DATE=3/11/99 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-42824 TITLE=TRUTH COMMISSIONS BYLINE=CAROL PINEAU DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: LAST WEEK, THE GUATEMALAN TRUTH COMMISSION RELEASED A REPORT DETAILING HUMAN-RIGHTS ABUSES DURING THE COUNTRY'S LONG CIVIL WAR. TRUTH COMMISSIONS HAVE BEEN USED BY SEVERAL COUNTRIES TO HELP REBUILD NATIONS TORN APART BY INTERNAL CONFLICT. CAROL PINEAU REPORTS FROM WASHINGTON THAT A PANEL OF EXPERTS MET (AT THE U-S INSTITUTE OF PEACE) IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK (WEDNESDAY 3/10) TO DISCUSS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SUCH EFFORTS. TEXT: THE GUATEMALAN REPORT INCLUDES AN 18-HUNDRED PAGE APPENDIX LISTING VICTIMS OF THE GOVERNMENT'S 36-YEAR REIGN OF TERROR. SOUTH AFRICA'S TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION HAS USED PUBLIC HEARINGS TO UNCOVER IN DETAIL SEVERE HUMAN-RIGHTS ABUSES SANCTIONED BY THE STATE JUDICIAL SYSTEM DURING THE COUNTRY'S APARTHEID ERA. THE DIRECTOR OF THE RULE OF LAW PROGRAM AT THE U-S INSTITUTE OF PEACE, NEIL KRITZ, SAYS COUNTRIES EMERGING FROM WAR OR EXTREME OPPRESSION HAVE OFTEN SOUGHT TO BURY THE PAST. DISCLOSING THE FULL TRUTH ABOUT ABUSES COMMITTED BY A BRUTAL REGIME WAS SEEN AS AN OBSTACLE TO PEACE AND RECONCILIATION. MR. KRITZ SAYS TODAY, THERE IS A GROWING CONSENSUS THAT A TRUTH COMMISSION CAN ENABLE A SOCIETY TO COME TO TERMS WITH ITS PAST. HE SAYS A COMMISSION CAN HELP PEOPLE AGREE ON HISTORICAL FACTS, AND UNDERSTAND WHAT CHANGES MUST TAKE PLACE IN THE FUTURE TO PREVENT FURTHER VIOLENCE. /// KRITZ ACT /// IN MANY SOCIETIES, TRUTH COMMISSIONS HAVE SERVED AN IMPORTANT FUNCTION AND HAVE BEEN EFFECTIVE -- AT LEAST IN GIVING SOME VICTIMS AN OPPORTUNITY, IF NOT FOR COMPLETE CLOSURE, A SENSE THAT SOCIETY HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THEIR VICTIMIZATION, [AND] HAS MADE WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM PART OF THE OFFICIAL HISTORY WHICH NEEDS TO BE REMEMBERED, WHICH NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT TO FUTURE GENERATIONS. /// END ACT /// BUT MR. KRITZ SAYS TRUTH COMMISSIONS ARE ONLY PART OF THE SOLUTION. HE SAYS PROSECUTIONS, REPARATIONS AND MEMORIALS ARE ALSO IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF HEALING THE WOUNDS LEFT BY CONFLICT. // OPT // AMERICAN LEGAL ADVISOR JAN PERLIN WORKED WITH GUATEMALA'S COMMISSION FOR HISTORICAL CLARIFICATION. SHE SAYS THE COMMISSION HAS BEEN ESSENTIAL TO THE PEACE PROCESS, AND ITS REPORT HELPED PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE ORIGINS OF THE CIVIL WAR. /// PERLIN ACT /// LOOKING AT THE HISTORY ALLOWED PEOPLE TO SEE IN A MORE DETAILED WAY, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT A VARIETY OF PEOPLE -- NOT JUST THE ARMED COMBATANTS, THE GUERRILLA GROUPS AND THE ARMY, BUT RATHER THE SOCIETY AS A WHOLE -- AND LOOK BACK AND SEE POINTS AT WHICH PARTICULAR ACTIONS HAD BEEN TAKEN AND THINK ABOUT OTHER CHOICES WHICH MIGHT HAVE BEEN MADE. /// END ACT /// /// END OPT /// IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA, TELEVISION VIEWERS WATCHED IN HORROR AS NIGHTLY NEWS PROGRAMS REPORTED ON SHOCKING FACTS REVEALED BEFORE THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION. THE COMMISSION'S FORMER EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, PAUL VAN ZYL, SAYS THE VERY PUBLIC ASPECT OF THE HEARINGS HELPED SHAPE THE NATIONAL DEBATE ON APARTHEID. HE ADDS THAT WHILE THE COMMISSION OFTEN DID NOT PUNISH THE PERPETRATORS, NEWS COVERAGE MADE SURE THOSE PEOPLE WOULD SUFFER A SOCIAL STIGMA. BUT MR. VAN ZYL SAYS TRUTH COMMISSIONS MUST DO MORE THAN SIMPLY SEEK THE TRUTH. THEY MUST ALSO WORK TO CHANGE AND RESTORE FAITH IN GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS. /// FIRST VAN ZYL ACT /// YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE IMAGE OF THE POLICE FROM A FORCE THAT WOULD KNOCK DOWN YOUR DOOR AT FOUR O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, DRAG YOU AWAY, TORTURE YOU, INTERROGATE YOU, TO A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO COME BY TO YOUR HOUSE TO HELP YOU, AND YOUR REACTION IS ONE OF RELIEF, NOT ONE OF FEAR. // OPT // NOW TRUTH COMMISSIONS CAN RE-INSTILL PEOPLE'S FAITH IN THOSE INSTITUTIONS IF THEY ARE TRANSFORMED AND CLEANSED, AND PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE ARE REMOVED, OR THEY OWN UP AND MAKE A GENUINE COMMITMENT TO THE NEW SOCIETY. TRUTH COMMISSIONS ARE DANGEROUS WHEN THEY FAIL TO TRANSFORM THOSE INSTITUTIONS AND THE IMAGES LEFT IN PEOPLE'S MINDS ARE OF THE POLICE AS THE BAD GUYS AND NOT AS THE GUARANTORS OF YOUR RIGHTS. // END OPT // /// END ACT /// MR. VAN ZYL SAYS TRUTH COMMISSIONS NEED TO PUT VICTIMS' RIGHTS AT THE FOREFRONT OF A COUNTRY'S AGENDA, AND ACTIVELY BUILD A CULTURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS. HE SAYS, TO BE CREDIBLE, A TRUTH COMMISSION MUST BE SEEN AS ABSOLUTELY IMPARTIAL. IF A COMMISSION APPEARS BIASED IT COULD BE ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTING TO REWRITE HISTORY. MR. VAN ZYL SAYS SOUTH AFRICA'S COMMISSION WAS FORTUNATE TO BE HEADED BY NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER, ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU -- A FIGURE RESPECTED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD FOR HIS FAIRNESS AND JUDGMENT. /// SECOND VAN ZYL ACT /// THE REAL TEST OF TRUTH COMMISSIONS IS TO LOOK AT THEM IN 10 YEARS' TIME, AND SAY [ASK] DID THEY DEEPEN A CULTURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS, DID THEY PROMOTE THE RIGHTS OF VICTIMS, HAVE VICTIMS BEEN TAKEN SERIOUSLY OR HAVE THEY BEEN FORGOTTEN? AND PART OF THAT IS HOW EFFECTIVE THE TRUTH COMMISSION HAS BEEN AND PART OF THAT IS HOW SINCERE THE SOCIETY AS A WHOLE HAS BEEN, IN DEALING WITH THEIR TROUBLED PAST. /// END ACT /// MR. VAN ZYL SAYS ONE RISK OF TRUTH COMMISSIONS IS THEY FAVOR LEGAL RIGHTS OVER OTHER ASPECTS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL IN SOCIETY, LIKE DEVELOPMENT. HE SAYS SOCIETIES MUST NOT FORGET BUILDING SCHOOLS AND CLINICS CAN ALSO SERVE TO BUILD PEACE. (SIGNED) NEB/CP/WTW 11-Mar-99 4:56 PM EST (2156 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .