University of Notre Dame Legacy Project

Preserving and Engaging the Digital Archive of the Colombian Truth Commission

The Legacy Project at the University of Notre Dame shares with the world a myriad of narratives and memories compiled by the Colombian Truth Commission about the country’s 52-year armed conflict to advance transitional justice, human rights and the centrality of victims.

The Legacy Project celebrates the Truth Commission’s inspiring research efforts, making its archives available for study and creative practice in order to shape peacemaking and peacebuilding efforts around the world.

The Legacy Project guarantees continued access to researchers, educators, scholars, policymakers, peacebuilders, artists and creators, to the vast collection of more than 200,000 files including audiovisual, non-textual knowledge and digitized documents about the Colombian civil war and peace process collected under the mandate of the Truth Commission. The transmedia archive comprises the narratives and voices across classes, territories, ethnicities, races and genders of the victims and witnesses of the armed conflict as well as those responsible for it.

Truth commissions play a critical role in transitional justice and reconciliation, focusing on the past to investigate patterns of victims of armed conflict. The Colombian Truth Commission is an exemplar of best practices of inquiry and recommendations for non-repetition, paving the way for reconciliation and peacebuilding. The Legacy Project celebrates these research efforts by making the resulting archives globally available for study and creative practice with the hope of informing peacemaking and policies around the world.