Resource Library

Habib Nassar, director of ICTJ’s Middle East and North Africa Program, traveled to Tunis last week to bring the organization’s expertise to the discussion on how such a strategy might be shaped. On his return to New York, he shared what he learned in this podcast interview. [Download](/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Tunisia-Transition-Nassar-Podcast-02-10-2011.mp3) | Duration: 8mins | File size: 4.5MB

Ruben Carranza, director of ICTJ’s Reparative Justice Program, just returned from The Hague where he and Guy Mushiata, legal officer for ICTJ in Democratic Republic of Congo, led a seminar for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Trust Fund for Victims about the mechanics of reparations programs. [Download](/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Reparations-ICC-Carranza-Podcast-03-30-2011.mp3) | Duration: 8mins | File size: 4.7MB

TUNIS/NEW YORK, April 12, 2011—The proceedings at the ‘Addressing the Past, Building the Future: Justice in Times of Transition’ conference, which is to be held in Tunis April 14-15, will be reported on a conference blog set up by the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ). The...

TUNIS, Apr. 14, 2011—The international conference on transitional justice, Addressing the Past, Building the Future, opened this morning in Tunis with more than 150 participants from Tunisia and other countries of the Middle East and North Africa. In sessions dealing with transitional justice...

The international conference on transitional justice 'Addressing the Past, Building the Future: Justice in Times of Transition' concluded today in Tunis, following two days of discussions on justice models and measures implemented in transitions. View the conference blog The conference explored...

Some habits die hard. This is especially true of ways of thinking. Despite significant changes in national and international law and practice in the last thirty years—the period that corresponds with the emergence of transitional justice as a field—the recent upheaval in the Middle East and Northern Africa region has provoked proposals that hearken back to a period that we may have thought long gone.

As the number of victims of violence against demonstrators in Syria, Yemen, Bahrain and elsewhere in the region rises, a question emerges for the government of Bashar al-Assad of Syria, but also those of Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifah of Bahrain and the vacillating international community: Can impunity for such crimes be permitted in this day and age?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) must better communicate what is driving its actions to the public of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and elsewhere around the world if it is to develop confidence in its capacity to act as a guardian of international criminal law.

In this week’s podcast Habib Nassar, director of ICTJ’s Middle East and North Africa Program, addresses questions of fairness and credibility of the in-absentia trial of Ben Ali, the relationship between economic and human rights crimes, and the significance of Tunisia's ratification of the Rome Statute. [Download](/sites/default/files/Reed_ICTJ_Podcast_06052011.mp3) | Duration: 7mins | File size: 4MB

In this podcast, Kelli Muddell, director of ICTJ’s Gender Justice Program, discusses ICTJ's work on gender and transitional justice in the Middle East and North Africa, which included a meeting of women policymakers and activists in Amman, Jordan earlier this month. [Download](/sites/default/files/Muddell_ICTJ_Podcast_07172011.mp3) | Duration: 8mins | File size: 4.5MB

In this podcast, Caitlin Reiger, director of international policy relations at ICTJ, and coeditor of Prosecuting Heads of State, discusses the phenomenon of accountability at the most senior level of government in the context of ongoing trials of Mubarak and Ben Ali and the calls to bring to justice current and former heads of state accused of human rights abuses. [Download](/sites/default/files/Masic_ICTJ_Podcast_07312011.mp3) | Duration: 7:27mins | File size: 4.56MB

As of 2010, over 1 billion children worldwide were living in territories affected by armed conflict, over one-quarter of them under the age of five. This means the “average” civilian victim—a person killed, injured, or forced to flee his or her home—is likely to be a child or youth. ICTJ’s pioneering report “ Through a New Lens: A Child-Sensitive Approach to Transitional Justice” analyzes experiences of four countries—Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Colombia and Nepal—and identifies some key lessons on children’s participation in transitional justice measures. [Download](/sites/default/files/Ladisch_ICTJ_Podcast_31092011.mp3) | Duration: 7mins | File size: 4.2MB

On October 11, PBS will launch the five-part series "Women, War & Peace," focusing the dialogue about conflict and security on the roles women play both as targets of violence and key partners in the peace process. ICTJ sat down with two of the three producers, Pamela Hogan and Gini Reticker, to discuss insights from the upcoming series. [Download](/sites/default/files/Hogan_and_Reticker_ICTJ_Podcast_10052011.mp3) | Duration: 14:38mins | File size: 8.75MB

Morocco’s “Years of Lead” period was marked by policies of state violence against political dissidents including torture, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearances. “ Morocco: Gender and the Transitional Justice Process” analyzes whether the various transitional justice processes undertaken by the IER sufficiently fulfill the gender-specific focus of its mandate.

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.

If the international community is seriously committed to fighting impunity for mass atrocity, national courts in the countries where such crimes have been committed must be at the frontline. International development actors are crucial to making this possible. [Download](/sites/default/files/Tolbert_ICTJ_Podcast_11302011_2.mp3) | Duration: 12:33mins | File size: 7KB

For the millions of victims of the country’s successive wars, Lubanga is just one of many who are responsible for crimes on an astonishing scale. Congolese authorities must end the widespread impunity enjoyed by those who remain in positions of power in the government and military or violence and instability are likely to continue for years to come.

After three years on trial and a total of seven in detention, Thomas Lubanga gained the dubious notoriety of becoming the first person to be convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. It would be encouraging if the court, including the prosecution, indicated it saw Lubanga’s judgment as an opportunity to learn critical lessons as well as celebrate a historic day in international justice.

The global struggle against impunity relies on a frontline of national judicial systems willing and able to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. In this final podcast on complementarity, Phakiso Mochochoko, head of the Jurisdiction, Complementarity, and Cooperation Division of the International Criminal Court, discusses the role the court must play in supporting complementarity in practice. [Download](/sites/default/files/Mochochoko_ICTJ_Podcast_03202012.mp3) | Duration: 10:17mins | File size: 5.88MB

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.

The conviction of Thomas Lubanga is a milestone for the international criminal justice system and may make an important contribution to the development and definition of the right to reparations in international human rights law. Accompanying a submission filed with the ICC in advance of its reparations proceedings, ICTJ has produced a briefing note examining what lessons the court can learn from the broader transitional justice field.

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.

The trial of Thomas Lubanga before the ICC has the potential to set a critical precedent regarding the right to reparations. In our latest podcast ICTJ's Director of Reparations Ruben Carranza discusses recommendations ICTJ submitted to the ICC concerning the implementation of reparations. [Download](/sites/default/files/Carranza_ICTJ_Podcast_06132012.mp3) | Duration: 16:56mins | File size: 9.69MB

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 decision on reparations by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the case of Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga sets a historic precedent, but it should not be celebrated until victims in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are fully compensated through an inclusive and participatory process. The Lubanga decision stated that reparations “go beyond the notion of punitive justice, towards a solution which is more inclusive, encourages participation and recognizes the need to provide effective remedies for victims.” Yet Ruben Carranza, director of ICTJ’s Reparative Justice program, is cautious about celebrating before the process is complete.