78 results

ICTJ Releases New Report on Restorative Justice

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.

04/23/24
A man and audience member holds his phone to record proceedings of panel on the stage in front of him.
Press Releases

Transforming Social Relations: Restorative Responses to Massive Human Rights Violations

This research report offers guidance on the application of a restorative justice framework in contexts of massive human rights violations, including its advantages and challenges. Based on the experiences of Colombia, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, and the Philippines, the study examines how ...

A man and audience member holds his phone to record proceedings of panel on the stage in front of him.
Report

The Force of the Police: An Analysis of Police Violence Based on Experience in the United States and the Imperative to Restore Legitimacy

George Floyd’s death reignited existing anger over American society’s deep and festering racial wounds. His death triggered significant social uprisings that have challenged the methods of policing that have emerged over the course of several decades. With a growing awareness of polic...

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Roberto Cornelli

Three police officers kneel with several protesters at a demonstration.
Report

ICTJ Art Contest Invites Artists to Reflect on Dissent in Lebanon and Tunisia

New York, January 18, 2022— The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) is pleased to announce the “Wide Awake Art Contest,” an open call to Lebanese and Tunisian artists as well as artists living in Lebanon or Tunisia to explore the theme “the Sound of Dissent.” The contest will showcase works by those who are documenting and memorializing their communities’ stories in times of instability, resistance, and change.

01/18/22
Press Releases

Accountability in Policing COVID-19: Lessons from the Field

The global COVID-19 pandemic forced many countries to impose emergency measures, such as curfews and community lockdowns, to stem the spread of the virus. To enforce these measures, some societies have given regular police forces increased power to enforce the measures, while others h...

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Anna Myriam Roccatello and Mohamed Suma

Briefing Paper

Leaving Behind the Worst of the Past: Transitional Justice and Prevention in Sierra Leone

This study analyzes how transitional justice in Sierra Leone has contributed to prevention by responding to the grievances of those harmed by violations, reducing exclusion, addressing through institutional reforms the causes of past violence, and catalyzing long-term change. While tr...

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Ibrahim Bangura

Report

Transitional Justice and Prevention: Summary Findings from Five Country Case Studies

This report summarizes the findings of an ICTJ research project on the contribution of transitional justice to prevention. Drawing from five country case studies, it contends that addressing the past can help to prevent the recurrence not only of human rights violations but also viole...

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Roger Duthie

A young person with back facing the viewer is wearing a T-shirt that reads “Colombia in Peace"
Report

ICTJ Bids Adieu to Lokman Slim, Fearless Lebanese Activist and Intellectual

On February 4, 2021, the prominent activist, intellectual, writer, and filmmaker Lokman Slim joined the long list of victims of violence and impunity in Lebanon. The courageous human rights and political activist was found shot to death in his car in southern Lebanon.

02/05/21
In Focus

Dead at the Root: Systemic Dysfunction and the Failure of Reform in Lebanon

Lebanon has long been afflicted by a combination of political deadlock and a lack of accountability that has resulted in ongoing human rights violations and overall systemic rot. Comprehensive reforms, along with an inclusive truth-seeking process, broad public dialogue, and other way...

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Nour El Bejjani Noureddine and Anna Myriam Roccatello

Briefing Paper

ICTJ Joins with 14 Prominent NGOs to Demand Accountability and a Non-Sectarian Political System in Lebanon

In response to the recent tragic explosion in Beirut on August 4, 2020, ICTJ and 14 prominent nongovernmental organizations recently issued a joint statement, demanding immediate action to promote accountability and a new non-sectarian political system in Lebanon. The likely preventable explosion represents another appalling consequence of a dysfunctional sectarian political system that has been in place since the end of the country’s 15-yearlong civil war in 1990 and that has afforded impunity to perpetrators of human rights abuses for decades and entrenched a culture of cronyism and corruption in the country.

10/20/20
Press Releases

Justice Served? The Special Tribunal for Lebanon Renders Its Long-Anticipated Judgment

On August 18, nearly two decades after Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was brutally assassinated in a car bombing, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon delivered a long-awaited conviction. The judgment found Salim Ayyash guilty of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, committing a terrorist act, the intentional homicide of Hariri and 21 others, and attempted homicide of the 226 injured. However, the tribunal did not find enough evidence that the three other defendants were aware in advance of the conspiracy and thus acquitted them of all charges. This split verdict makes an uncertain situation in Lebanon even more tenuous.

08/20/20
In Focus

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
In Focus

Will the ‘October Revolution’ Finally Bring Lebanon to a Reckoning with Its Past?

Lebanon’s ongoing “October Revolution” represents the largest decentralized, anti-government protest the country has seen at least since the end of the civil war in 1990. The demonstrations have brought thousands of Lebanese to the streets to condemn widespread corruption among the political class, paralyzing the country for weeks.

12/16/19

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Nour El Bejjani Noureddine

In Focus

Committing to Justice for Serious Human Rights Violations: Lessons from Hybrid Tribunals

This report aims to help practitioners in the transitional justice field to understand the experience of establishing and operating hybrid courts and to address some common assumptions about these entities. To do so, it looks at hybrid or mixed courts in practice, drawing on experienc...

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Elena Naughton

Report

Holding a Mirror to Society: Acknowledgment and the Struggle for Indigenous Peoples Rights

Indigenous peoples are still some of the most marginalized and vulnerable communities around the world. In a conflict, they are often some of the most affected as their resource-rich territories are coveted by powerful and violent groups, their identity and loyalty perceived with mistrust, and their...

08/08/18
In Focus

UN Special Rapporteur on Transitional Justice Discusses New Mandate with ICTJ

ICTJ was pleased to host the newly elected United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence, Fabian Salvioli (Argentina), at its New York office, where he discussed his vision and priorities.

06/26/18
Press Releases

To Prevent Enforced Disappearances, Rethink the Justice and Security Equation

With enforced disappearances on the rise, ICTJ President David Tolbert says the path to prevention is clear: the international community must reorder its priorities and change its approach. The disproportionate attention on counterterrorism takes us further away from accountability and prevention, Tolbert writes. He urges the international community to lead the way in unequivocally censoring governments that use enforced disappearance as a political tactic — and ensuring there can be no impunity for this crime.

08/30/17
In Focus

A Noble Dream: The Tenacious Pursuit of Justice in Guatemala

Bring General Rios Montt and other high ranking members of the military to trial in the Guatemalan courts for genocide? In 1999 it was a noble dream for justice, but one with little apparent possibility of ever coming true. On International Justice Day, walk the long path to justice that led to this historic trial.

07/14/17
In Focus

Dutch Court Convicts Arms Dealer for Role in Liberian Atrocities. What Does It Say About Justice for Economic Crime?

In the Netherlands, a court sentenced an arms dealer to 19 years in prison for his role in war crimes in Liberia. What does his case tell us about pursuing justice for economic crimes in Liberia and beyond?

05/04/17

by

Ruben Carranza

In Focus

In South Africa’s Date with Destiny, Mandela’s Legacy Is a Beacon to Follow

South Africa Parliament faces a historic moment. In this op-ed, ICTJ's Vice President Paul Seils remembers the great hope that marked the ICC’s emergence: "No country embodied that hope and that reality more powerfully and more inspiringly than South Africa."

03/03/17
In Focus

AU Strategy for Collective Withdrawal from the ICC a Non-Starter

The Africa Union's resolution to collectively support a strategy to withdraw from the ICC looks more like a machination of those who have instrumentalized an argument against the court to protect themselves from the long arm of justice, write ICTJ's top experts on Africa.

02/16/17
In Focus

International Organizations Condemn Act of Intimidation Against Another Human Rights Defender in Guatemala

The international organizations who have signed this statement are appalled at the illegal raid which occurred on August 15, 2016 at the residence of Guatemalan lawyer and human rights defender Ramón Cadena, Central America Director of the International Commission of Jurists.

08/24/16
Press Releases

Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Complementarity?

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

07/14/16
In Focus

Unpacking the Nuances of Complementarity

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.

07/12/16
In Focus

International Organizations Applaud the Initiation of the First Trial for Sexual Slavery and Violence During the Armed Conflict in Guatemala: The Sepur Zarco Case

Today the trial begins in the “Sepur Zarco” case of acts of sexual violence and domestic and sexual slavery committed from 1982 to 1986 by members of the Guatemalan army against Maya Q’eqchi’ women and the forced disappearance of several men. This will be the first time in the world that a national court has tried a case of wartime sexual slavery case.

02/01/16
Press Releases

Carlos Dada: Guatemalan Victories over Impunity Have Inspired People across Central America

The resignation and indictment of President Otto Pérez Molina for corruption was a significant victory over impunity in Guatemala. In an interview with journalist Carlos Dada, we discussed how recent developments in Guatemala could impact other countries in Central America, such as Honduras and El Salvador.

09/22/15
In Focus

ICC’s Intolerance of Impunity Does Not Make It an Enemy of Peace

ICTJ Vice President Paul Seils writes that the ICC cannot endorse impunity measures any more than others committed to the defense of human rights and the struggle for peace and justice.

11/17/14
In Focus

Confronting the Legacy of Political Violence in Lebanon: An Agenda for Change

Lebanon should take firm steps to provide redress to victims of past conflicts and help prevent future violence, ICTJ and Lebanese rights groups said today at a roundtable discussion in Beirut. Lebanese authorities have mostly failed in their responsibility to end ongoing violations and ensure justice and truth for victims of the 1975-1990 war and successive conflicts.

10/20/14
Press Releases

On the Front Lines of Justice: The Struggle for Accountability in National Contexts

On International Criminal Justice Day, 2014, ICTJ joins the global celebrations marking the groundbreaking establishment of the Rome Statute in 1998, which created the International Criminal Court (ICC). To mark the day, we review five contexts where national systems proved it was possible to bring perpetrators to justice where it matters the most.

07/15/14
In Focus

ICTJ to Take Part in Eighth Al Jazeera Forum: “Change in the Arab World: Where To?”

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.

05/21/14
In Focus

Lebanon: The Cost of Impunity

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.

03/03/14
In Focus

New ICTJ Study Highlights Consequences for Lebanon of Not Dealing with the Past

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

03/03/14
Press Releases

Failing to Deal with the Past: What Cost to Lebanon?

This report examines the situation of impunity in Lebanon that has persisted since the 1975-1990 war through the lenses of core elements of transitional justice. It analyzes Lebanon’s past experience of ineffective transitional justice measures -- including limited domestic trials, na...

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ICTJ

Report

Lawyers for Guatemala’s Ixil Community Take Justice Demands to Inter-American Commission

Guatemalan lawyers for victims in the case against former dictator Efraín Ríos Mont filed a petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to condemn the state of Guatemala for the impunity for crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity committed against the Ixil people.

12/02/13
In Focus

Taylor’s Judgment Will Impact the Course of International Justice

The significance of Charles Taylor’s judgment rendered few days ago in The Hague goes far beyond Taylor himself, or even the Special Court for Sierra Leone. This decision will be an unavoidable legal precedent in any future deliberation of the role played by leaders and states in crimes committed by forces they support in other countries, writes ICTJ's president David Tolbert in this op-ed.

10/02/13
In Focus

Charles Taylor Judgment a Milestone in the Struggle Against Impunity for Leaders

ICTJ welcomes the decision by the Special Court for Sierra Leone to uphold the guilty verdict against former Liberian President Charles Taylor for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court dismissed challenges from Taylor’s defense, and the prosecution’s request for the sentence to be increased to 80 years, and affirmed his 50-year sentence with immediate effect.

09/26/13
Press Releases

Charting Decades of Violence in Lebanon

Despite the overwhelming number of Lebanon's civilians killed, injured, displaced or otherwise harmed by decades of violence, there remains a near-total lack of official acknowledgment, reparation, truth about serious crimes or accountability for the perpetrators. ICTJ is pleased to release the first in a series of publications that aim to bring the crimes of the past in Lebanon to light.

09/11/13
In Focus

Sierra Leoneans Reflect on SCSL in 'Seeds of Justice'

On International Justice Day, July 17th, ICTJ looks at the legacy of the Special Court for Sierra Leone through the voices of those to whom its work was most important: the citizens of Sierra Leone. Our new multimedia project, “Seeds of Justice: Sierra Leone,” presents five portraits of Sierra Leoneans whose lives were impacted by this court.

07/11/13
In Focus

ICTJ: Conviction of Ríos Montt on Genocide a Victory for Justice in Guatemala, and Everywhere

The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) welcomes today’s verdict in Guatemala by the High Risk Court in the trial of former military dictator José Efrain Ríos Montt. The 86-year-old ex-general was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity against the indigenous Mayan Ixil population during Guatemala’s Civil War. He was sentenced to a total of 80 years in prison. José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, the co-accused, who headed military intelligence under Ríos Montt, was found innocent.

05/10/13
Press Releases

International Organizations Applaud Start of Closing Arguments in Guatemalan Genocide Trial, Contest Use of Delaying Tactics to Defer Justice

Nine international human rights and legal groups have welcomed the resumption of the Guatemalan trial of Efraín Ríos Montt, the former military dictator, for genocide and crimes against humanity. The trial has taken another step towards its conclusion with the hearing of final arguments from the prosecution and victims’ representatives today and yesterday.

05/09/13
In Focus

Justice in Guatemala: What Happened to the Rios Montt Trial, and Where Can it Go from Here?

To discuss the recent chain of controversial upsets in the Rios Montt trial, we spoke with two transitional justice experts who have just returned from the courtroom in Guatemala City: Susan Kemp, prosecutions consultant for ICTJ, and Marcie Merksy, Director of Program Office. Informed by extensive work in both criminal justice and Guatemala, they offer an analysis of the dramatic events of the past week, discuss the legal and political complexities of the case, and consider possible scenarios that could develop. [Download](/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Podcast-Riosmontt-Guatemala-04-25-13.mp3) | Duration: 24:10 mins | File size: 22,659 KB

04/26/13
Podcasts

Rights Groups Urge Completion of Guatemala Genocide Trial

Four international legal and human rights groups are together urging all concerned to ensure that the current trial in Guatemala of former president Efrain Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity proceeds with due respect for judicial independence. The four are: the Open Society Justice Initiative, the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).

04/19/13
Press Releases

The Rios Montt Trial Looks at the Past, but Shapes the Future of Guatemala

In this op-ed, ICTJ's Marcie Mersky argues that the significance of the genocide trial for José Efraín Ríos Montt stretches far beyond Guatemala: it is the first time that a former head of state is being tried for genocide in a credible national court, by the national authorities, in the country where the alleged crimes took place.

03/26/13
In Focus

Genocide Trial Opens in Guatemala: Interview with Claudia Paz y Paz Bailey, Attorney General

On Tuesday, March 19, the genocide trial of General Efraín Ríos Montt began at the High Risk Tribunal in Guatemala. To talk about this historic development in Guatemala’s pursuit of accountability we talk with us one of the key players: Guatemalan Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz Bailey

03/20/13
In Focus

Genocide Trial of Ríos Montt Opens in Guatemala

On a historic day for justice in Guatemala and the world, the trial for Guatemala’s former military dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt began this morning in Guatemala City. Ríos Montt and his co-accused, José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez – are standing trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during the civil war in Guatemala, in which some 200,000 people were killed or disappeared, a majority of them indigenous Maya.

03/18/13
In Focus

International Experts Gather in Freetown to Discuss Legacy of the Special Court for Sierra Leone

As the Special Court for Sierra Leone wraps up cases against accused war criminals, a conference will be held later this week in Freetown to assess the Court’s work and lasting legacy. The conference is part of a larger international effort to look at how the court has helped to bring peace and establish the rule of law for the people of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the region as a whole.

02/05/13
Press Releases

Ríos Montt Genocide Trial Marks New Phase in Guatemala’s Struggle for Truth and Justice

The decision of a judge in Guatemala City to send former military dictator Efraín Ríos Montt to trial on charges of genocide and war crimes is a watershed moment in the country’s complex journey towards a genuine respect for the rule of law. This genocide trial - the first genuine attempt anywhere to prosecute a former head of state in his own country on charges of genocide – has the potential to shatter a significant part of the wall of denial that surrounds Guatemala. For that to happen, the trial must be fair and free of intimidation, argues ICTJ Vice President Paul Seils in this op-ed.

02/01/13
In Focus

Guatemala ex-dictator to stand trial on genocide

A former U.S.-backed dictator who presided over one of the bloodiest periods of Guatemala's civil war will stand trial on charges he ordered the murder, torture and displacement of thousands of Mayan Indians, a judge ruled Monday. "It's the beginning of a new phase of this struggle," said Paul Seils, vice president of the New York-based International Center for Transitional Justice.

01/29/13
In Focus

ICTJ Forum: January 2013

The latest episode of ICTJ Forum features ICTJ's Marcie Mersky, who joins host and Communications Director Refik Hodzic for an in-depth analysis of news in Guatemala and Nepal, and looks ahead to the next year of transitional justice developments around the world.

01/22/13
Podcasts

African Union Must Act to Address Impunity for International Crimes

In a major effort to promote accountability for serious crimes in Africa, ICTJ joined hundreds of human rights groups and transitional justice partners to ask the African Union to prioritize justice. Addressed to the new African Union (AU) Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the letter warns that strained relationships between the AU and the International Criminal Court (ICC) may put justice at risk.

01/18/13
In Focus