analysis of specific conventional rights, would appear to provide
some evidence for this. In the latter, as a principle derived from
sources at the national level, it is able to ‘fill gaps’ when treaties
and custom do not provide enough guidance.” 8
Juan E. Méndez, one of the leading legal experts on the right to the
truth, has characterized it as an “An emerging—though rapidly
developing—norm of international law.” 9 Likewise, he describes it
as the “State obligation to reveal to the victims and society
everything known about the facts and circumstances of massive
and systematic human rights violations of the past, including the
identity of the perpetrators and instigators” In this same sense, he
argues that "This obligation presupposes the existence of massive
or systematic human rights violations taking the form of the most
abhorrent international criminal offences such as torture, genocide,
disappearances, war crimes, or crimes against humanity” 10
He adds that “this obligation is likely to arise in contexts of
Transitional Justice in Post-Conflict Situations marked by the end
of political violence, the cessation of the hostilities, or the fall of
the dictatorial regime; yet technically this obligation arises with the
systematic human rights violation itself.” 11
Although some authors dispute its origin and legal nature, as
evidenced in the above sections, in another line of thinking, the
doctrine has established that "today, all the conditions and
requirements are met to recognize the right to the truth as an
autonomous fundamental right. All that is missing is formal and
explicit recognition, both in international conventions and in States’
constitutions.” 12
Taken from: Yasmin Naqvi, “The right to the truth in international law: fact or fiction?” International Review of the
Red Cross, June 2006, Original Version No. 862, pg. 28 Available at https://internationalreview.icrc.org/sites/default/files/irrc_862_2.pdf
9
Taken from: Juan E. Mendez y Francisco J. Bariffi, “Truth, Right to, International Protection”. Max Planck
Encyclopedia of Public International Law, 2012. Available at: https://www.corteidh.or.cr/tablas/r17382.pdf
10
Taken from: Juan E. Mendez y Francisco J. Bariffi, “Truth, Right to, International Protection”. Max Planck
Encyclopedia of Public International Law, 2012. Available at: https://www.corteidh.or.cr/tablas/r17382.pdf (Méndez
[1998] 255).
11
Taken from: Juan E. Mendez y Francisco J. Bariffi, “Truth, Right to, International Protection”. Max Planck
Encyclopedia of Public International Law, 2012. Available at: https://www.corteidh.or.cr/tablas/r17382.pdf.
12
Taken from: Gerardo Bernales Rojas, “El Derecho a la Verdad.” Estudios Constitucionales vol.14 no.2, Santiago,
Chile, 2016. Available at https://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-52002016000200009&script=sci_arttext
8