnesses and perpetrators. The East German regime is discussed differently in the literature, compared to its counterparts who were also the subject of commission inquiries. The Commission was given the power to grant individualised amnesty, search premises and seize evidence, subpoena witnesses and run a witness protection programme. The impact of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission on reconciliation has been the subject of ongoing debate. The Commission recommended that the process be based on traditional dispute-resolution mechanisms. The Liberian Commission's work has made an invaluable contribution to the mapping of human rights abuses.
