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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.

As ICTJ looks back on its 15 years of work, join us in celebrating our allies across the globe who struggle for human rights, against impunity. To honor their efforts in the trenches of this struggle, we will bring you their stories in the weeks and months to come. This is the story of Mark Thompson, CEO of Relatives for Justice, a group struggling for truth and justice in Northern Ireland.

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.

A group of leading world experts on truth-seeking and memorialization has called for the mayor of Prijedor, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to publicly acknowledge and memorialize the non-Serb victims of atrocities committed in the city in the early 1990s.

A group of leading world experts on truth-seeking and memorialization has called for the mayor of Prijedor, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to publicly acknowledge and memorialize the non-Serb victims of atrocities committed in the city in the early 1990s.

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.

Join President David Tolbert as we celebrate ICTJ at 15 years, during which there have been many pivotal moments, both for our organization and the struggle for justice globally.

This year marks ICTJ’s 20th anniversary. For the past two decades, the organization has engaged in more than 50 countries, providing technical assistance and other critical support to victims, civil society, governments, and other stakeholders. Since its beginnings, ICTJ has served as a meeting point for transitional justice experts and practitioners and a hub of knowledge, research, and analysis. As a think tank that does, it has been at the forefront of the field’s evolution.

Members of parliament from political parties opposed to extending the work of Tunisia’s truth commission today voted to end the commission’s mandate. This came after parliamentarians from parties that support the extension walked out of the proceedings because their position is that the Organic Law that created the Truth and Dignity Commission (TDC or Instance Vérité et Dignité in French) authorized the TDC to extend its mandate. Earlier, the TDC had voted to extend its mandate by a year in order to complete its work. In a position paper distributed to members of parliament and civil society activists, ICTJ and the Victims’ Coalition for Dignity and Rehabilitation jointly said that they supported the extension of the TDC’s mandate, despite internal issues among its commissioners. ICTJ pointed out that other truth commissions elsewhere have sought and been given extensions in order to carry out key parts of their work, such as public hearings, or to complete writing their reports. Both ICTJ and the Victims’ Coalition said that an extension would allow the TDC to hold public hearings on marginalization and unemployment – which was one of the grievances that drove the Arab Spring in Tunisia. It would also give the Commission time to finalize its report and recommendations, including those on reparations.

NEW YORK – The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) has awarded the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) a grant of 40 million Swedish kronor to implement its Strategic Plan 2018-2022. During this period, ICTJ will respond to the growing demand for its services...

New York, January 21, 2022—ICTJ will host an online course, entitled “Prevention and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence: The Role of Transitional Justice,” from March 14 through 18, 2022. Prevention has emerged as a top priority on international policy agendas for sustainable peace and development and global governance, and understanding the preventive capacity of transitional justice is more imperative than ever.

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.

In these convoluted times, when terrible news dominates the headlines and overwhelms our hearts and minds, it is sometimes comforting to remember the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” News from Spain on recent progress toward justice for victims of fascism may offer some inspiration, and it is why I picked this story from the many unfolding around the world to comment on in this month's World Report.

The latest episode of the ICTJ forum features analysis of significant transitional justice news, including breaking developments in Kenya, Tunisia, and Syria. ICTJ Vice President Paul Seils and Truth and Memory program Director Eduardo Gonzalez join Communications Director Refik Hodzic for this expert discussion. [Download](/sites/default/files//ICTJ-Forum-March-2013.mp3) | Duration: 31:42mins | File size: 22,290 KB

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.

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...

Tunisia continues to take steps to fulfill its commitments under its ground-breaking Transitional Justice Law and realize the goals of the 2011 revolution. But a rocky start to the country’s new truth commission and proposed reconciliation-cum-amnesty legislation could undermine these efforts, according to a new paper by ICTJ.

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.

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.

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.

Since the uprising that sparked the "Arab Spring," Tunisians have demonstrated unwavering commitment to transitional justice. In this interview, ICTJ's Head of Office Rim El Gantri gives an overview of the country's efforts to address the truth about the past, seek justice for abuses committed under decades of repression, and provide reparations for harm suffered under the former regime.

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.

March 21, 2013, New York, NY- The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) is launching a global awareness campaign for the International Day for the Right to the Truth, March 24, to affirm the right of victims to know the truth about human rights violations. Under the slogan, “Truth is the foundation of justice,” ICTJ’s campaign will highlight the important role that truth commissions can play in societies dealing with a legacy of violence and repression.

The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) signed a cooperation agreement with the Tunisian government on January 16 to provide further technical assistance in establishing transitional justice mechanisms in the country. The development comes two years after protests forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to step down and flee the country in January 2011.