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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.

Kenya Must Do More to End Femicide and Violence Against Women

Thousands took to the streets across Kenya on January 27 following the gruesome slaying of more than a dozen women to denounce violence against women and demand action to end it. Protesters later gathered in Nairobi on February 14 for a Valentine’s Day vigil for the more than 30 women murdered in the country so far this year and to pressure the government to declare femicide and violence against women a national emergency and to establish a commission to address these crimes and thereby break the cycle of impunity. These efforts are laudable, if not inspiring. However, physical and sexual violence against women and femicide—at times perpetrated by law enforcement officers who are meant to protect them, as enshrined in Kenya’s 2010 Constitution—has persisted in Kenya for decades.

03/01/24

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A woman leads a march down a street. Behind her are a banner and other marchers.

Finding a Shared Truth and Justice in Kosovo

More than 20 years after the end of the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, Kosovo is still contending with unresolved ethnic tensions. Formerly an autonomous region of Serbia within the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo declared independence in 2008. Ethnic tensions were a root cause of the violent conflicts, during which an estimated 140,000 died and numerous atrocities were committed. ICTJ recently sat down with ICTJ's Anna Myriam Roccatello and Kelli Muddell to learn more about ICTJ's work and the present challenges to truth and justice in the country.

08/18/23

by Caroline Nowak

A man points at photographs of people covering the wall of a room.

We Will Never Forget the Scars and Pains of Conflict: Nepal Study on Opportunities for Reparations for Victims and Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

This report presents the findings from research on the needs and expectations of women survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Nepal. Based on in-depth interviews, it explores what happened to these survivors during the country’s decade-long war (1996-2006), what they need no...

06/28/23

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Elena Naughton and Dr. Susan Risal

A cartoon illustration of a group of people

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

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Virginie Ladisch

A Transitional Justice Approach to Foreign Fighters

This study explores a transitional justice approach to the dilemma of foreign fighters in violent conflict. Such an approach can help center human rights in comprehensive responses to foreign fighters, and shift the current focus from security and punishment to justice and long-term p...

12/20/21

Image of Children looking through holes in a tent at al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria, on April 2, 2019.

ICTJ to Release New Report on Transitional Justice and Foreign Fighters

New York, December 10, 2021—In contexts such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Iraq, Somalia, and Syria, hundreds, sometimes thousands, of individuals have crossed national borders to engage in violent conflicts in which serious human rights violations and mass atrocities have been committed...

12/10/21

Image of Children looking through holes in a tent at al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria, on April 2, 2019.

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

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

Ending Gender Violence in Elections: Inclusion of Women in Kenyan Politics and the National Dialogue Process from a Transitional Justice Perspective

In its primary findings, Kenya's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission noted that women and girls have been subject to systematic, state-sanctioned discrimination in all spheres of their lives, and that the state has failed to take measures to end the practices that restrict wo...

01/23/20

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Agatha Ndonga and Kelli Muddell

'You Can Change the Course of a Country:' Report on the International Gender Symposium

In February 2019, ICTJ hosted an international symposium on gender and transitional justice in Tunisia that brought together representatives from eight countries where ICTJ has been actively engaged in implementing a gender-focused approach to its programming. This briefing paper pres...

08/20/19

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Sibley Hawkins

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

Jaqy Mutere – A Steadfast Voice for Women Battling Shame and Stigma in Kenya

On April 11, 2019, Jaqy Mutere, cofounder and coleader of Grace Agenda, accepted an award from Physicians for Human Rights recognizing the work of the Survivors of Sexual Violence in Kenya Network and Grace Agenda, a leader in this movement. Jaqy cofounded Grace Agenda after she began working with women who, like her, had experienced sexual violence during the protests that erupted in Kenya after the contested December 2007 elections.

04/30/19

Situating Security Sector Reforms in Kenya’s Discourse on Inclusion and National Dialogue Process

This paper explores political exclusion in Kenya and its consequences on the social fabric of the nation. It draws from past governmental reports and analysis to formulate new recommendations that can inform current discourse. It first provides an overview of ethnicity in Kenya. It th...

04/17/19

by

Christopher Gitari

Documentary Film Promotes Dialogue on Repairing a Legacy of State Violence and Exclusion in Northern Kenya

Kenyan media house Africa Uncensored has teamed up with the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) on a documentary that explores the Bulla Karatasi massacre that took place in the northern region of Garissa, Kenya, and its impact on communities in the North. The documentary will advance ICTJ’s efforts to partner with civil society on community-state dialogue initiatives, engage stakeholders around political and constitutional reforms stemming from the TJRC’s recommendations, and achieve redress for the legacy of state violence in Garissa and other communities in Northern Kenya.

11/19/18

Fanning the Flames of Hope in Nepal

Victims in Nepal have been calling on the government for public consultation to ensure wider discussion, a process that would allow them to share their expectations, help them to comprehend the dense language of the proposed amendments and its many gaps. They needed to understand the dubious phrasing especially on issues of criminal accountability that created suspicion, instead of trust and legitimacy in the process.

10/25/18

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Barcelona Course Explores Linkages Between Prevention and Transitional Justice

From October 1 to October 5, 2018, ICTJ hosted its eleventh intensive course on transitional justice in collaboration with the International Peace Center for in Barcelona. Participants included leaders in their respective fields, including human rights law, community justice and legal services, peacebuilding, education, and humanitarian affairs.

10/24/18

“Now Is a Time to Lead:” Advancing Transitional Justice Initiatives through Local Governments in Nepal

This report aims to help local governments, victims’ groups, and other stakeholders in Nepal to understand the scope of and potential inherent in local governmental powers and to identify what local governments can do to design and implement initiatives that support victims of conflic...

07/13/18

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Elena Naughton and Kelen Meregali

Turning Tears into Happiness: The Prospects of Local Reparations Initiatives in Nepal

Nepal’s new local government structure – comprised of districts, municipalities, sub-municipalities, and wards formed within the new federal system under the 2015 Constitution – offers the possibility of some individualized redress for victims at the community-level. This article by Elena Naughton was published in the Kathmandu Post on May 6, 2018.

04/26/18

A Catalyst for Change: Engaging Youth in Transitional Justice

Although youth are key political and social stakeholders who have much to contribute to—and gain from—transitional justice processes, they often remain marginalized from such processes or are given only a limited and predetermined space in which to engage. In recent years, the peacebu...

04/23/18

by

Virginie Ladisch

Pursuing Truth, Justice, and Redress in Nepal

The ICTJ continues to support human rights victims in Nepal in their pursuit of justice, truth, reparations, and institutional reform. This briefing paper presents a summary of findings and recommendations from workshops that ICTJ conducted with women victims, as well as meetings it h...

02/14/18

by

Elena Naughton

Activists: Strong Civil Society is Key to Hopes of Stability in Africa’s Great Lakes

A new ICTJ report argues that in Africa's interconnected Great Lakes region, each country’s attempt to provide justice for past violations offers lessons for similar processes in others. We gathered civil society activists from across the region to discuss which strategies have worked for them, which have not, and opened up about the greatest challenges they face in securing justice.

03/29/17

Reflections on the Struggle for Justice: Reshma Thapa

To mark 15 years of ICTJ, we asked staff past and present for memories that stand out to them - moments that throw the stakes of our work into sharp relief and resonate with them years later. Reshma Thapa, former ICTJ senior program associate in Nepal (2009- 2013), looks back on one particularly poignant dance shared among women in a small village.

02/28/17

Light in the Darkness: "The Story Kitchen" Turns Victims into Reporters in Nepal

Jaya Luintel was a radio reporter in Nepal during the country's civil war, covering the conflict's impact on women. Now, she's helping female victims produce and broadcast their own stories to a national audience. Discover how her organization, The Story Kitchen, empowers women in Nepal.

01/22/17

Profiles from the Front Lines of Transitional Justice: Jaqy Mutere Empowers Sexual Violence Survivors in Kenya

As ICTJ looks back on its 15 years of work, join us in celebrating our allies across the globe who join us in the struggle for human rights, against impunity. To honor their efforts in the trenches of this shared struggle, we will bring you their stories in the weeks and months to come. We begin with Kenya's Jaqy Mutere, who provides both an empathetic ear and a political voice to survivors of sexual violence.

12/15/16

“Learning Peace”: Groundbreaking New Book from ICTJ and UNICEF Stirs Debate on Education, Justice and Peacebuilding

A groundbreaking new book from the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and UNICEF examines the complicated relationship between education, justice and peacebuilding in societies grappling with a legacy of violent conflict. It offers lessons on how education can be harnessed in a divided society to overcome the past and create the conditions for peace, often under very difficult circumstances.

11/29/16

“I Know the Medicine I Need”: Survivors’ Experiences Must Shape Policy

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

07/08/16

Educational Reform in Divided Societies: Northern Ireland and Bosnia

The first piece in of our "Transitional Justice and Education" series examines the role of school systems in Bosnia and Northern Ireland.

06/28/16

Survivors Speak: Book Launch and Workshop on Women and Girls in Conflict

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.

06/15/16

ICTJ Conference Explores Efforts at Redress, Accountability and Reform in African Great Lakes Region

Today, ICTJ opened a two-day conference in Kampala, Uganda, gathering activists and officials from the African Great Lakes Region to discuss efforts at redress and accountability for serious human rights violations committed in their countries.

05/17/16

ICTJ Partners Victims, Civil Society and Officials on Transitional Justice in Great Lakes Region

Civil society leaders, members of victims' groups and state officials throughout the Great Lakes region will convene in Kampala, Uganda next week at a conference hosted by ICTJ. Attendees will share their experiences working for redress in their communities and discuss what strategies have proven effective at the local level.

05/12/16

Without Addressing Women’s Security, We Can’t Hope for Equality

On International Women's Day, ICTJ Gender Justice Senior Associate Amrita Kapur highlights how insecurity affects women and is key to overcoming inequality across all dimensions of empowerment. "Without including institutional reform, we are condemning women to another century of inequality," she writes in this op-ed.

03/08/16

Transforming Education, Transforming the Future

In this op-ed, ICTJ Vice President Paul Seils discusses how education can be used to address legacies of mass violence and dictatorship.

11/24/15

History Lessons Help Kenyan Youth See Their Role in Building a Thriving Democracy

Young people in Kenya now have a new tool to help them learn about difficult periods in Kenyan history and discuss justice, democracy, leadership, and their role as Kenyan citizens.

11/20/15

Learning From Our Past: An Exploration of Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation in Kenya

This educational tool for educators and mentors is designed to help teach young people in Kenya about difficult periods in Kenyan history and foster discussion on issues of justice, democracy, leadership, and their role as Kenyan citizens.

11/19/15

by

Karen Murphy, Dylan Wray, and Clara Ramírez-Barat

For Social Change to Take Root, Children Must be Involved in Truth-seeking

Children are particularly affected by conflict and mass atrocities and have a unique perspective on how those events impact their communities. This makes their participation in transitional justice processes essential for countries to genuinely make a break with the past and successfully address legacies of mass violence.

11/18/15

What does "civic engagement" mean for you? Interview with Kenyan Youth Leader Carine Umutoniwase

ICTJ talked to Kenyan youth leader Carine Umutoniwase to know how learning from a violent past inspires youth in countries recovering from conflict and repression to avoid past mistakes and to come up with solutions that contribute towards a more just and accountable society.

08/12/15

Youth Working for Justice: Key Agents of Change

On International Youth Day, ICTJ reaffirms the importance of engaging youth in efforts to reckon with the past in societies grappling with repressive and violent histories.

08/12/15

Young Activists in Bosnia Discuss Transitional Justice and Media at the Site of a Former Camp

For the last three years, a group of young activists gather on the night of the 5th of August at the site of Trnopolje camp, out in the open, to reenact the way prisoners spent their night and through dialogue explore alternative ways of dealing with the past.

08/06/15

In Kenya, Organizing Women Victims to Help Inform Future Reparations Policies

As Kenya moves closer to a climate where comprehensive reparations for victims of post-election violence are possible, ICTJ is supporting women victims of sexual violence to ensure that their needs are reflected in any program of restitution.

06/09/15

Overlooked and Invisible: The Women of Enforced Disappearances

70-94% of the victims of enforced disappearances are men. But what happens to the women left behind? ICTJ's Amrita Kapur explains why women are uniquely impacted by the crime, and how transitional justice can help.

04/14/15

Governments Overlook Lasting Impacts of Enforced Disappearance on Women

A major new report from ICTJ canvasses 31 countries to see how the crime of enforced disappearance affects women, as both the disappeared and the female relatives of the disappeared. It finds that across cultures, women face serious barriers to seeking relief due to discriminatory laws and practices.

03/16/15

Documentary Film ‘Remember Me’ shows Effects of Disappearances in Bosnia and Herzegovina

A new short documentary film “Remember Me” tells a powerful story of two young women whose fathers were disappeared during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

12/09/14

Ending Violence Against Women: Why Security Institutions Matter

ICTJ joins the global observations of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and the start of the “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign.” On this day, we recognize the ongoing efforts to protect women from violence in different parts of the world.

11/25/14

ICTJ Program Report: Kenya

Kenya continues to deal with the repercussions of violence stemming from its disputed 2007 presidential elections, when political protests and targeted ethnic violence rocked the country, leaving thousands dead and hundreds of thousands displaced. Head of our Kenya office Chris Gitari gives an update on how Kenya is moving forward, and explains ICTJ's work in the country.

11/03/14

ICTJ Program Report: Nepal

During Nepal's armed conflict, more than 13,000 people were killed and 1,300 forcibly disappeared. Today, a new government has voted to create a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as a Commission of Inquiry on the Disappearance of Persons. Many victims have protested the flaws in the proposals; meanwhile, no comprehensive reparations have been provided for those left most vulnerable by conflict. In this interview with ICTJ's Santosh Sigdel, we discuss developments related to ICTJ's work in Nepal.

07/01/14

ICTJ Study Shows Government Inaction on Sexual Violence Committed During Kenya’s 2007 Electoral Crisis

A new study from the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) shows that the Kenyan government has not effectively addressed the harms suffered by victims of sexual crimes committed during the violence that followed Kenya's disputed 2007 elections or ensured the accountability of perpetrators.

06/16/14

The Accountability Gap on Sexual Violence in Kenya: Reforms and Initiatives Since the Post-Election Crisis

This briefing paper reviews the Kenyan government’s response to sexual and gender-based violence committed against women, men, and children during the 2007/2008 post-election crisis. It draws on interviews with over 40 survivors about their experience and analyzes the laws and transit...

06/16/14

Transitional Justice and Women’s Rights: Four Countries to Watch This Year

To mark International Women’s Day, we invite you to read about four countries at the top of our gender justice priorities in the coming year, each with its own history, context, and complex sets of challenges.

03/05/14

In Reintegration Programs, Seeing Former Child Soldiers as More Than Just Victims

In this op-ed marking Universal Children’s Day, ICTJ's Virginie Ladisch explains why within transitional justice, the capacity to make positive choices and demonstrate moral agency are attributes that need to be encouraged and fostered in children, especially former child soldiers.

11/19/13

Enforced Disappearances: Justice for the Disappeared Has a Woman’s Face

Enforced disappearances are among the cruelest of crimes. To the kidnapping, torture, and in many cases, murder of the victim, perpetrators intentionally create fear and uncertainty about the fate of the missing person. Although men are predominantly targeted, the impact on women is severe and lasting.

08/30/13

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.