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National commissions of inquiry in the aftermath of violations of human rights, including violations of the right to life, are a common feature of the African legal and political landscape. There is often a fair measure of scepticism or caution about their use, and with good reason. They can serve as convenient instruments to avoid accountability, rather than to achieve it. However, very little hard evidence is available upon which the performance of such commissions can be assessed, and hence impressions of their utility are often largely anecdotal. For the purposes of this book, researchers went to six countries in Africa--Chad, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa and Nigeria--and conducted in-depth investigations of commissions of inquiry that have been held there, interviewing those directly involved in the proceedings and those working on the issues since, including victims, lawyers, investigators and Commissioners. Drawing on this research, the book argues that commissions of inquiry should not be contrasted with courts or with criminal trials, since their proper place is at a different stage of the investigative process. Rather than replacing criminal processes, commissions might guide whether and how they should take place. Commissions can be cathartic events for victims or families; they can demonstrate that human rights are a priority for the state and thus lay the foundations for the rule of law; and they can make broader recommendations about what should be done. In short, in certain circumstances, they can serve to enable a broader concept of accountability. Praise for this publication "A rich collection of well-researched chapters made up of normative analysis and case studies, which presents a much-needed scholarly contribution to the question of accountability for violations of human rights--particularly the right to life--through a means other than a routine criminal process, a question with which the African Commission on Human and Peoples' R