Truth Commission for El Salvador

The Truth Commission for El Salvador (Spanish: Comisión de la Verdad para El Salvador) was a restorative justice truth commission approved by the United Nations to investigate the grave wrongdoings that occurred throughout the country's twelve year civil war. It is estimated that 1.4 percent of the Salvadoran population was killed during the war. The commission operated from July 1992 until March 1993, when its findings were published in the final report, From Madness to Hope. The eight-month period heard from over 2,000 witness testimonies and compiled information from an additional 20,000 witness statements. In December 1991, preliminary talks began between the Salvadoran government and the leftist guerrilla militia, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), with UN secretary-general Javier Pérez de Cuéllar overseeing the negotiations. The agreement was finalized and signed by both parties on 16 January 1992, at what is known as the Chapultepec Peace Accords. Pérez de Cuéllar appointed three lead commissioners, with the agreement of both the Salvadoran government and the FMLN, to head the investigation. Unlike preceding restorative justice initiatives, the Salvadoran commission was composed entirely of international commissioners.

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