Truth Commissions and International Law

Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-1-009-67997-8
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 280 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 563 g

Reihe: Law in Context

This book examines how truth commissions construct authoritative accounts of conflict, and how they account for the plurality of accounts across affected communities. Vázquez Guevara examines three of the earliest and most influential truth commissions: Argentina (1983–1984), Chile (1990–1991), and El Salvador (1992–1993), and examines how relevant cultural objects support or counter the official account for each. In doing so, she argues that these truth commissions drew on international law to authorise their accounts of violent conflict, and that this had the consequence of privileging an internationally-authorised truth over other truths, whilst simultaneously strengthening the authority of international law over the post-conflict state. By demonstrating how truth commissions turn to international law for authority, the book shows how this produces an official account of past violence and promises of future community, which fundamentally affects how communities live together in the aftermath of violent conflict.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Vázquez Guevara, Valeria

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Truth commissions and international law: jurisdiction, representation, authority; 2. Invoking the promises of international law; 3. Using the language of human rights; 4. Linking the 'local' to the 'international'; 5. Receiving truth commissions through international law; 6. Conclusion: truth commissions and the authority of international law; Select bibliography; Index.

Über Autor(innen)

Vázquez Guevara, Valeria
Valeria Vázquez Guevara is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Law, Literature and Humanities Association of Australasia, and co-convener of the European Society of International Law's (ESIL) Critical Approaches to International Law Interest Group. She was co-chair of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law's (ANZSIL) History and Theory of International Law Interest Group, and co-Managing Editor of the Australian Feminist Law Journal (2021–2023). Her doctoral thesis won The University of Melbourne Chancellor's Prize for Excellence and Melbourne Law School's Harold Luntz Thesis Prize.