The Gambian Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC) started its operations in January 2019 with the public hearings of witnesses, victims, and perpetrators. It has already succeeded in having high-profile perpetrators testify publicly on their role in violations concerning several victims. But the question is, who should be at the center of truth telling?

In the United States, the debate over a national reparations program for slavery and Jim Crow has until now encountered political opposition. However, transitional justice approaches at the community level are increasingly surfacing to address racial injustice. A handful of 2020 presidential candidates have come out in support of reparations for slavery. Recently, Georgetown University took center stage in this debate when its student body voted in favor of a student-led initiative to establish a fee that will fund education and health care programs for the descendants of 272 enslaved persons sold by the university in 1838.

Throughout the week of April 23, I have been attentively following the news to know what would be the impact of this Friday’s hirak (Arabic for protests or mass rallies) in Algeria.  The tenth consecutive Friday of protests that began on  February 22 is  a reaction to the announcement made by an invalid  president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, from a hospital in Geneva, of his intention to continue holding his position for a fifth term.

This is a guest post by Professor Jennifer Trahan, Clinical Professor, NYU SPS Center for Global Affairs, in advance of the "Atrocity Crimes and the Veto" panel discussion at NYU's the Center for Global Affairs on April 17th, 2019. ICTJ's deputy director, Anna Myriam Roccatello, will also participate in the panel. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of ICTJ.

Although the Philippines’ withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) took effect on March 17, the pursuit of justice and accountability for the thousands of extrajudicial killings in President Rodrigo Duterte’s so-called drug war can proceed. In February 2018, after warning Philippine officials that she was “deeply concerned about these alleged killings and the fact that public statements of high officials of the Republic of the Philippines seem to condone such killings,” ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda opened a preliminary examination, as an initial step.

Much of the debate over the current crisis in Venezuela relates to how possible it is to find a negotiated solution. A negotiated transition is favored by many of the international actors supporting the opposition.

The Working Group on Transitional Justice and SDG16+ calls on the international community, including policymakers, donors, and practitioners, to:

In little less than 10 months, Colombia has witnessed the creation of a completely new jurisdiction, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP). JEP has already opened two cases and three situations in its Chamber for the Acknowledgment of Truth and Responsibility.

Ever since the armed conflict in Lebanon broke out in the mid-1970s, the main demand of the families of the missing and disappeared has been to secure the right to know the truth and the right to an effective investigation, verification of facts, and public disclosure of what happened. These families persisted in their demands over the decades, against the odds and despite social, political, and cultural forces pushing for collective amnesia. Their perseverance, along with civil society’s invaluable efforts, shined a continuous light on the issue of the disappeared, igniting a public debate that parliamentarians could no longer ignore. Last month, they voted in favor of the Law for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons in Lebanon.

On September 18, the trial of Dominic Ongwen resumed at the ICC. Ongwen is on trial for 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity – including various forms of sexual violence and the recruitment of child soldiers – committed in the former IDP camps of Lukodi, Odek, Abok, and Pajule during the 20-year insurgency in Northern Uganda. Ongwen is the first former child soldier who is facing trial at the ICC for crimes in which he was also a victim.