A common response to widespread human rights violations, particularly following internal armed conflict, is the establishment of a governmental or independent commission to investigate and record the violations, potentially—although not necessarily—with a view to enabling criminal prosecution. Although documenting every single violation may not be possible, establishing patterns, practices, and chains of command is crucial to identifying the purposeful and systematic nature of such abuses.
Truth and reconciliation commissions, perhaps more than any other function, serve to answer the many unanswered questions generated by enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and other crimes committed in times of State unresponsiveness and secrecy, that leave relatives wondering what happened to the victims and where they might be.
See the U.S. Institute of Peace‘s comprehensive list of such commissions here. The International Center for Transitional Justice and Amnesty International both provide additional information on truth and reconciliation commissions (available here and here).
Some notable examples of truth commissions whose reports are available online (in English) include those of East Timor, Guatemala, Rwanda, and South Africa.