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Truth or Reconciliation Mechanism – 1992

U.N Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali installed the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador on 13 July 1992. The Commission consisted of three members, including former Colombian president Belisario Betancur, former Venezuelan foreign minister Reinaldo Figueredo and former president of the Inter-American Court for Human Rights Thomas Buergenthal. The Commission had a mandate to investigate serious acts of violence that have taken place in El Salvador since 1980 and whose impact on society urgently demanded that the public know the truth.¹ The Commission on the Truth began its work on 13 July 1992. Its ability to investigate every report was limited by its six-month mandate, so it maintained an “open-door” policy for hearing testimony throughout its operation, and resolved to only report on complaints which it could confirm. The commissioners were not chosen from El Salvador to maintain impartiality.²

1. “U.N. Chief Installs Truth Commission for El Salvador,” Xinhua General News Service, July 13, 1992.
2. “From Madness to Hope: The 12-year War in El Salavador,” United States Institute of Peace Library, January 26, 2001, http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/file/ElSalvador-Report.pdf.