Dealing with a legacy of human rights violations is one of the most difficult challenges facing any society in the aftermath of violent conflict. A decade after internationally mediated peace agreements ended wars in Guatemala and Bosnia and Herzegovina, both countries continue to struggle with a culture of impunity and violence. What lessons can be learned about the effectiveness of transitional justice mechanisms in dealing with the past? Why set up truth commissions in one context and tribunals in another? How does a society learn to live with the memory of genocide and crimes against humanity? And how can external actors contribute to the process of reconciliation? These are some of the questions which Guatemalan, Bosnian, and Swiss experts addressed at the swisspeace annual conference 2006.