Outsiders in El Salvardor: The Role of an International Truth Commission in a National Transition

Abstract

Truth commissions have emerged as a common tool in post-conflict societies to facilitate a break from previous norms of violence and discord. These commissions investigate patterns of abuse and establish an official record of what occurred in the hopes of preventing repetition. In countries where political or military leaders perpetrated and sponsored abuse, acknowledgment and denouncement by a truth commission can serve as a symbol of new political 2 empowerment and changing social norms. Following a long civil war, El Salvador established a truth commission to investigate patterns of violence and to promote reconciliation in the country. However, many doubted the nation's ability to investigate its own actions objectively.4 After an extended period of fighting, El Salvador appeared too polarized to document a unified official narrative of the war. As a result, the "Commission on the Truth in El Salvador" ("Commission") was comprised entirely of non-Salvadoran citizens.6 Establishing a truth commission with only international actors addressed the polarization between Salvadoran leaders and opposition forces, but ultimately failed to promote reconciliation because it excluded Salvadorans from participating in the transition process. This article will explore the role of the Commission, first by contextualizing the Salvadoran civil war within the country's history of political rule by elites and then by examining the Commission's origin. Next, the article will consider why El Salvador's social and political circumstances led to the construction of an entirely international truth commission. Then, the article will assess the effectiveness and