Contact

Contact

Resource Library

The Resource Library stores all of ICTJ’s published works since 2001 to the present, grouped by category and searchable by key word, country, issue, language, and more.

We are continually adding new content from our archives, especially our Multimedia content. Check back regularly to explore newly added videos, photo galleries, and audio products.

ICTJ Releases New Report on Restorative Justice

In the aftermath of armed conflict or repression, communities often struggle to rebuild social relations that have been damaged or destroyed by violence and abuse. Restorative justice can potentially play a valuable role in such societies, bringing together the people who have been harmed by crimes and the individuals responsible for those harms, often in the form of a dialogue, to address the offense and its consequences. A new ICTJ research report offers insight and guidance on the use of a restorative justice framework in responding to massive and grave human rights violations, drawing primarily from experiences in Colombia, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, and the Philippines’ Bangsamoro region.

04/23/24

A man and audience member holds his phone to record proceedings of panel on the stage in front of him.

Transforming Social Relations: Restorative Responses to Massive Human Rights Violations

This research report offers guidance on the application of a restorative justice framework in contexts of massive human rights violations, including its advantages and challenges. Based on the experiences of Colombia, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, and the Philippines, the study examines how ...

04/23/24

A man and audience member holds his phone to record proceedings of panel on the stage in front of him.

‘We Must Resist, Persist, and Never Desist’—Colombian and African Civil Society Exchange Local Strategies for Promoting Reparations

On November 28, 2023, ICTJ organized an international dialogue in Bogotá, Colombia, to share innovative strategies for advancing victims’ rights to redress for human rights abuses and for establishing more victim-centered development policies. The gathering also marked the official launch of ICTJ’s new report—Advancing Victims’ Rights and Rebuilding Just Communities Local Strategies for Achieving Reparation as a Part of Sustainable Development—which presents findings from a two-year comparative study of local efforts in Colombia, The Gambia, Tunisia, and Uganda to advance reparations.

02/15/24

Two women seated indoors look intently ahead of them.

The Truth About Corruption: Reviewing the Tunisia Truth and Dignity Commission’s Report on Corruption Under Dictatorship

This briefing paper examines the Tunisian Truth and Dignity Commission’s approach to investigating Ben Ali dictatorship-era corruption crimes and identifying responsible institutions and individuals, and whether it laid the foundation for accountability and reparation. While it fell s...

02/08/24

by

Ruben Carranza, Mohamed Azer Zouari, and Ichraq Ghdiri

First page of the briefing paper The Truth About Corruption

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.

Advancing Victims’ Rights and Rebuilding Just Communities: Local Strategies for Achieving Reparation as a Part of Sustainable Development

This comparative study examines strategies used by local actors to help operationalize reparations for victims of widespread human rights violations, while highlighting the synergies between these efforts and sustainable development. It is based on the fieldwork of ICTJ and its partne...

11/28/23

A women in colorful African dress holds a megaphone to her mouth

ICTJ Writing Contest Invites Young Migrants to Share Their Stories

ICTJ is pleased to announce the “Overseas: Writing Contest,” an open call for young migrants originally from or currently residing in Lebanon, Libya, or Tunisia to share their personal experiences of migration in the form of a short, written testimony.

09/18/23

In a New Book, Women Relatives of the Missing in Lebanon Use the ‘Ink of Their Hearts’ to Tell Their Stories

The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and the Committee of the Families of the Kidnapped and Disappeared in Lebanon (CFKDL) will release Windmills of Our Hearts, a new book of short stories by 15 women relatives of missing and forcibly disappeared persons in Lebanon. On June 1, ICTJ and CFKDL will host a public launch and book signing event at Dar el Wardieh in Hamra, Beirut.

05/24/23

Windmills of Our Hearts - High Res Print Visual

New Study Calls for Reparations for Victims of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Uganda

Kampala, October 17, 2022—Sixteen years after the decades-long conflict between the Ugandan government and the rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) ended, victims continue to grapple with its persistent effects. Victims of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and children born of war, in...

10/17/22

We Cannot Survive on Promises Alone: Uganda Study on Opportunities for Reparations for Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

This report presents findings from a study conducted by ICTJ, the Women’s Advocacy Network, and the Global Survivors Fund to assess the reparative justice needs of victims of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) in Uganda. The study is based on interviews and focus group discussion...

10/17/22

by

Marianne Akumu, Sarah Kihika Kasande, Grace Acan, and Evelyn Amony

graphically designed report cover

Grappling with a Violent Past, Lebanese Youth Help Preserve Truth and Memory

In Lebanon, in the absence of an overarching curriculum, young people are growing up with scant knowledge of the country’s history. Young people want to understand the war so that they can address its legacy of violence and divisions and face the continuing violence and ever-present danger of...

09/12/22

Victims, Survivors, and Agents of Change: Reparations for Sexual and Gender-Based Violations

Reparations for victims of sexual and gender-based violations (SGBV) raise a series of complicated questions and implementation challenges around how to acknowledge this category of victims and deliver reparations without exposing victims to stigma and rejection. Victims must weigh the risk of...

08/01/22

by

Virginie Ladisch

Catalyzing Transformative Change: The Power of Art and Culture to Inspire Action

For many years now, the International Center for Transitional Justice and other organizations have supported young activists and artists as they harness the power of art, culture, and new media to advance truth, justice, reform, and redress, not only where they live, but across borders and in collaboration with others. This innovative and inspiring work offers lessons about how to increase civic engagement and help societies know the truth about their country’s past and actively shape the national narrative.

07/05/22

by

Nour El Bejjani Noureddine

Wide Awake - Jacques Vartabedian - Push

ICTJ Honors the Winners of the Wide Awake Art Contest in Lebanon and Tunisia

Tunis, March 22, 2022—The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) will hold a series of cultural activities from March 21 through March 26, 2022, as part of its Wide Awake Art Contest. The contest, launched in January, invited Lebanese and Tunisian artists, as well as expat artists...

03/24/22

Judicial Independence in Tunisia in Grave Danger

On February 6, 2022, President Kaies Saied announced that he would dissolve Tunisia’s Supreme Judicial Council. While his supporters welcomed the declaration with satisfaction, many more across broad segments of society greeted it with outrage and resentment. That the president made this unilateral announcement on the premises of the Ministry of Interior—responsible for public security—stung all the more, as if to send a message that he would not hesitate to use executive power to counter perceived disobedience, judicial or otherwise.

03/02/22

by

Salwa El Gantri

Ahead of a UN Periodic Review, Uganda Must Do More to Combat Impunity and Deliver Justice to Victims

On January 27, 2022, the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group will examine Uganda’s human rights record. The UPR process presents an important opportunity to spotlight the human rights situation in the country, and recommend actions that the government of Uganda should take to fulfill its human rights obligations.

01/25/22

2021 Year in Review

In 2021, there were significant developments, some hopeful and some devastating, in the struggle for truth, accountability, and redress in countries around the world. ICTJ experts covered these events in commentaries and feature stories published on our website and in our newsletters. While 2022 is already underway and we at ICTJ are hard at work, we would like to pause a moment to take stock and reflect on the year that was.

01/25/22

ICTJ Art Contest Invites Artists to Reflect on Dissent in Lebanon and Tunisia

New York, January 18, 2022— The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) is pleased to announce the “Wide Awake Art Contest,” an open call to Lebanese and Tunisian artists as well as artists living in Lebanon or Tunisia to explore the theme “the Sound of Dissent.” The contest will showcase works by those who are documenting and memorializing their communities’ stories in times of instability, resistance, and change.

01/18/22

Amidst Chaos and Despair: Lebanese Youth Explore Transitional Justice

As part of its ongoing support of the Committee of the Families of the Kidnapped and Disappeared in Lebanon, ICTJ organized a three-day virtual workshop on transitional justice for university students on July 12-14, 2021. The students all served as volunteers on a project to establish an archive of the committee’s work and activism over the past four decades and participated in a previous workshop in February 2020 that introduced them to transitional justice concepts.

09/20/21

by

Firas BouZeineddine

Tunisia’s Transition Imperiled

Hailed as one of the only success stories to emerge out of the Arab Spring, Tunisia is now facing a significant challenge to its democratic progress. On July 25, Tunisia’s president, Kais Saied, enacted Article 80 of the Tunisia Constitution giving him emergency powers to protect the country from imminent threats. He then used these powers to suspend parliament, lift parliamentary immunity, and fire the prime minister as well as the ministers of justice and defense.

09/01/21

by

Anna Myriam Roccatello

An Imperfect Transition: Tunisia’s Revolution 10 Years On

Ten years have passed since Tunisians took the streets to demand “Employment, Freedom, and National Dignity.” The revolution’s loud, courageous voice against corruption, extreme inequality, and repression echoed around the globe and inspired the “Arab Spring.” Today, Tunisians are still proud of their revolution. However, they continue to strive for goals, yet unattained, that the political class does not even seem to understand. It was thus not surprising to see large protests on the 10th anniversary, demanding concrete action and new public policies to advance social justice and better integrate marginalized regions and populations.

03/01/21

by

Salwa El Gantri

The Ongwen Verdict: A Step Closer to Acknowledgment and Justice for Victims in Northern Uganda

On February 4, 2021, the International Criminal Court issued its judgment in the case of the Prosecutor v Dominic Ongwen. The ICC found Ongwen guilty of 61 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Northern Uganda between July 1, 2002, and December 31, 2005. The verdict recognizes the enduring impact of the crimes on the victims, their families, and Ugandan society more generally.

02/08/21

ICTJ Bids Adieu to Lokman Slim, Fearless Lebanese Activist and Intellectual

On February 4, 2021, the prominent activist, intellectual, writer, and filmmaker Lokman Slim joined the long list of victims of violence and impunity in Lebanon. The courageous human rights and political activist was found shot to death in his car in southern Lebanon.

02/05/21

With Violence Against Women on the Rise Around the World, ICTJ’s Gender Modules Offer a Timely Training Tool

In what UN Women describes as the “shadow pandemic,” rates of violence against women have soared since the public health and economic crises brought about by COVID-19. With stay-at-home orders in place in countries around the world, women are more susceptible than ever to domestic violence. In countries affected by conflict or repressive rule, all forms of sexual and gender-based violence are on the rise. The ICTJ Gender Modules offer a timely tool to raise awareness about these issues and help develop gender-sensitive responses to them.

12/21/20

Dead at the Root: Systemic Dysfunction and the Failure of Reform in Lebanon

Lebanon has long been afflicted by a combination of political deadlock and a lack of accountability that has resulted in ongoing human rights violations and overall systemic rot. Comprehensive reforms, along with an inclusive truth-seeking process, broad public dialogue, and other way...

12/18/20

by

Nour El Bejjani Noureddine and Anna Myriam Roccatello

Strengthening Synergies Between Reparations and Development Programs in Uganda

Over the last 15 years, the Ugandan government has implemented a series of recovery and reconstruction programs in Northern Uganda to address the social and economic devastation caused by the two-decade armed conflict in the region and set it on the path to sustainable peace. While these development programs alone cannot fulfill the state’s obligation to provide reparations to victims of human rights violations, if designed well, they can form a foundation upon which future reparations initiatives can be built.

11/19/20

by

Sarah Kihika Kasande

ICTJ Joins with 14 Prominent NGOs to Demand Accountability and a Non-Sectarian Political System in Lebanon

In response to the recent tragic explosion in Beirut on August 4, 2020, ICTJ and 14 prominent nongovernmental organizations recently issued a joint statement, demanding immediate action to promote accountability and a new non-sectarian political system in Lebanon. The likely preventable explosion represents another appalling consequence of a dysfunctional sectarian political system that has been in place since the end of the country’s 15-yearlong civil war in 1990 and that has afforded impunity to perpetrators of human rights abuses for decades and entrenched a culture of cronyism and corruption in the country.

10/20/20

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, ...

08/27/20

by

Ruben Carranza

In an Era of Social Distancing, Ugandan Activists Use Twitter to Assemble and Exchange Ideas

During this global pandemic, how do organizations such as ICTJ continue with their victim-centered and context-specific work, when their staff members cannot meet face to face with partners bilaterally, much less at organized convenings? The answer to these questions involves both rethinking how to use tools currently available and developing or finding new ones.

08/17/20

Women Voices from Prison: A Virtual Tour Brings to Life a Legacy of Brutal Repression in Tunisia

Tunis, August 12, 2020 —As the world today commemorates International Youth Day and Tunisia observes it National Women’s Day on August 13, ICTJ is launching the Voices of Memory virtual tour, in partnership with the Voices of Memory Collective, an intergenerational group of Tunisian women, and the University of Birmingham. The result of a collaboration between the Voices of Memory Collective and Tunisian artists, the virtual tour allows visitors to explore and interact with an online version of the widely successful Voices of Memory exhibition that traveled throughout Tunisia in 2018.

08/12/20

Don’t Call It ‘International Justice Day’

It may seem trivial for me to write about why those who continue to mark July 17 as "International Justice Day" should finally stop calling it that. Many human rights groups (including ICTJ), United Nations agencies, and governments have been publicly using that phrase since 2010. It is for victims of massive and systematic human rights violations, including abuses that amount to international crimes under the Rome Statute, that it is important to end the misconception that the phrase encourages.

08/03/20

by

After the Truth Commission, Tunisia Must Pursue Inclusive Transitional Justice

Tunis, July 10, 2020—The Truth and Dignity Commission’s (TDC) final report was at last published on June 24, six year after the TDC began its work. It marks an important milestone in Tunisia’s transition, but the journey ahead to justice and democracy is a long one. Policymakers and practitioners now have the responsibility to take the next step forward.

07/10/20

A Step Closer to Uncovering the Fate of Loved Ones: Lebanon Forms a Commission for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared

Beirut, June 23, 2020 — Almost a year and a half after passing Law 105 for the missing and disappeared, the Lebanese government has finally appointed the members of the National Commission for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared. ICTJ welcomes this action, which is another step closer to uncovering the fate of thousands of victims. However, the appointment of the commissioners will be meaningless, unless the government demonstrates greater commitment to addressing the families’ right to the truth and takes the necessary action to create a commission that is credible and effective.

06/23/20

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 Lebanon, Students Grapple with the Truth About Their Country's Painful Past

ICTJ held a two-day workshop on transitional justice for a group of university students in Beirut on February 14 and 15 as part of its ongoing support to the Committee of the Families of the Kidnapped and Disappeared in Lebanon. The students are currently serving as volunteers on a project to create an archive of the committee’s decades-long struggle and activism.

03/24/20

by

Firas BouZeineddine

Work, Freedom, Dignity: For Young Tunisians, the Revolution Was Not Only About Accountability for Corruption

Building on its work in Tunisia since 2012, ICTJ met with representatives of youth-led civil society organizations and social movements and state institutions involved in pursuing accountability for Ben Ali-era corruption. This paper focuses on the strategies and insights that members...

02/26/20

by

Ruben Carranza and Mohamed Azer Zouari

Rooting Out Corruption in Tunisia: A Youth Leader’s Perspective

Youth activists in Tunisia have played a vital role in keeping corruption at the center of public debate since the country's revolution in 2011. Through decentralized, nationwide protest movements, young Tunisians have been calling for measures that root out systems of endemic corruption. ICTJ sat down with one youth leader to discuss her activism and views on Tunisia's transitional justice process.

02/21/20

by

Christopher Boland

Will the ‘October Revolution’ Finally Bring Lebanon to a Reckoning with Its Past?

Lebanon’s ongoing “October Revolution” represents the largest decentralized, anti-government protest the country has seen at least since the end of the civil war in 1990. The demonstrations have brought thousands of Lebanese to the streets to condemn widespread corruption among the political class, paralyzing the country for weeks.

12/16/19

by

Nour El Bejjani Noureddine

Ready for Change: Lebanon’s Youth Rise Up

For over a month now, Lebanese people have been in the streets peacefully calling for an end to corruption, economic disenfranchisement, and government mismanagement, calling instead for accountability and reform of the systems that have allowed these things to occur. The protests are historic for several reasons: their scope and magnitude, as well as the way they have unified a country that has for so long had division baked into nearly every aspect of life, down to its system of governance.

12/03/19

‘The Bird Will Not Return to the Cage:’ An Analysis of Tunisia’s 2019 Elections

Recently, Tunisia held its third parliamentary elections since the revolution and the second presidential elections since late President Béji Caid Essebssi passed away on July 25, 2019. It remains to be seen if the election’s results will usher in a new era of dignity, for which Tunisians took the streets in 2010 and 2011.

10/25/19

by

Salwa El Gantri

ICTJ Calls for Transparency in Selection of Members of Lebanon’s Commission for Missing and Disappeared

BEIRUT, September 16, 2019—Nine months after the passage of Law 105 on Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons in Lebanon, the Lebanese Ministry of Justice nominated 10 individuals, including four women, to serve on the National Commission for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared. The names have...

09/16/19

by

Nour El Bejjani Noureddine

In The Name of Loved Ones: Justice for the Missing and Disappeared

The trend of missing and disappeared persons due to conflict remains more prevalent than ever today. Many governments around the world have remained undeterred in their abuse of power to invade a home or community and remove persons deemed to be a threat. This intractable problem has received global attention largely due to the efforts of family members who often risk their lives in pursuit of the right to know and ‍‍to bury their loved ones.

08/28/19

Telling Women's Stories of Repression in Tunisia

During the Ben Ali dictatorship in Tunisia, Najet Gabsi, an educator pursuing a diploma in law, was imprisoned for six months for her political activities. Through her participation in the "Voices of Memory" art exhibition, she was able to reignite her passion for activism and articulate the harms she endured at the hand of the regime.

08/13/19

Beyond Symbolism: Translating Uganda’s Transitional Justice Policy into Real Changes in the Lives of Victims

When the government of Uganda signed the Juba Agreement on Accountability and Reconciliation (AAR) with the rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in 2007, it committed to establishing concrete measures that would promote accountability, reconciliation, and justice for victims of serious human rights violations stemming from two decades of armed conflict. More than ten years later, on June 17, 2019, Uganda’s Cabinet finally approved the long-awaited National Transitional Justice (TJ) Policy.

07/12/19

by

Sarah Kihika Kasande

Molding Justice: Women's Voices from the Tunis Gender Conference

ICTJ’s Gender Symposium, held on February 2 to 4, 2019, in Tunis, Tunisia, brought together fearless women leaders working in 8 countries to advance the needs of victims and to bring gender issues to the center of transitional justice processes. What was achieved? What experiences cut across these diverse contexts? Kelli Muddell and Sibley Hawkins reflect on these questions and more in this short podcast.

05/15/19

Tunisia's Truth and Dignity Commission Winds Down, ICTJ Experts Reflect on Impact

As the work of Tunisia's Truth and Dignity Commission winds down, ICTJ's Salwa El Gantri and Kelli Muddell discuss some of the challenges and successes of its work and their vision for transparent, participatory processes to advance Tunisia’s transitional justice mandate in the short and long term.

12/20/18

Lebanon Passes Law for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared, Marking a Victory for Victims’ Families and for Justice

On November 12, 2018, Lebanon finally passed the long-awaited, landmark Law for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons in Lebanon. This breakthrough development is a result of the steadfast commitment of mobilized families and years of joint advocacy efforts, lobbying, and initiatives by local and international organizations aimed at advancing the families’ cause.

12/03/18

New Law for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared in Lebanon Offers Hope to Victims’ Families, Marks a Major Step Toward Justice

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.

12/03/18

by

Nour El Bejjani Noureddine

Partners Launch Innovative Memorialization Project Bearing Witness to the Experiences of Nine Tunisian Women

Tunis, September 24, 2018—The International Center for Transitional Justice and the University of Birmingham launched Voices of Memory, an interactive exhibition inspired by a collective of nine Tunisian women from across the country and from different generations. The exhibition is the first collective testimonial of Tunisian women who experienced human rights abuses under the Ben Ali regime.

09/21/18

Megaphone: ICTJ On the Media

For years, ICTJ has championed the media and the role it plays in supporting truth-seeking and advancing accountability and redress for victims of conflict-related atrocities. In the places where we work, from South Africa, to the Gambia, Guatemala, Colombia and the Philippines, media projects and coverage—both mainstream and alternative—have been crucial in ensuring participation, mediating public discourse, contributing to acknowledgment for victims, and revealing long-hidden truths about crimes. This month, we share a dispatch from our work in Uganda.

07/12/18

We work side by side with victims to obtain acknowledgment and redress for massive human rights violations, hold those responsible to account, reform and build democratic institutions, and prevent the recurrence of violence or repression.