1408 results

International Justice Day Reminds Us: Without Accountability, There Is No Dignity

As we mark July 17, designated International Justice Day by the states parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) just over two years ago, we should not limit our focus to the work of the court or criminal justice as such. Pursuing justice in the aftermath of atrocity presents an opportunity to do three crucial things: reaffirm a society’s shared values about basic ideas of right and wrong; restore confidence in the institutions of the state charged with protecting fundamental rights and freedoms; and recognize the human dignity of the victims of atrocities that have taken place.

07/17/12
In Focus

Cote d’Ivoire and the Pendulum of Justice

Though not a state party to the Rome Statute, Cote d’Ivoire accepted the jurisdiction of the ICC through an ad hoc declaration in April 2003, and in December of 2010—in the wake of the post-election crisis—reaffirmed that declaration. It has been more than one year since Cote d’Ivoire began a critical transition from a decade-long civil war that divided the country and led to widespread human rights violations, forced displacement, and loss of civilian lives and property.

07/18/12
In Focus

Bridging the impunity gap in Kenya requires a holistic approach to transitional justice

Following post-election violence in 2007–2008, Kenya faced a need to hold accountable those most responsible for the fighting that resulted in more than 1,000 deaths and widespread property destruction and displacement. But national judicial mechanisms proved reticent to do so, and in 2010, the situation was adopted by the ICC, who in January of 2012 announced indictments against four suspects.

07/19/12
In Focus

“No Accountability, No Dignity:” Colombia Celebrates International Justice Day

As Colombia marked International Justice Day, the importance of accountability for violations committed during the decades of conflict was underscored in the number of victims awaiting justice—376,000 registered in the Attorney General’s Office, more than 4 million in total. And while July 17 is celebrated as the date of adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, it is clear that in countries like Colombia accountability extends beyond criminal trials.

07/19/12
In Focus

Afghanistan Mapping Report Opportunity to Break Cycles of Abuse

As new evidence of past violations comes to light, Afghanistan must prioritize transitional justice measures to break the cycle of abuse. ICTJ's new briefing paper provides analysis of past reports identifying the patterns of abuses and puts forth recommendations to the government of Afghanistan.

07/24/12
Press Releases

Transitional Justice and Displacement

In collaboration with the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, ICTJ’s Research Unit examined how transitional justice can be used to address the range of injustices associated with displacement and thereby serve as part of a comprehensive approach to the resolution of displ...

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ICTJ and Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement

Report

Afghanistan: The Past as a Prologue

In 2006, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) launched an unprecedented effort to document the violations of international humanitarian law in Afghanistan between 1978 and 2001. Though it has not yet been made public, the 1000-page AIHRC Conflict Mapping Report ...

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Patricia Gossman

Briefing Paper

Images for Truth and Memory: ICTJ Announces Photography Contest in Colombia

To encourage public engagement in truth-telling and memorialization in Colombia, ICTJ and the Center for Historic Memory (Centro de Memoria Histórica) are pleased to announce a photography contest for non-professionals.

07/25/12
In Focus

Decades After Dictatorship, Argentina's Courts Still Lead the Fight for Accountability

Argentina’s trials for crimes committed during the dictatorship of military juntas are widely seen as a successful national effort to seek accountability for past abuses. And while victims’ demands for justice continue to remain high, the judiciary is facing challenges to ensure the cases are dealt with expeditiously and fairly. In a interview for ICTJ's Spanish podcast series "Lessons from Latin America," Mirna Goransky, Assistant General Prosecutor for the Attorney General’s Office shares her perspectives on human rights trials in Argentina.

07/26/12
In Focus

ICTJ Program Report: Interview with Paul Seils

The ICTJ Program Report is a new online feature that presents ICTJ’s work and impact around the globe. Through monthly in-depth interviews with our experts, the ICTJ Program Report will offer a view of ICTJ’s work on reparations, criminal justice, truth and memory and other transitional justice developments in countries where we work. To launch the series, we speak with Paul Seils, ICTJ's vice president and the head of our Program Office.

08/01/12
In Focus

Criminal Justice and Forced Displacement in Colombia

The crime of forced displacement has been a widespread practice in Colombia’s internal armed conflict for several decades. However, forced displacement cannot be reduced to an inherent or unintended effect of the conflict. The armed actors in the Colombian armed conflict—the army and ...

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Federico Andreu-Guzmán

Report

Reparations and Displacement in Peru

The reparations policy for victims of Peru’s internal armed conflict, which lasted from 1980 to 2000, includes the internally displaced population among its beneficiaries under the Official Register of Victims. However, displaced persons are given lower priority than the other categor...

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Rafael Barrantes Segura

Report

Linkages between Justice-Sensitive Security Sector Reform and Displacement: Examples of Police and Justice Reform from Liberia and Kosovo

As with most post-conflict challenges, the issues of displaced populations and weak security institutions each have profound effects on the other. A common cause of displacement in post-conflict environments is a lack of physical security, either because formal security institutions f...

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Madeline England

Report

Gender, Transitional Justice, and Displacement: Challenges in Africa’s Great Lakes Region

Displacement is one of the most widespread and tangible consequences of conflict, and has been chronically high in Africa’s Great Lakes region by any standard. This paper focuses on three salient gender-specific dynamics of conflict and displacement in the region that need to be incor...

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Lucy Hovil

Report

Criminal Justice and Forced Displacement in the Former Yugoslavia

This paper is concerned with the relationship between criminal justice and displacement that has taken place as a result of serious violations of international humanitarian law, and considers these issues within the context of justice efforts in the former Yugoslavia. It argues that i...

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Joanna Korner

Report

Reparations and Displacement in Turkey: Lessons Learned from the Compensation Law

Although the conflict in Turkey remains ongoing and a political solution to the “Kurdish question” has not been reached, in recent years, the Turkish government has developed a series of laws and policies regarding the situation of displaced Kurds. The most significant of these polici...

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Dilek Kurban

Report

Forced Displacement and Gender Justice in Colombia: Between Disproportional Effects of Violence and Historical Injustice

This paper examines the relationship between forced displacement and transitional justice in Colombia from a gender perspective. The text focuses on three main themes: first, the gendered impacts of forced displacement; second, the ways that official policy, as it has evolved from pro...

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Donny Meertens

Report

Police Reform in Situations of Forced Displacement: Chad, Eastern Zaire, and Kosovo

In cases other than those of environmental disasters, some mix of persecution and fear of violence based on ethnicity, race, or religion, plus violations of human rights and repression based on political beliefs and opinions often characterizes forced displacement for both internally ...

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William G. O’Neill

Report

Dealing with the 2006 Internal Displacement Crisis in Timor-Leste: Between Reparations and Humanitarian Policymaking

The 2006 crisis in Timor-Leste saw close to 15 percent of the population displaced from their homes, threatening to sink the country into protracted instability and violence. Remarkably, five years later the country was back on track, with the internal displacement issue largely resol...

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Peter Van der Auweraert

Report

Truth-Telling and Internal Displacement in Colombia

An internal armed conflict involving the government, leftist guerrillas, and a variety of paramilitary groups and criminal bands has endured in Colombia for the last 60 years, generating massive levels of displacement. A comprehensive truth commission that investigates major human rig...

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Roberto Vidal-López

Report

The CAVR and the 2006 Displacement Crisis in Timor-Leste: Reflections on Truth-Telling, Dialogue, and Durable Solutions

This paper considers the efforts of Timor-Leste’s Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation to address the forced displacement that occurred during the period of Indonesian occupation and in the post-Popular Consultation violence of 1999. It examines linkages between the work...

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Luiz Vieira

Report

UN Must Act Decisively to Uphold the Rule of Law

When 26-year old Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi incinerated himself on December 17, 2010, his act resonated across an entire region and sparked what is known as the Arab Spring. His cry echoed across the world because it was a universal call for justice, basic fairness, and equal treatment. Indeed, it was a call for the rule of law. In a new op-ed, ICTJ's President David Tolbert calls upon the UN General Assembly to prove its commitment to justice and the rule of law.

08/15/12
In Focus

No One Above the Law: Vetting the Security Sector in Nepal

Nepal’s armed conflict ended six years ago, but commitments made to pursue accountability and establish oversight over security forces have yet to be implemented. ICTJ’s briefing paper “Building Trust and Strengthening the Rule of Law” examines how an ad hoc vetting mechanism for officers in senior command positions could help consolidate democracy in Nepal. Author Alexander Mayer-Rieckh says that as Nepal abandons its commitments to pursue accountability for serious crimes, it undermines the ability of its security forces to maintain the rule of law and protect a new era of peace.

08/24/12
In Focus

Building Trust and Strengthening the Rule of Law

ICTJ’s briefing paper “Building Trust and Strengthening the Rule of Law” examines how an ad hoc vetting mechanism for officers in senior command positions could help consolidate democracy in Nepal. Author Alexander Mayer-Rieckh says that as Nepal abandons its commitments to pursue acc...

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Alexander Mayer-Rieckh

Briefing Paper

In the Presence of Absence: Truth-Telling and Displacement in Liberia

Displacement was a major tactic used by armed groups during the brutal conflict in Liberia from 1989 to 2003. It is estimated that during this time, half the country’s population experienced displacement as a result of warfare. The large numbers of people forced from their homes meant...

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Awa Dabo

Report

UN Special Rapporteur Delivers First Annual Report

On August 9, 2012, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation, and nonrecurrence Pablo de Greiff presented the first annual report to the Human Rights Council. The report provides an overview of key activities undertaken by the Special Rapporteur between May 1 and July 25, reviews the foundations of the mandate and outlines the strategy for its implementation.

08/27/12
In Focus

Forced Disappearances Are Crimes Against Humanity That Can’t Be Justified

Forced disappearance is a crime against humanity. The decisions made by politicians and officials authorizing such practices in different countries cannot be justified legally or morally. They must be held to account and be shown for what they are: enemies of a civilized society.

09/04/12
In Focus

Justice for the Disappeared is at the Heart of Transitional Justice

As the world marks August 30, the International Day of the Disappeared, we are reminded that forced disappearances and transitional justice share a common history. Indeed, processes working in concert that came to form the field of transitional justice were born from the search for truth and justice about the disappeared.

08/28/12
In Focus

Transitional Justice Responses to Palestinian Dispossession: Focus on Restitution

The protracted displacement of Palestinian refugees presents a complex set of challenges for the international refugee, humanitarian, and transitional justice fields. For the most part, these global movements have treated the Palestinian situation as a case apart: Palestinian refugees...

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Leila Hilal

Report

ICTJ Program Report: Middle East and North Africa

The latest ICTJ Program Report explores transitional justice issues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and charts our work in this important and dynamic region. Claudio Cordone, ICTJ’s program director covering the MENA region, discusses individual country scenarios, prospects for transitional justice processes and explains ICTJ’s involvement and impact. Cordone speaks about transitional justice principles being at the root of popular uprisings referred to as “Arab Spring” and the challenges facing societies in their efforts to reckon with legacies of dictatorships and recent violence. He describes ICTJ’s efforts to address the impact of violence on women and promote their participation in transitional justice initiatives. The interview provides a thorough overview of ongoing initiatives and future prospects in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory.

09/05/12
In Focus

Restitution and Legal Pluralism in Contexts of Displacement

Recent years have seen an increased recognition of the need to address the housing, land, and property (HLP) rights of displaced populations in post-conflict situations; however, the implementation of restitution programs is challenged by the fact that in most countries affected by in...

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Barbara McCallin

Report

Sierra Leone: Preserving Historic Records & Tools for Reconciliation

On August 30, 2012, ICTJ joined government officials and civil society in Freetown to celebrate the launch of a new website for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Sierra Leone and welcome the prospects for revitalization of Sierra Leone’s reconciliation.

09/11/12
In Focus

Transitional Justice and Displacement

Transitional Justice is often pursued in contexts where people have been forced from their homes by human rights violations and have suffered additional abuses while displaced. Little attention has been paid, however, to how transitional justice measures can respond to the injustices ...

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Roger Duthie

Book

ICTJ to Brief UN Security Council on Accountability for Crimes Against Children

Accountability for violations against children in armed conflict is best achieved through a comprehensive approach to justice that addresses the responsibility of perpetrators and the rights of victims within a broader process of social change. This is the key message to be delivered by the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) on September 19, 2012, during the UN Security Council’s Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict.

09/18/12
Press Releases

Accountability for Crimes Against Children is Key to Peace and Security

In an address to the UN Security Council, ICTJ President David Tolbert urged States to prioritize transitional justice as an integrated approach to seeking accountability for crimes against children in armed conflict.

09/20/12
In Focus

Fourth Intensive Course on Truth Commissions: Facing the Truth in Times of Transition

The Fourth Intensive Course on Truth Commissions, presented by ICTJ in partnership with the Barcelona International Peace Resource Center (BIPRC), focuses this year on the challenge of recognizing the experiences of vulnerable populations in the work of truth commissions. Practitioners and academics representing 17 countries will participate in the week-long course, including members of the Brazilian and Ivorian Truth Commissions, the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare TRC Process, and ICTJ experts from around the world.

09/24/12
In Focus

Reparations for Northern Uganda: Addressing the Needs of Victims and Affected Communities

Since independence Ugandans have endured episodes of violence and human rights abuses across successive political regimes and transitions with devastating consequences. During two decades of conflict in the northern Uganda involving the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the government ...

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ICTJ Uganda

Briefing Paper

A Struggle Against Invisibility: Gender Justice in the Middle East and North Africa

Transitional justice measures should serve to rectify, not replicate, patterns of discrimination against women. These mechanisms can challenge structural causes of gender inequality, by publicly acknowledging the factors that made such abuse possible. In the Middle East and North Africa, like in many other contexts, it is a challenge to ensure transitional justice measures do not further entrench the invisibility of gender-based abuses. As different countries consider the ways to confront the legacies of past abuses, ICTJ works with women’s groups across the region to build their capacity to engage in discussions around transitional justice and gender.

09/26/12
In Focus

Confronting the Past: Truth Telling and Reconciliation in Uganda

National healing and reconciliation in Uganda requires a multilayered truth-telling process comprised of community and national processes that are mutually reinforcing and should not be mutually exclusive, as proposed by the JLOS report. A national truth-telling body should address is...

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ICTJ Uganda

Briefing Paper

Prizes in the Colombian Victims’ Memory Photography Contest

On October 2, an award ceremony honored the winners of the amateur photography contest on memory, called “Images to Resist Oblivion,” organized by the Center for Historical Memory and the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ). View photo galleries from the three winning submissions.

10/03/12
In Focus

ICTJ Program Report: Colombia

The latest ICTJ Program Report explores transitional justice issues in Colombia and charts our work in the country with the longest running armed conflict in the world. In this interview, head of ICTJ's Colombia office Maria Camila Moreno answers questions on the ongoing transitional justice mechanisms in the country, and describes ICTJ's work with the government and civil society groups on issues of criminal justice, reparations and memory. She provides a look ahead to the new peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the FARC, and identifies key transitional justice issues at stake for the talks.

10/02/12
In Focus

Relief, Reparations, and the Root Causes of Conflict in Nepal

The report examines the measures taken in Nepal to redress victims following the 2006 peace agreement, which formally ended the ten-year civil war between the government and Maoist rebels. It looks closely at the Interim Relief Program (IRP) — a compensation scheme instituted in 2008 ...

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Ruben Carranza

Report

In Nepal, Victims’ Silence Cannot Be Bought

Six years after a peace agreement formally ended the conflict in Nepal, the slow, painstaking process of building the country’s new democracy has yet to provide comprehensive reparation to victims. To fully acknowledge the experience of victims of the conflict, Nepal’s government should not mistake the issuance of relief through material benefits for the implementation of a comprehensive reparation program. This is one of the central recommendations of "Relief, Reparations, and the Root Causes of Conflict in Nepal," a major new report from ICTJ, and authored by Ruben Carranza.

10/05/12
In Focus

Decision in Mau Mau Case Strengthens the Right to Reparations of All Victims of Torture

The International Center for Transitional Justice strongly welcomes the decision of the UK High Court ordering the British government to pay damages to a group of Kenyans who were imprisoned and tortured by colonial authorities following the Mau Mau Rebellion of the 1950s.

10/05/12
Press Releases

Peace and Justice at the Negotiating Table: Colombia Talks Peace with FARC

An end could be in sight for the longest-running armed conflict in the Western Hemisphere. Peace negotiations between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels have begun on 17 October in Oslo, Norway, and will continue in Havana, Cuba.

10/22/12
In Focus

Op-Ed: Peace Talks With FARC a Chance for Reimagining the Colombian State

This Wednesday saw the beginning of formal peace talks between the Colombian Government of Juan Manuel Santos and the leadership of the left-wing FARC guerrillas. This op-ed from ICTJ Vice President Paul Seils argues that a successful outcome will not be measured simply in the effective demobilization of roughly 8,000 militants. Durable peace will require a reimagining of the Colombian state, which has become both victim and perpetrator in a conflict now over half a century old.

10/22/12
In Focus

Courts of First Resort: Prosecuting International Crimes at the National Level

In the quest to bring perpetrators of massive crimes to justice, international courts should be considered only as a last resort. Efforts to establish rule of law require the development of national capacity to prosecute the most serious crimes. On 25 and 26 October 2012, leading international actors from the judicial, rule of law, and development sectors will convene at the Greentree Estate in Manhasset, New York for the third Greentree Conference on Complementarity. The meeting aims to examine the needs of and challenges to national prosecutions for the most serious crimes in four countries: Ivory Coast, the DRC, Colombia, and Guatemala.

10/24/12
In Focus

International Fight Against Impunity Starts with the Responsibility of States

When perpetrators of serious international crimes are brought to justice by the country in which they committed their crimes, it signals a strong commitment to accountability and the rule of law. To ensure that domestic investigations and prosecutions occur for serious crimes such as genocide and crimes against humanity, the need for international assistance goes beyond the walls of the courtroom: development agencies and rule of law actors can provide countries with essential support to fairly and effectively prosecute serious international crimes in their own courts.

11/02/12
In Focus

Exploring the Legacy of the Special Court for Sierra Leone

As the work of the Special Court for Sierra Leone draws to a close, we take stock of the historic milestones it has passed since its creation in advancing transitional justice through a special multimedia project, “ Exploring the Legacy of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.” This website will support two conferences: one in New York on November 7-8, 2012, and one in Freetown on January 9-10, 2013. The website will be regularly updated to provide information on the history of the court and its legacy through interactive multimedia and other features.

11/06/12
In Focus

Engaging Children and Youth in Transitional Justice

On International Children’s Day, ICTJ reaffirms the importance of an active role of children and youth in transitional justice processes, such as truth-seeking, criminal accountability, and reparations programs. In the aftermath of societal upheaval, the voices of children and youth are often absent from peace negotiations and subsequent transitional processes. Though children and youth must be able to receive adequate care and necessary rehabilitation, they must not be regarded only as victims of massive human rights abuses: they are rights-bearing members of a society trying to confront the past, and active participants in the process of social change aiming for a new future. It is in the best interest of children and youth, as well as the societies in which they live, to participate in transitional justice processes, devised to reestablish rule of law and civic trust in the societies to which they belong.

11/19/12
In Focus