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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.

On February 13, 2024, the interactive cultural exhibit “If There Is Truth, There Is Future” opened to the public at Bogotá’s Center for Memory, Peace and Reconciliation. As part of the Colombian Truth Commission’s post-closure cultural and educational outreach activities, the exhibit aims to inform Colombians of all generations about the commission’s findings and inspire them to take action to prevent a recurrence of conflict.

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.

The study of macro-criminality is critically important to transitional justice and specifically to efforts to pursue accountability for large-scale, systematic human rights violations. To help enliven debates concerning macro-criminality and broaden access to them, ICTJ has translated into Spanish for the first time ever the seminal essay "Can Politics Be Criminalized?" written by German criminologist Herbert Jäger.

In societies grappling with conflict or repression, LGBTQ+ individuals are often targeted with violence and discrimination and experience some of the cruelest human rights violations. In 2022, Colombia Diversa began collaborating with members of ASFADDES, a prominent association of relatives of the missing or disappeared in Colombia. In June, 24 representatives from the two organizations met in Bogotá to for a series of workshops in which they exchanged knowledge and best practices and developed a better understanding of how to search for missing or disappeared LGBTQ+ persons.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the hip hop movement. To honor its contributions to the struggle for justice, truth, and equality, the Skoll Foundation hosted a panel discussion and concert event featuring hip hop artists, including cofounder of the legendary rap group Run-DMC Darryl McDaniels and Colombian rapper and producer Ali aka Mind, as part of its 20th World Forum held in April in Oxford, United Kingdom. ICTJ, which received the Skoll Award for Social Innovation in 2009 and has partnered with the Skoll Foundation since, invited Ali aka Mind as a representative of Rexistencia Hip Hop, an artistic mentorship and creation lab led by ICTJ’s office in Colombia and the Latin American media outlet and foundation Cartel Urbano.

On September 15, ICTJ organized a side event on the missing and disappeared in Syria, sponsored by the governments of Luxembourg and Finland, during the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The event was a timely one, as it addressed a recent proposal for the creation of a new...

On June 21-23, Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction of Peace (JEP) held its first acknowledgment hearing on the taking hostages, serious deprivation of liberty, and other concurrent crimes (known as Case 01) in Bogotá. Seven former leaders of the guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People’s Army (FARC-EP) acknowledged their command responsibility for the kidnapping crimes that were the FARC-EP’s policy from 1993 to 2012 in the presence of victims, JEP officials, civil society representatives, and members of the press. This hearing marks the first time ever FARC-EP leaders publicly acknowledged their role in such systemic crimes. A decisive step in the country’s restorative justice process, it would not have been possible without years of preparation.

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.

Alonso Ojeda Awad and Medardo Correa joined Colombia’s notorious leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) in their youth. After fighting with the group for several years, they and a handful of other ELN members demobilized voluntarily in the 1980’s. But it was not until 2019 that they were able to sit down with former members of paramilitary groups to discuss acknowledgment and responsibility for past crimes, reparation, and the importance of non-recurrence.

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.

The purpose of Resolution 1325 is to highlight the particular way in which women and girls suffer in situations of conflict, as well as the critical role they play in peacebuilding. To commemorate the 20-year anniversary of the resolution, ICTJ would like celebrate the life and work of one its own women peacebuilders: María Camila Moreno Múnera, head of ICTJ’s Colombia office. She exemplifies what a woman leader can achieve in advancing truth, justice, reparation, and peace.

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.

New York—On February 26, ICTJ and NYU Law’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice will welcome former President of Colombia and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Juan Manuel Santos for a conversation on the role of transitional justice in peace negotiations.

On December 12, ICTJ’s head of office for Colombia María Camila Moreno received the Alfonso López Michelsen Award for her dedicated work to advance peace and uphold international human rights and humanitarian law.

During a forum held in Bogotá, Colombia, on November 1, 2018, ICTJ launched the Spanish-language version of its Handbook on Complementarity: An Introduction to the Role of National Courts and the ICC in Prosecuting International Crimes. The Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), James Kirkpatrick Stewart, gave the keynote address.

Recent recognition of the work of Nobel Laureate Nadia Murad has drawn global attention to the issue of sexual violence and gender-based violence in conflict. But, as ICTJ Expert Kelli Muddell argues, the nuances of gender norms and how they impact women, men, and vulnerable populations are still often missing from conversations about victims.

In the dynamic political landscape that has emerged following 50 years of conflict, Colombia is taking steps toward truth and accountability. The Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence, and Non-Repetition (the “Commission”) is scheduled to begin taking statements in November 2018. As part of its mandate, it will hear the stories of victims now living throughout the Diaspora.

ICTJ has formally accepted the invitation to participate in Colombia’s Selection Committee, reflecting its commitment to work for peace and victims’ rights in that country. It has not yet selected its delegate, contrary to prior reports.

A new handbook written by ICTJ vice president Paul Seils explores the relationship between the ICC and national courts.

Think you're an expert on how national courts and the ICC work together? Put your knowledge to the test!

The struggle against impunity remains as important –and precarious –as ever as we celebrate International Justice Day on July 17. ICTJ marks the occasion with a look at complementarity, a concept critical to understanding the role that the ICC and national courts play in this struggle.

Workshop gathers survivors of gender-based wartime violence to share experiences with policymakers and practitioners.

Evelyn Amony tells the harrowing story of her years in captivity with the LRA, and experience of grinding poverty and stigma after returning home with two children, in her new memoir, I Am Evelyn Amony: Reclaiming my Life from the Lord's Resistance Army. The autobiography, which tells the difficult truths of women and girls in wartime as only a firsthand witness can, will be launched today in New York, at the Japan Society.

In a new analysis, the ICTJ addresses one of the crucial points of the peace negotiations between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP): the possibility of providing recourse to the broadest amnesty possible and pardons as part of the treatment of the different crimes committed in the framework of more than fifty years of armed conflict.