34 results

Hearing Victims’ Testimonies: A Meaningful Step Toward Justice in the Central African Republic

In 2021, the Central African Republic created the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission (CVJRR) to establish the truth, pursue justice, and restore victims’ dignity, with a view to ultimately achieving national reconciliation. In this fragile country, battered by successive episodes of violence, justice, in its broadest sense, has always been and remains a lifelong demand of victims. After a lengthy operationalization phase, the CVJRR is now finally getting ready to start registering and hearing victims’ testimonies. The first step in this process is statement taking, which requires taking several key factors into account to be successful.

02/01/24

by

Reem El Gantri

A group of people stand outside in Bangui, Central African Republic, for a group photo.
World Report

2023 Year in Review

Throughout 2023, ICTJ’s experts have offered their unique perspective on breaking news around the globe as part of the World Report. Their insightful commentaries have brought into focus the impact these events have on victims of human right violations as well as larger struggles for peace and justice. In this edition, we look back on the past year through the Expert’s Choice column.

01/05/24
A collage of feature images from the 2023 Expert's Choice commentaries.
World Report

Armenia’s Transitional Justice Agenda Five Years On

Five years ago, in August 2018, to mark his 100 days in office, Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan addressed a large rally in Yerevan’s Republic Square to officially announce his government’s intentions to incorporate transitional justice mechanisms into Armenian post-revolution reform agenda. Since then, Armenia has been pursuing a range of transitional justice initiatives alongside other democratic reforms, and it has made some limited headway, despite setbacks and major challenges including renewed conflict with Azerbaijan.

09/01/23

by

Maria Abrahamyan

A woman standing indoors holds two large photographs of a young man dressed in military clothing.
World Report

Victims’ Hope for Justice Postponed in the Central African Republic

After seven years of waiting for the UN-backed Special Criminal Court (SCC) in the Central African Republic to begin operations, victims of the country’s civil war had hoped to finally see the first tangible step toward justice on April 25 when the first trial opened in the capital Bangui. The trial was initially set to begin on April 19, 2022, but was abruptly postponed when the defense attorneys failed to show up in an apparent boycott over their wages. When the defense lawyers returned to court on April 25, they immediately requested an adjournment, which was granted, and the trial was postponed again until May 16. It is very likely that this incessant postponement will further deflate already diminished confidence among victims in the SCC’s ability to deliver justice.

05/02/22
World Report

Alive in the Demand for Change: Transitional Justice and Prevention in Peru

This study examines the preventive effect of transitional justice in Peru in the aftermath of internal conflict and authoritarianism, focusing on the violence’s root causes and the differentiated impact on victims and affected communities. It contends that while transitional justice h...

by

Julie Guillerot

Report

Now Is the Time to Make Transitional Justice Possible in Armenia

While Armenia may rightfully seek acknowledgment from its neighbors of the genocide and other egregious violations, for its part, it must have the courage to reckon with its own recent past in the 30 years since achieving statehood, which includes war crimes, systematic corruption, and large-scale human rights abuses against its own citizens. Failing to do so ultimately threatens the young republic’s democracy.

07/01/21
In Focus

Transitional Justice and Prevention: Summary Findings from Five Country Case Studies

This report summarizes the findings of an ICTJ research project on the contribution of transitional justice to prevention. Drawing from five country case studies, it contends that addressing the past can help to prevent the recurrence not only of human rights violations but also viole...

by

Roger Duthie

A young person with back facing the viewer is wearing a T-shirt that reads “Colombia in Peace"
Report

‘A Drop of Water on a Hot Stone:’ Justice for Victims in the Central African Republic

Providing justice to victims of human rights abuses in fragile contexts such as the Central African Republic (CAR) is challenging for reasons related not only to the state’s stability, capacity, and political will, but also socioeconomic inequality in the country. This research report...

by

Rim El Gantri and Arnaud Yaliki

A young girl stands in the doorway to her house
Report

Truth, Accountability, and Asset Recovery: How Transitional Justice Can Fight Corruption

On March 2 and 3, 2020, transitional justice and anti-corruption policymakers, experts, and activists from the Gambia, Kenya, South Africa, Armenia, and Tunisia met in Tunis for a two-day conference to share solutions to a common problem: How can countries emerging from dictatorship, ...

by

Ruben Carranza

Report

Special Report on COVID-19: Keeping Justice in Sight

Sparing almost no corner of the world from its wrath, the COVID-19 pandemic has now spread to every country. In an effort to slow the contagion, governments in most countries have been taking drastic measures requiring all residents other than essential workers to confine themselves in their homes, and shutting down vast sectors of their economies. The impact has been crushing. COVID-19 has profoundly affected every country where ICTJ currently works: Armenia, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Uganda. We recently caught up with ICTJ’s heads of country programs to learn more about the impact the pandemic is having on transitional justice and society more broadly.

05/19/20
In Focus

Paths to Transitional Justice in Armenia

In designing transitional justice in Armenia, policymakers, civil society activists, and international actors should remember those who have not had justice for so long: the families of those killed or injured in March 2008, the victims of torture and political detention, the mothers in black seeking the truth about why their soldier sons were killed, the old pensioners who live in cold and hunger, farmers and rural communities who need access to social services, and students and young citizens who saw that their hope for a better future required a revolution.

06/27/19

by

Ruben Carranza

In Focus

Holding a Mirror to Society: Acknowledgment and the Struggle for Indigenous Peoples Rights

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...

08/08/18
In Focus

UN Special Rapporteur on Transitional Justice Discusses New Mandate with ICTJ

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.

06/26/18
Press Releases

A Practitioners' Perspective on Forms of Justice in Peru and Colombia

To mark the launch of our new publication, "Forms of Justice: A Guide to Designing Reparations Application Forms and Registration Processes for Victims of Human Rights Violations", we sat down with Jairo Rivas about his work in designing reparations forms in Peru and Colombia.

12/07/17
In Focus

Helping Victims Overcome Human Rights Violations Through Education

Understanding education as a form of both reconstruction and reparations is essential for societies in their efforts to address victims’ rights and help victims and their families overcome the consequences of a painful past.

07/27/16
In Focus

Peru: ICTJ Supports Victims Challenge of Unfair Compensation Program

ICTJ files legal brief supporting Peruvian families in their case for a just compensation program for victims of Peru's 1980-2000 internal armed conflict.

05/16/16
Press Releases

Panel Discussion Examines the Impact of Denial

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.

04/27/16
In Focus

Reparations in Peru: From Recommendations to Implementation

This report evaluates the government of Peru’s partial results in providing compensation to victims of the internal armed conflict that devastated the country from 1980 to 2000. It provides a detailed analysis of the process of implementing the Comprehensive Reparations Plan, establis...

by

Cristián Correa

Report

ICTJ Program Report: Reparative Justice

Reparations seek to recognize and address the harms suffered by victims of systematic human rights violations. ICTJ’s Reparative Justice program provides knowledge and comparative experience on reparations to victims' groups, civil society and policymakers worldwide. In this edition of the ICTJ Program Report, we look at ICTJ's work on reparations in dynamic transitional contexts such as Nepal, Colombia, Peru, DRC, and Uganda.

05/13/13
In Focus

ICTJ Forum: January 2013

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.

01/22/13
Podcasts

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

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 catego...

by

Rafael Barrantes Segura

Research Case Study

The Past That Has Not Passed: Human Rights Violations in Papua Before and After Reformasi

This joint report released today by the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy (ELSHAM-Papua) provides important insight into the ongoing debate on steps required to achieve a sustainable peace in Papua. The report reviews Papua's recent history within a transitional justice framework, and provides expert recommendations on truth seeking, justice, reparations, institutional reform, and enforcing the rights of women victims.

06/28/12
In Focus

The Past That Has Not Passed: Human Rights Violations in Papua Before and After Reformasi

This joint report by ICTJ and the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy (ELSHAM-Papua) provides important insight into the ongoing debate on steps required to achieve a sustainable peace in Papua. The report reviews Papua's recent history within a transitional justice framewor...

by

ICTJ and ELSHAM

Report

Indonesia: Provide Reparations to Victims of Gross Human Rights Violations, ICTJ Report

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.

12/12/11
In Focus