Why do truth commissions give the recommendations that they do? This is not merely a rhetorical question. truth commission reports are written documents. We can thus think of them as pure text. We can also think of them as policy documents. As we know, the dual aim of a truth commission is to document a specified set of human rights violations committed over a particular period of time, frequently by identifying alleged perpetrators (often institutions responsible such as the military, state agents, paramilitaries, etc.), and to provide recommendations to the government for follow-up action after the commission's work has been completed. The information documented by truth commissions is more often than not very contentious. One should not expect their recommendations to be any less controversial.

The aim of this chapter is to explore the processes through which the sets of recommendations presented in the final versions of truth commission reports are formulated. By the formulation process , we refer to all of the actions that contribute to the development of the recommendations presented by truth commissions. This begins with the identification of ideas to be included and the needs to be met, followed by the design and methods to be applied. Then, commissions deliberate and select the measures to be included. Finally, the recommendations are drafted. Formulation does not happen in a vacuum. To varying degrees, recommendations are shaped by drafters’ interactions (or lack thereof) with actors outside the commission.

In this chapter, we analyze recommendations both as textual and contextual items. Why are recommendations formulated the way they are? Who decided what is to be recommended and on what grounds? Do recommendations express realistic goals or revolutionary dreams? Whether we read recommendations as concrete suggestions for action to be taken by the governments to which the truth commission reports are handed, or as expressions of hope for a better future, there is a normative element present in the formulation process of all recommendations. The raison d‘être of recommendations is to suggest alternative ways of doing things in order to achieve various forms of justice and ultimately promote nunca más, never again.