Resource Library

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.

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.

After several months of intense political debate, Colombia’s Senate passed constitutional reform measures containing extensive transitional justice provisions. The Legal Framework for Peace was adopted to confront decades of massive human rights violations and help to bring a sustainable peace to Colombia’s ongoing internal armed conflict.

On June 29, the government of Maine joined chiefs from the state's five tribes to sign an agreement creating the Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Eduardo Gonzalez, director of ICTJ's Truth and Memory Program, attended the signing ceremony, and spoke about its importance—both local and global—in an interview with the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. Listen to the interview MPBN 04:54min

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.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada held its fourth national event in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan June 21. After attending a prior hearing, students from the We'koqma'q Mi'kmaw School in Nova Scotia created “Our Legacy Our Hope,” a documentary bearing witness to the intergenerational effects of Residential Schools and the ongoing work of the commission to address these legacies.

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 welcomes the appointment of seven distinguished experts as members of the Brazilian National Truth Commission. The government has taken a historic step to honor victims and ensure the people of Brazil know the full truth about the human rights abuses committed in their country; the pursuit of justice can only make Brazilian democracy stronger.

In seeking to establish accountability for past atrocity, many transitional justice mandates have also sought to redress crimes against indigenous populations. To further explore this relationship, ICTJ and our partners in Canada and Colombia are holding two side events to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

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.

On April 9, Colombia commemorated for the first time the National Day of the Memory and Solidarity with the Victims. This photo gallery collects the expressions of commemoration that took place in three cities in the country: Bogotá, Medellín and Villavicencio.

Colombia marked the country’s first National Day of Memory and Solidarity with the Victims April 9. For the millions who have suffered human rights violations in Colombia’s entrenched armed conflict, this was a day for their voices to be heard and their suffering to be acknowledged by the state; a nationwide call for accountability and reconciliation in a highly divided society.

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

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.

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.

NEW YORK, March 15, 2012—Brazilian federal prosecutors announced yesterday that they have opened a criminal investigation against a military officer accused of the enforced disappearance of civilians during the 1964–1985 military dictatorship. This is a welcome blow against the use of a 1979 amnesty law to shelter government agents who committed horrific crimes against civilians from accountability.

In a simple house made of wood and straw and smelling of earth, women, girls, and the occasional man narrate, sometimes laughing and other times crying, the stories of how their life used to be before being forcibly displaced to San Juan Nepomuceno. This is one of the many local memory initiatives taking place throughout Colombia today.

Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released its interim report and a new historical publication titled They Came for the Children in Vancouver today. The TRC was established in 2008 to examine and make public the truth about Canada’s former Indian Residential Schools, a system designed to forcibly assimilate aboriginal children. From 1874 to 1996 more than 150,000 children were taken from their families and placed in church-run schools. They were prohibited from speaking their native languages and practicing cultural traditions, and physical, sexual, and emotional violence was commonplace.

The civil war in El Salvador officially ended 20 years ago, yet justice and accountability for past violations remain acutely absent. To launch a Spanish language podcast series focusing on Latin America ICTJ spoke with Carlos Dada, editor of the digital newspaper El Faro, about the critical role the media has played in uncovering the truth about past atrocities in El Salvador.

Brazil’s recent decision to examine the abuses of the military dictatorship from several decades ago could change the face of democracy at home, making it more genuine and transparent. At the same time it could have a wider impact, allowing Brazil to take a decisive stand on human rights regionally and internationally.

ICTJ spoke with Pablo Parenti about the trial that just concluded which investigated human rights violations and crimes against humanity that occurred at the Naval Mechanics School (ESMA), used as a detention and torture center during the Argentine dictatorship.

ICTJ interview with Pablo Parenti, of the Attorney General’s Unit for coordination and monitoring cases involving violations of human rights during the Argentine dictatorship.

ICTJ and the Center for Memory, Peace and Reconciliation of Colombia are organizing an event on Memory: Public Policy for Transformation. Dialogue at the conference will serve as the basis for providing recommendations to the process of creating the Center for Historical Memory and designing public memory policy in the country.

As part of an ongoing partnership between ICTJ’s Children and Youth Program and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada, youth from throughout Canada attended the third national TRC hearings to document the work of the commission. This weekend they are attending a retreat to finalize their radio segments and short films to raise awareness about what they have learned.