THE ROLE OF TRUTH COMMISSIONS IN THE SEARCH FOR JUSTICE, RECONCILIATION AND DEMOCRATIZATION - THE SALVADOREAN AND HONDURAN CASES

The truth commissions in El Salvador and Honduras attempted to offer t he transitional civilian governments a way to balance their moral and legal obligations with practical political constraints; namely to reco ncile calls from different sectors of society to either punish or forg ive those responsible for past human rights violations; and to establi sh new and independent institutions without precipitating a backlash f rom vested interests which could derail the whole democratic transitio n. This paper examines the parameters in which these truth commissions operated, and evaluates the role they played in trying to facilitate the democratisation processes in Honduras and El Salvador.