Rethinking Truth and Reconciliation Commissions

Introduction: Truth Commissions and Memory Practice 2 Conflict, Recovery, and Social Forgetting in Sierra Leone 3 Studying Truth Commissions Ethnographically 5 “Revealing is Healing”? 6 Memory Practices and Sierra Leone’s TRC 7 Forgiving and Forgetting 8 Accountability vs. Reintegration 11 Recommendations 12 ABOUT THE REPORT As the international community reflects on the tragedy in Rwanda ten years ago, the question of how societies should attempt to heal the wounds from past virulent conflicts has recently received renewed interest by members of the press, policy, and NGO community around the globe. How effective are truth and reconciliation commissions? How can they build on grassroots practices of reconciliation, reintegration, and healing to develop a new generation of commissions that are more locally effective in dealing with the aftermath of conflicts?