Study Confirms Adopting Truth Commissions and Justice Measures in Post-Authoritarian Regimes Lowers Homicide Rates

Presented by Office of Public Affairs and Communications

Nations that adopt transitional justice measures, such as truth commissions and judicial prosecutions for past human rights violations, experience lower homicide rates and lower levels of criminal violence, according to new research led by University of Notre Dame Associate Professor Guillermo Trejo and published in the Journal of Peace Research.

In their study of 76 countries that transitioned from authoritarian rule to democracy between 1974 and 2005, the Notre Dame team also found that trials resulting in guilty verdicts is associated with lower homicide rates only when trials are jointly implemented with a strong truth commission. If new governments instead adopt amnesty laws that prevent prosecution for past human rights violations, this appears to stimulate criminal violence.