The Right to Truth

Recently I have been wondering about the theme of Truth Commissions and what some people have called the right to truth. If it is truth as it has been argued that the rights to truth is a fundamental component of international humanitarian law, particularly when gross violations of human rights have been committed. In Brazil, president Dilma Rousseff has established a Truth Commission that will look into the human rights abuses and disappearances that occurred during the military regime that went from 1964 to 1985.

Six commissioners who beyond subpoena powers will not be able to prosecute or recommend charges against the perpetrators of the human rights violations will integrate the Commission. Although, it is an interesting discussion to have, namely what is the purpose of having a truth commission if there are no prosecutions, not even under transitional justice parameters, particularly when the existence of the Commission is premised on the right to justice. But again it seems that if there was a fear of prosecution the Military will have not supported the creation of the commission.

Even if one disagrees with a truth commission with a sanitized sense of justice, it seems an interesting discussion to have. On the one hand, one could argue that it is a purely bureaucratic endeavor, which only aims at saving face, but that lack of prosecution could also open the door for confessions that would have not emerge if the fear of prosecution was present.