About the Artemis Project
The Artemis Project is a student initiative at Yale seeking to create a digital archive for secure copies of truth commission materials. The archive will promote knowledge of societies transitioning from periods of violence or conflict to stability and peace.
Truth commissions are fact-finding entities that have been established in more than 25 countries in the wake of violent regimes or periods of armed conflict. By allowing survivors to recount their stories, assembling both victim and perpetrator testimony, and documenting evidence, truth commissions have become an innovative, flexible tool that can help nations cope with past atrocities, pursue accountability for human rights abuse, reconstruct civil society, deter the recurrence of violence, and recognize victims' suffering and dignity.
The need for a truth commission archive is acute. Commissions produce a wealth of oral histories, empirical evidence, and other documentation. Yet much of this material is at risk due to political, economic, or logistical factors, as well as negligence and malicious destruction. Furthermore, lack of funds frequently impedes adequate maintenance of the substantial holdings produced by truth commissions. Despite the significance and fragility of truth commission collections, no central repository exists to protect, preserve, and learn from them. The Artemis Project is motivated by the urgent need to ensure that this valuable documentation is secure.
An online archive will facilitate global study of truth commissions while providing remote, secure backup for commission files. An online archive will allow truth commissions and their successors to post documents and other materials in either public or confidential forms. The simple, cost-effective site will serve as both powerful teaching tool and trustworthy remote archive. The collaborative digital archive will also:
Truth commissions are fact-finding entities that have been established in more than 25 countries in the wake of violent regimes or periods of armed conflict. By allowing survivors to recount their stories, assembling both victim and perpetrator testimony, and documenting evidence, truth commissions have become an innovative, flexible tool that can help nations cope with past atrocities, pursue accountability for human rights abuse, reconstruct civil society, deter the recurrence of violence, and recognize victims' suffering and dignity.
The need for a truth commission archive is acute. Commissions produce a wealth of oral histories, empirical evidence, and other documentation. Yet much of this material is at risk due to political, economic, or logistical factors, as well as negligence and malicious destruction. Furthermore, lack of funds frequently impedes adequate maintenance of the substantial holdings produced by truth commissions. Despite the significance and fragility of truth commission collections, no central repository exists to protect, preserve, and learn from them. The Artemis Project is motivated by the urgent need to ensure that this valuable documentation is secure.
An online archive will facilitate global study of truth commissions while providing remote, secure backup for commission files. An online archive will allow truth commissions and their successors to post documents and other materials in either public or confidential forms. The simple, cost-effective site will serve as both powerful teaching tool and trustworthy remote archive. The collaborative digital archive will also:
- Build digital archival capacity in post-conflict societies by giving local stakeholders the technology to upload and administer files they select.
- Constitute a multi-lingual, global repository, invaluable for research and education, but crucial also for future truth commission staffs seeking to learn from past models.
- Protect witness security by sharing only content that the commissions themselves choose to post publicly.
