The Central African Republic (CAR) has been plagued by political instability andviolence since gaining independence in 1960. After the 2003 failed attempt at creating atruth commission, the CAR established a Truth, Justice, Reparation and ReconciliationCommission (TJRRC) in 2020 to investigate past human rights abuses and promotenational healing. However, the TJRRC's truth-seeking process has been hampered by alack of polical will, inadequate resources, political constraints and security threats. Thisstudy aims to assess the effectiveness of the CAR's truth-seeking process in fulfilling itsgoals. The paper adopts a qualitative approach, guided by a case study design, with datacollected through semi-structured interviews with the process’s stakeholders, andsecondary data sourced from scholarly publications and reports related to the topic andcase study. Interview participants were interrogated on the truth-seeking activities,challenges encountered, and insights into its impact. The findings reveal that the varioustruth-seeking attempts in the CAR encountered substantial impediments in performingits fact-finding and truth-telling mandates. Truth Commissioners lacked independence,and resources and were politically controlled. Persistent insecurity limited the truthseeking actors from accessing conflict-affected areas. Inadequate victim protectionmechanisms prevented victims from testifying. The CAR's truth-seeking processdemonstrates the obstacles to launching an effective transitional justice strategy duringenduring conflict and weak state capacity. Without suitable political, institutional,financial, and security backing, truth-seeking failed to achieve its essential task ofuncovering the truth about the legacies of atrocities. This case emphasises the need fortruth-seeking supported by inclusive institutional mechanisms and politicalcommitment.
Ndiyun et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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