A/HRC/24/42
in transition processes. The more the bulk of a commission’s work ventures into functions
that strain both its capacities and its sources of authority and legitimacy, the more
difficulties it will encounter demonstrating its effectiveness.
2.
Selection of commissioners
53.
Truth commissions derive their power to a large extent from the moral authority and
competence of commissioners. Hence selecting suitable commissioners is a crucial factor in
their good functioning. As selection modes vary greatly, this report will distinguish in a
simple manner methods of direct selection from consultative procedures which formally
involve a variety of stakeholders in the selection process.
54.
Direct selection, usually by the same authority that establishes the commission’s
mandate and without a process of formal consultations, has been used in a large number of
cases, such as in Argentina,62 Chile,63 Peru64 and Brazil.65 Direct selection is however not a
Latin-American phenomenon, as demonstrated by the Moroccan case, where the
commissioners of IER were appointed directly, through a Royal Dahir, by King
Mohammed VI.66
55.
It is not only executive powers that have used direct selection. The draft transitional
justice law currently being considered in Tunisia empowers the National Constituent
Assembly, and, in first instance, a committee composed of the President or Vice-President
of the Assembly and the presidents of the parliamentary blocs to appoint the 15
commissioners, ensuring that each sex represents at least one third of the membership.67
56.
On the opposite side of the spectrum lie selection processes that are by design
consultative in nature. This approach has been adopted for the selection of commissioners
in South Africa,68 Sierra Leone,69 Liberia,70 Timor-Leste71 and Kenya.72 The model involves
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
16
Decree 187/83 (fn 32). Confirming the point that most cases do not fall squarely on either side of the
classificatory spectrum, the decree creates a 16-member commission, with ten members appointed by
the President and three additional members to be appointed by each of the two chambers of Congress
“as direct representatives of the people and of the Provinces of the Nation”. One of the chambers did
not make any appointments. The design thus involved also the legislative power in the selection of
commissioners (12 men and one woman finally appointed).
In the Supreme Decree that established the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation of
Chile, President Aylwin announced the names of the eight commissioners (six men, two women),
designated its president, and even its executive secretary, see Supreme Decree No. 355, 25 April
1990.
Higher Resolutions/Resoluciónes Supremas N° 330-2001-PCM, 6 June 2001; N° 065-2001-PCM, 4
June 2001; N° 101-2001-PCM, 4 September 2001; N° 438-2001-PCM, 5 September 2001 (ten men,
two women appointed).
Law No. 12.528, 18 November 2011; Diario Official da Uniao LIII, No. 91, 11 May 2012 (five men,
two women appointed).
Dahir No. 1.04.42 of the 19th of Safar 1425, 10 April 2004 (16 men, one woman).
Legislative bodies may be considered more deliberative and consultative than executive powers. This
may or may not be the case. In Chile, for example, transitional justice measures had long been
debated by the different parties of the coalition that won the elections which brought President
Aylwin to power, and were part of the political platform of the coalition, so in this sense, the
measures had been the subject of public deliberation. See Elizabeth Lira, The Reparations Policy for
Human Rights Violations in Chile, in: de Greiff, The Handbook of Reparations (fn 49). On Tunisia,
see the Special Rapporteur’s report on his visit to the country, A/HRC/24/42/Add.1.
17 members (nine men, eight women), see TRC of South Africa, Final Report (fn 51), vol. 1.
Seven members (four men, three women), see TRC of Sierra Leone, Final Report (fn 40), vol. 1, ch. 2.
Nine members (five men, four women), see TRC of Liberia, Final Report (fn 40), vol. 1.
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