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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.

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 March 31, 2021, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court upheld the Trial Chamber I’s acquittal of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé of all charges relating to crimes against humanity they allegedly committed during Côte d’Ivoire’s 2010-2011 post-election crisis. While the acquittal may be frustrating to many pursuing justice and accountability in Côte d’Ivoire, a silver lining is that it could mean tangible benefits for victims.

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.

Following the recent closure of ICTJ's office in Côte d’Ivoire, we caught up with Head of the Office Mohamed Suma and Senior Expert Cristián Correa to reflect on ICTJ’s work in the country and with victims, women, and youth, as well as the reasons why ICTJ has chosen to scale down its activities.

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.

Youth activists in Tunisia have played a vital role in keeping corruption at the center of public debate since the country's revolution in 2011. Through decentralized, nationwide protest movements, young Tunisians have been calling for measures that root out systems of endemic corruption. ICTJ sat down with one youth leader to discuss her activism and views on Tunisia's transitional justice process.

Recently, Tunisia held its third parliamentary elections since the revolution and the second presidential elections since late President Béji Caid Essebssi passed away on July 25, 2019. It remains to be seen if the election’s results will usher in a new era of dignity, for which Tunisians took the streets in 2010 and 2011.

On January 15, 2019, victims of the 2010-2011 post-election violence in Côte d'Ivoire were shocked, yet again, to learn that the Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court in The Hague had acquitted former President Laurent Gbagbo and the former Youth Minister Charles Blé Goudé of crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the crisis.

As the work of Tunisia's Truth and Dignity Commission winds down, ICTJ's Salwa El Gantri and Kelli Muddell discuss some of the challenges and successes of its work and their vision for transparent, participatory processes to advance Tunisia’s transitional justice mandate in the short and long term.

ICTJ's Virginie Ladisch spoke with Heythem Guesmi, a young Tunisian activist who is fighting systemic oppression, economic exclusion, and impunity that persist despite the Revolution’s initial success, and Thenjiwe McHarris, a young organizer working with Black Lives Matter in the United States—a movement whose urgency also stems from historic marginalization leading to widespread impunity and systematic failures in law enforcement.

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.

UN operations are due to end in Côte d’Ivoire next June, but the country must pursue a victim-centered approach to justice even after UNOCI leaves. An ICTJ-organized conference works to prepare government, civil society, and the diplomatic community for the UN departure and chart a way towards justice and a stable peace for all of Côte d’Ivoire.

In order to create lasting reconciliation between the victims of post-election violence and the Côte d’Ivoire state, the reparations program must respond to the most serious consequences of the violence for victims through measures that address their long-lasting socioeconomic, psychosocial, and education-related effects for victims and their children. To do that, ICTJ's Cristián Correa and Didier Gbery spent more than a year discussing needs with victims groups throughout the country.

The voices of Tunisian women were in danger of being lost in the country's transitional process. Salwa El Gantri explains how one network of women's organizations made sure that did not happen by helping women find their voice and fight for justice.

For decades, veiled women in Tunisia were deprived of their rights and discriminated against because of their religious beliefs. Now, they’re joining together to tell their stories and seek justice from the Tunisian government.

After consulting nearly 2,000 of their peers, youth activists in Cote d'Ivoire present their reparations policy recommendations in a special event on Friday.

In this op-ed, ICTJ President David Tolbert argues that President Alassane Ouattara should use his second term as president to address widespread atrocities committed in Cote d'Ivoire's recent past.

In this op-ed, ICTJ's President David Tolbert expresses concern about the new "Reconciliation Bill" proposed by the Tunisian government, which would grant amnesty to corrupt business people and Ben Ali-era officials in the guise of "reconciliation." "Massive corruption and violent human rights violations are mutually reinforcing, and unless this linkage is exposed and broken, it can lead to mutually reinforcing impunity," writes Tolbert.

ICTJ recently facilitated consultations on reparations policy between victims of the Ivorian crisis and the National Commission for Reconciliation and Compensation for Victims in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

In this analysis piece, director of ICTJ's Reparative Justice program Ruben Carranza talks about the challenges Tunisia is facing in implementing individual and collective reparations measures since the fall of the Ben Ali dictatorship.

Cote d’Ivoire must prioritize effective consultations and ensure meaningful engagement with victims and civil society throughout the country in its efforts to provide reparations to victims of political violence that engulfed the country during the disputed 2010 presidential elections.

Since the uprising that sparked the "Arab Spring," Tunisians have demonstrated unwavering commitment to transitional justice. In this interview, ICTJ's Head of Office Rim El Gantri gives an overview of the country's efforts to address the truth about the past, seek justice for abuses committed under decades of repression, and provide reparations for harm suffered under the former regime.

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.

In the span of only one month, Tunisia has witnessed the historic passing of a transitional justice law and adoption of a new constitution. A key actor in the country's transition is the media.

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.

Nearly three years after violence in Cote d’Ivoire claimed the lives of over three thousand civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands, victims have yet to receive adequate reparation for the harm they suffered. ICTJ convened victims’ organizations, civil society, government officers and others to assess how the country should move forward to ensure victims see their right to reparation fulfilled.

Marking three years since Tunisia's revolution, ICTJ President David Tolbert argues that transitional justice developments in the country are not only worthy of attention, but serve as useful markers for transitions in the region and beyond.

Three years after Tunisia's revolution, victims in the south of the country are still facing severe economic and social marginalization. In recent workshops with ICTJ, they explain why collective reparations and development are both central parts of their vision of justice.

In Cote d’Ivoire, victims of the 2010-11 post-election violence have yet to receive reparations for violations that occurred during the political upheaval following the election of President Ouattara. Victims’ organizations in Cote d’Ivoire joined ICTJ and the ONUCI Human Rights Section for a three-day training session in Abidjan on reparative justice and the right to reparation.

As Tunisia concludes its final deliberations on the new constitution, transitional justice issues such as reparations for victims, truth about the past and the rights of women have been central to the legislative debates. Over the past month, ICTJ’s leading experts have been engaged with stakeholders on the ground on a variety of issues under deliberation, including truth-seeking, reparations, gender justice, and the role of children and youth.

Reparations seek to recognize and address the harms suffered by victims of systematic human rights violations. ICTJ’s Reparative Justice program provides knowledge and comparative experience on reparations to victims' groups, civil society and policymakers worldwide. In this edition of the ICTJ Program Report, we look at ICTJ's work on reparations in dynamic transitional contexts such as Nepal, Colombia, Peru, DRC, and Uganda.

The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) signed a cooperation agreement with the Tunisian government on January 16 to provide further technical assistance in establishing transitional justice mechanisms in the country. The development comes two years after protests forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to step down and flee the country in January 2011.

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.

Though not a state party to the Rome Statute, Cote d’Ivoire accepted the jurisdiction of the ICC through an ad hoc declaration in April 2003, and in December of 2010—in the wake of the post-election crisis—reaffirmed that declaration. It has been more than one year since Cote d’Ivoire began a critical transition from a decade-long civil war that divided the country and led to widespread human rights violations, forced displacement, and loss of civilian lives and property.

Why pursue transitional justice in the aftermath of massive human rights violations? “The Case for Justice” provides a window into the debate about the relevance of transitional justice in today’s world.

The National Conference to Launch a Dialogue on Transitional Justice in Tunisia was held on Saturday, April 14 in Tunis, initiating a process which should result in the adoption of a comprehensive law on transitional justice by the country’s National Constituent Assembly. ICTJ president David Tolbert delivered a keynote address.

This year’s Annual Emilio Mignone Lecture on Transitional Justice, coordinated by ICTJ and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at the NYU School of Law, focused on the intersection between transitional justice and international development.