191 results

We Can’t Be Sure Who Killed Us: Memory and Memorialization in Post-conflict Northern Uganda

This reports examine the role of memorials in transitional justice processes, based on research conducted in the Acholi and Lango subregions of northern Uganda. It offers recommendations to those planning memorial activities on how to achieve the highest impact.

by

ICTJ; Julian Hopwood

Report

Truth-Seeking and the Challenge of Sustainable Peace

ICTJ hosted its third Intensive Course, Truth-seeking and the Challenge of Sustainable Peace, on September 26–30. Based on concrete field experience, the participants explored the relationship between truth-seeking and peace in societies that have experienced or are still experiencing armed conflict.

10/05/11
In Focus

Truth-seeking in the Western Balkans: Initiative for a Regional Truth Commission

Join ICTJ as we co-host a delegation of RECOM’s leaders at two events in New York on November 14 and 15. They will share their experience campaigning for truth in the Western Balkans, present the draft mandate submitted to the presidents of the region, and discuss a successful public campaign that has gathered over 500,000 signatures in support of the commission.

11/08/11
In Focus

"Why Should We Suffer?" Children Testify before Kenya’s TJRC

During a thematic hearing December 13–14, Kenya's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) heard testimonies from children on their own experiences as part of the commission's investigation into gross human rights violations and historical injustices in the country between 1963 and 2008.

12/23/11
In Focus

ICTJ Congratulates Pablo de Greiff on Nomination for Special Rapporteur on Transitional Justice

NEW YORK, March 22, 2011—The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) congratulates Pablo de Greiff, director of ICTJ’s Research Unit, on the nomination as the first UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence of serious crimes and gross violations of human rights.

03/22/12
Press Releases

Twenty Years On, Bosnia Struggles to Reckon with the Past

Ceremonies throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina today mark 20 years since the beginning of the conflict that saw the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II. In this podcast Refik Hodzic, our communications director and a Bosnian justice activist and journalist, discusses the obstacles Bosnia is facing in achieving a reckoning with its troubled recent past. [Download](/sites/default/files/Hodzic_ICTJ_Podcast_04062012.mp3) | Duration: 10:17mins | File size: 5.88MB

04/06/12
Podcasts

Shadow of London “Orbit” in Bosnia: Steel, Blood, and the Suppression of Memory

As ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel company, invests 19.2 million pounds of steel to construct a monument marking London’s Olympic Games, a disturbing story is emerging about the refusal to memorialize a former concentration camp in Bosnia it owns today. Not only is ArcelorMittal unwilling to provide even a fraction of the cost of the London “Orbit” to commemorate the suffering of Bosnians in the notorious Omarska camp, but it has recently started denying victims access to the site.

04/23/12
In Focus

Strengthening Indigenous Rights through Truth Commissions: A Practitioner's Resource

Indigenous peoples are among those most affected by contemporary conflict. The resource-rich territories they occupy are coveted by powerful, often violent groups. Their identity is perceived with mistrust, sometimes with hate. Indigenous communities live at a precarious intersection ...

by

ICTJ; Paige Arthur; Eduardo González; Yukyan Lam; Joanna Rice; César Rodríguez-Garavito; Deborah J. Yashar

Report

Ivory Coast: Hopes and Challenges in Addressing the Legacy of the 2010 Violence

Ivory Coast has embarked on a process of addressing the legacy of internal strife that culminated in the violence following the 2010 presidential elections. There seems to be genuine political will to pursue transitional justice through criminal investigations and truth-seeking, but serious challenges remain. Suliman Baldo, head of ICTJ's Africa Program, discusses these developments in our latest podcast. [Download](/sites/default/files/Baldo_ICTJ_Podcast_06072012.mp3) | Duration: 19.07mins | File size: 10.9MB

06/08/12
Podcasts

Zuma’s Presidential Pardons Process “Unconstitutional”

Almost 150 criminals, racist killers, and those responsible for mass atrocities committed during and immediately after apartheid have been recommended for special pardon in a deeply flawed and unconstitutional process headed by President Jacob Zuma, the South African Coalition for Transitional Justice (SACTJ) warned today.

06/15/12
Press Releases

The Case for Justice

Why pursue transitional justice in the aftermath of massive human rights violations? “The Case for Justice” provides a window into the debate about the relevance of transitional justice in today’s world.

07/16/12
In Focus

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

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

Research Paper / Report

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

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 mean...

by

Awa Dabo

Research Case Study

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

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

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

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...

by

ICTJ Uganda

Briefing Paper

ICTJ Program Report: Africa

The latest ICTJ Program Report presents ICTJ’s work in Africa. In a deeply insightful interview, Suliman Baldo, director of ICTJ’s Africa program and one of the world’s leading experts on transitional justice in Africa, discusses transitional justice processes in Ivory Coast, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda.

12/04/12
In Focus

Are We Still Committed To Human Rights For All?

The United Nations has proclaimed December 10 as International Human Rights Day. The date commemorates the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which represented the reaction of the international community to the horrors of the Second World War. Today is a day for reflection more than celebration. A cursory scan of events from the last few weeks has thrown up examples that demonstrate that the belief in human rights for all - in treating all states the same - is more of a tissue-thin membrane than a robust bulwark.

12/10/12
In Focus