| Abstract | Although a number of commissions were established in the 1970s and 1980s, truth commissions did not come fully into vogue until the mid to late 1990s. This was largely a result of the experience of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and to a lesser extent, that of the Guatemalan Historical Clarification Commission. These two commissions brought global attention to the subject of official truth seeking. The article presents some of the key observations and recommendations made by commissioners and staff directly involved in truth commissions about the official truth-seeking process, which evolved in both countries. Knowledge about truth commissions has expanded tremendously in the last decade. Government policymakers and civil society leaders around the world seem, today more than ever, to have a strong awareness of commissions. However, they also tend to have a lot of misperceptions about how such commissions work and what they can achieve. The reality is that truth commissions are not magic elixirs, either for individuals or societies. They have the potential to play an important role at important moments in a political transition, but they are only one among many mechanisms necessary for comprehensively dealing with a legacy of mass abuse.
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