Reactions to the Truth Commission Reports: The Test of Agreement and Acceptance
The TC and CEH reports by themselves were an accomplishment. However, it was the
subsequent reaction of the country to the reports that was pivotal. The government’s and the
military’s reactions to the TC and the CEH would signal to the general population their genuine
intention to change the ways of old or maintain sinister “business as usual.” Subsequent
responses from the population or community organizations would reflect how and if the report
had reached the public, whether victims were encouraged by the report’s acknowledgment of
the truth, and the public’s overall confidence in the possibility for reconciliation.
76The immediate reactions of different sectors of society to a truth commission report foretells
what short-term potential there may be to reconcile different versions of the past within one
nation. Closure of the pain of the past, which virtually all people want, depends on whether or
not agreement on the past can be reached.
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