91 results

2021 Year in Review

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.

01/25/22
In Focus

2023 Year in Review

Throughout 2023, ICTJ’s experts have offered their unique perspective on breaking news around the globe as part of the World Report. Their insightful commentaries have brought into focus the impact these events have on victims of human right violations as well as larger struggles for peace and justice. In this edition, we look back on the past year through the Expert’s Choice column.

01/05/24
A collage of feature images from the 2023 Expert's Choice commentaries.
Opinion

Achieving Justice One Beat at a Time: An ICTJ-Led Hip Hop Initiative Takes Center Stage

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.

05/18/23
Rappers perform on a stage
In Focus

Advancing Victims’ Rights and Rebuilding Just Communities: Local Strategies for Achieving Reparation as a Part of Sustainable Development

This comparative study examines strategies used by local actors to help operationalize reparations for victims of widespread human rights violations, while highlighting the synergies between these efforts and sustainable development. It is based on the fieldwork of ICTJ and its partne...

A women in colorful African dress holds a megaphone to her mouth
Report

African Americans and Police: To Repair Broken Trust There Must Be a Reckoning First

In today’s United States, civic trust that has been systematically eroded among many communities of color. There is little basis, either historically or in the current political atmosphere, for African Americans and other minorities to have this essential trust in government institutions, particularly in the police. To build that relationship, there must first be a reckoning, writes ICTJ President David Tolbert.

04/07/17
In Focus

After the Truth Commission, Tunisia Must Pursue Inclusive Transitional Justice

Tunis, July 10, 2020—The Truth and Dignity Commission’s (TDC) final report was at last published on June 24, six year after the TDC began its work. It marks an important milestone in Tunisia’s transition, but the journey ahead to justice and democracy is a long one. Policymakers and practitioners now have the responsibility to take the next step forward.

07/10/20
Press Release

After Torture: U.S. Accountability and the Right to Redress

Counterterrorism detainees held in U.S. custody were subject to widespread abuses, including prolonged, arbitrary detention, physical and sexual abuse, enforced disappearance by way of the secret transfer of prisoners to undisclosed locations (“extraordinary rendition”), and other cru...

by

ICTJ; Lisa Magarrell, Lorna Peterson

Report

After Torture Report, Rights of Victims and Accountability for Perpetrators Must Not Be Denied

With the publication of the much-delayed US Senate Intelligence Committee’s partial report on the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program, at long last the truth is out. In this op-ed, ICTJ's President David Tolbert asks the United States to acknowledge the truth, hold the perpetrators accountable and address its obligation to the victims of its detention policies.

12/11/14
In Focus

Amicus Curiae: Case No. 09-160

Whether the government can lawfully rely on Exemption 7(F) of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(F), to withhold photographs depicting the abuse of prisoners held in U.S. custody without identifying with reasonable specificity any individuals who could reasonably be ...

by

ICTJ, HRW, Amnesty International

Breaking the Ground on Peace and Stability: Transitional Justice and the Rule of Law

Transitional justice, at the core of its mission, strives to “break the ground on a future of peace and stability.” For countries with a violent or repressive past—and this can be said of most—implementing truth-seeking, criminal justice, reparations, and institutional reform measures forms the basis for establishing a culture of justice and respect for the rule of law.

05/15/12
In Focus

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...

by

Virginie Ladisch

Briefing Paper

Catalyzing Transformative Change: The Power of Art and Culture to Inspire Action

For many years now, the International Center for Transitional Justice and other organizations have supported young activists and artists as they harness the power of art, culture, and new media to advance truth, justice, reform, and redress, not only where they live, but across borders and in collaboration with others. This innovative and inspiring work offers lessons about how to increase civic engagement and help societies know the truth about their country’s past and actively shape the national narrative.

07/05/22

by

Nour El Bejjani Noureddine

Wide Awake - Jacques Vartabedian - Push
In Focus

Civil Society-Led Truth-Seeking Initiatives: Expanding Opportunities for Acknowledgment and Redress

At a time when truth-seeking and reparations initiatives are taking hold across the United States, this report offers reflections from various civil society-led truth-seeking processes. Drawing on case studies from the United States, Colombia, Scotland, and West Papua, the report iden...

People gather around a plaque marking the Greenboro Massacre outside during an inaugural ceremony
Report

Conference Explores Uncertain Path Forward for Tunisia’s Specialized Criminal Chambers

TUNIS—ICTJ hosted a conference on May 2 and 3 to address the current challenges facing Tunisia’s Specialized Criminal Chambers (SCC) as it proceeds to adjudicate cases of serious human rights violations committed under the former regime. The 90 guests who attended included members of Tunisia’s Truth...

05/10/18
In Focus

U.S. Court of Appeals: Ali v. Rumsfeld Brief of Amici Curiae

This Brief of Amici Curiae is respectfully submitted by several human rights and torture treatment organizations pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 29 and District of Columbia Circuit Rule 29. The Brief is filed in support of the Plaintiffs-Appellants and seeks the revers...

by

Aceves, William J; et al

Criminal Justice for Criminal Policy: Prosecuting Abuses of Detainees in U.S. Counterterrorism Operations (Briefing)

On August 24, 2009, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that he was appointing Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham to conduct a preliminary review into the possibility that federal laws were violated in the interrogation of specific detainees outside of the United States. The ...

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ICTJ

Briefing Paper

Criminal Justice for Criminal Policy: Prosecuting Abuses of Detainees in U.S. Counterterrorism Operations

The report documents that practices that included slamming detainees into walls, extended sleep deprivation, suspending them by the arms, forced nudity, threats, prolonged shackling in uncomfortable positions and disrespect of the Qur'an, were the result of officially sanctioned polic...

by

ICTJ; Carolyn Patty Blum, Lisa Magarrell, Marieke Wierda

Report

Department of Defense v. American Civil Liberties Union Brief

Amicus curiae on petition for a writ of certiorari, to the United States Court of Appeals for the second circuit.

by

US Supreme Court

Briefing Paper

Emilio Mignone Lecture Asks: How Can the United States Confront Racial Injustice?

Do the concepts and strategies of transitional justice have a role to play in the United States? Our 2017 Emilio Mignone Lecture asked that question, with Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, and Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, joining ICTJ's David Tolbert in conversation. Watch the full discussion here.

11/27/17
In Focus

Examples of Defense, Intelligence, and Justice Investigative Reports into Detention and Interrogation Practices

Research Brief: Selected examples of Defence, Intelligence and Justice Investigative Reports into detention and interrogation practices.

by

ICTJ

Briefing Paper

Examples of United States Commissions of Inquiry

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ICTJ

Briefing Paper

For Juneteenth, Celebrating Wins in the United States

This past month, the United States officially observed Juneteenth for the fourth time since President Joe Biden declared it a federal holiday in 2021. Commemorations are a chance to acknowledge past milestones and reflect on their relevance to the present. In the spirit of Juneteenth, it is important to highlight and celebrate the wins and progress made toward fulfilling the promise of liberty for all.

07/01/24

by

Virginie Ladisch

Opal Lee is recognized as President Joe Biden, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, delivers remarks at the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act Bill Signing on Thursday, June 17, 2021, in the East Room of the White House.
Opinion

Gearing Up the Fight Against Impunity: Dedicated Investigative and Prosecutorial Capacities

This study explores specialized units established in 23 countries to investigate and prosecute serious international crimes. Notwithstanding the challenges faced by these units, the study concludes that countries with a specialized institutional approach are considerably more successf...

several judges dressed in black gowns sit on a judicial bench.
Report

Here We Are Again: Will Racist Violence in the United States Ever End?

It happened again. George Floyd’s name is now added to the tragic list—already far too long—of other people of color whose lives have been cut short as a direct result of the United States’ long history of racism and white supremacy. We at ICTJ are outraged by the cruel and senseless murder of an unarmed Black man by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As we try to process this horrific act and grieve the tragic loss of another human life, we must also grapple with the hard truth that it is frankly unsurprising that this list of names continues to grow.

06/05/20

by

Fernando Travesí

In Focus

A Historic Black Community in the United States Resists Erasure

As plans to build a massive Wegmans distribution center forge ahead, residents of the historic Black community of Brown Grove, Virginia, demand acknowledgment and redress.

04/18/22
In Focus