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This article examines how the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission reshaped frameworks for truth commissions previously applied in some Latin American countries. While the South African Commission took its inspiration from the Latin American experience, it proved to be a radical departure in its search for “truth.” The public nature of narratives of violence, the link between amnesty and individual responsibility, and the belief that truth leads to reconciliation are all distinctive South African interpretations of the legacies of earlier truth commissions.