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The Liberia Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released its final report in December 2009 after more than three years of operations. The report offers valuable insights into Liberia’s turbulent history, including the gross human rights violations committed during the country’s ...

This joint report by ICTJ and the Kofi Annan Foundation explores common assumptions about why truth commissions are created in the wake of armed conflict and what factors make them more likely to succeed – or fail. It arises from a high-level symposium hosted by the two organizations ...

The People’s Representative Assembly of Indonesia passed on September 7, 2004, a bill creating a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission”, which is charged with clarifying abuses committed before 2000 and determining whether to award individualized amnesties for perpetrators and reparati...

The Documentation Affinity Group (DAG) was established in 2005 by ICTJ and five partner organizations as a peer-to-peer network with a primary focus on human rights documentation. Documenting Truth collects the best practices derived from the work of the DAG organizations in Cambodia,...

“We women of Papua have been bruised, cornered, besieged from all directions. We are not safe at home, and even less so outside the home. The burden we bear to feed our children is too heavy. The history of the Papuan people is covered in blood, and women are no exception as victims o...

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.

The Liberian Truth Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was necessitated by the Accra Comprehensive Peace Accord signed in 2003. The insertion of the TRC in the peace agreement was largely seen by various actors as Liberia’s maiden step towards addressing a history that was fraught with gr...

The search for justice in Guatemala continues, more than 15 years after the end of its long and brutal civil war. Claudia Paz, Guatemala’s prosecutor general and head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, spoke with ICTJ about the struggle of victims and survivors to obtain justice for the crimes they suffered.

Indigenous peoples are still some of the most marginalized and vulnerable communities around the world. In a conflict, they are often some of the most affected as their resource-rich territories are coveted by powerful and violent groups, their identity and loyalty perceived with mistrust, and their...

From February 27-March 1, leading indigenous rights activists from around the world will join their counterparts and other experts at Columbia University to discuss access to truth, justice, and reconciliation for indigenous peoples.

The latest episode of ICTJ Forum features ICTJ's Marcie Mersky, who joins host and Communications Director Refik Hodzic for an in-depth analysis of news in Guatemala and Nepal, and looks ahead to the next year of transitional justice developments around the world.

Can truth commissions help secure a just peace following a violent conflict in which massive human rights abuses are committed? In this special series of the ICTJ Forum, we present a series of conversations with some of the world’s top peace mediators and truth commission experts, whose collective experience include years on the front lines of critical peace agreements in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

In this edition of the ICTJ Forum, ICTJ Communications Director Refik Hodzic discusses transitional justice in the news with Truth and Memory Program Director Eduardo Gonzalez and Reparative Justice Program Director Ruben Carranza. They look at the meaning and impact of the explosive new documentary “The Act of Killing," discuss the 10-year anniversary of Peru's truth and reconciliation commission, and peace talks in the Philippines.

Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, a recent documentary from Skylight Pictures, shows the international effort that has worked tirelessly to bring Montt to account for his crimes. ICTJ is pleased to announce that Granito will be aired on Thursday, June 28 at 10pm on the PBS series P.O.V.

In this edition of the ICTJ Program Report, ICTJ Senior Associate Felix Reátegui discusses the principles behind the Truth and Memory program, and explains the imperatives of uncovering, acknowledging, and memorializing the past.

A report released today by ICTJ, together with the Indonesian Association for Families of the Disappeared (IKOHI) and the Coalition for Justice and Truth (KKPK), calls on the government to fulfill its obligations to provide reparations to thousands of victims of gross human rights violations.

Following a restive year, Indonesia's human rights record is one of the situations under review during the 13th session of the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process in May–June 2012.

Indonesia has initiated transitional justice mechanisms to address human rights abuses that occurred during and after the New Order regime, but insufficient political will has rendered these efforts inadequate in achieving justice and reconciliation for victims.

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.

Truth commissions can make important contributions to peace processes if all parties can agree on common objectives and there is genuine local political will to shed light on past events. This is the key finding of a new study – titled “Challenging the Conventional: Can Truth Commissions Strengthen Peace Processes?” – to be released on 19 June 2014 by ICTJ and the Kofi Annan Foundation.

The one-day forum “Latin American Experiences with Truth Commissions,” organized by the International Center for Transitional Justice in Bogotá on July 22, brought together leading experts to discuss experiences and lessons learned from truth-seeking processes that shed light on massive human rights violations in four countries: Argentina, Guatemala, Paraguay, and Peru.

What happens when a state refuses to acknowledge the suffering of victims of mass atrocities? Or when the public celebrates perpetrators as heroes? Earlier this month, a panel discussion hosted by The International Center for Transitional Justice and New York University’s Center for Global Affairs grappled with the impact of denial on justice.

ICTJ was pleased to host the newly elected United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence, Fabian Salvioli (Argentina), at its New York office, where he discussed his vision and priorities.

In societies confronting the legacies of war, tyranny, or entrenched injustice, the experiences of indigenous people have often been marginalized. ICTJ has published a handbook offering guidance on planning truth commissions and commissions of inquiry that safeguard the interests of indigenous communities and address violations against them.

ICTJ's expert conference on the relationship between truth-seeking and indigenous rights is in session. View the live stream here.