Commissioning justice Truth commissions and criminal justice 17 Commission directly filed at least one criminal complaint with Bolivian prosecution authorities.21 The 1983 Commission in Argentina was able to hand over 1,086 files to the courts,22 resulting in the trial of nine former members of military juntas. The 1985 Commission in Uruguay collected information involving 64 suspected perpetrators and transmitted thousands of pages to the authorities.23 The 1986 Commission in Uganda transferred 27 case files to prosecution authorities.24 The 1990 Commission in Chile passed new evidence to the courts and submitted a confidential list of alleged perpetrators to the President.25 The 1995 Haiti Commission submitted a confidential list of alleged perpetrators to the government, urging it to consider establishing a special national tribunal for serious human rights violations; it also called on other states to investigate and prosecute crimes against humanity committed in Haiti on the basis of universal jurisdiction.26 The work of the three regional Commissions of Inquiry into the Involuntary Removal or Disappearance of Persons, established in Sri Lanka in 1994, led to the successful prosecution of at least four cases.27 The role of the 1996 Commission in Ecuador was to “help the action of the judiciary”: it had to investigate the complaints received and submit evidence to the relevant authorities.28 The 1999 Commission of Nigeria forwarded cases to prosecution authorities and recommended that action be taken on them; information on cases that were already being prosecuted was forwarded to the Attorney General.29 The 2000 Commission in the Republic of Korea investigated 85 cases, condemned impunity and recommended further investigations and prosecutions; it also recommended lifting statutes of limitations for crimes against humanity and ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.30 The 2001 Commission in Panama had to transmit to prosecution authorities any evidence of crimes; prosecutions were started on some of the 110 cases documented.31 The 2001 Commission of Peru set up a Special Investigations Unit to gather criminal cases for prosecution and concluded a formal agreement with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which would provide a legal framework for the transfer of fully documented cases to the courts.32 In its final report, the Commission recommended that criminal investigations be opened within 30 days.33 The Commission established in Timor Leste in 2001 had to refer “serious criminal offences” (including genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture) to the Office of the General Prosecutor for Serious Crimes.34 In Paraguay, the 2003 Commission recommended several cases for prosecutions.35 The 2004 Commission in the DRC established that it would refer all cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide to national prosecution authorities, informing the International Criminal Court.36 The 2005 Commission of Liberia recommended the establishment of an Extraordinary Criminal Tribunal for Liberia to try serious human rights violations and economic crimes; it also recommended all UN member states, especially those with universal jurisdiction legislation, to assist Liberia in prosecuting crimes under international law.37 The 2007 Commission in Ecuador is mandated to ‘stop impunity’ by, inter alia, transferring evidence of criminal, civil or administrative responsibility to the relevant authorities.38 The 2008 Commission in Kenya is required to make recommendations for prosecutions in its final report.39 Index: POL 30/004/2010 Amnesty International April 2010