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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

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.

The latest ICTJ Program Report explores transitional justice issues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and charts our work in this important and dynamic region. Claudio Cordone, ICTJ’s program director covering the MENA region, discusses individual country scenarios, prospects for transitional justice processes and explains ICTJ’s involvement and impact. Cordone speaks about transitional justice principles being at the root of popular uprisings referred to as “Arab Spring” and the challenges facing societies in their efforts to reckon with legacies of dictatorships and recent violence. He describes ICTJ’s efforts to address the impact of violence on women and promote their participation in transitional justice initiatives. The interview provides a thorough overview of ongoing initiatives and future prospects in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory.

A culture of impunity for serious violations of human rights continues to thrive in Lebanon, says a report released today by ICTJ.

For decades, Lebanese governments have made only partial and ineffective attempts to hold powerful individuals, groups, and foreign states accountable for violations committed on Lebanese soil, including against civilians. The consequences of their failure to act – for victims and Lebanese society – are grave. ICTJ's new report looks at the culture of impunity for serious violations of human rights continues to thrive in Lebanon.

ICTJ President David Tolbert will be a featured speaker at this year’s Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, Qatar. Al Jazeera Forum is the flagship event of Al Jazeera Media Network, at which Al Jazeera showcases its contribution to the world of media and politics.

Ahead of Pope Francis' visit to Bosnia Herzegovina, ICTJ's Communications Director, Refik Hodzic, asks the leader of the Catholic Church to actively contribute to "a genuine reckoning needed for a genuine peace" in a society still stuck in the past, even 20 years after the war.

Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was recently sentenced by the ICTY to 40 years for genocide and crimes against humanity, crimes which have decisively shaped the society in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this essay, ICTJ’s Refik Hodzic explores what would it take for this poisonous legacy to be dismantled and makes a case for acknowledgement and reparations as matters of moral imperative, but also of political necessity.