Resource Library

Demobilization was first initiated in Cambodia in 1992, but there have been few attempts to link disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) processes to transitional justice measures. The government's overriding consideration has been the preservation of stability, narrowly i...

This document presents a non‐exhaustive summary of some of the topics discussed at a workshop on outreach organized by the ICTJ in collaboration with the ECCC from March 3-5, 2010. It first provides a general overview of the ECCC functions and outreach activities. Thereafter, it highl...

The framework of transitional justice, originally devised to facilitate reconciliation in countries undergoing transitions from authoritarianism to democracy, is increasingly used to respond to certain types of human rights violations against indigenous peoples -- even in cases where ...

Transitions focuses on unrest in Middle East and North Africa.. Hanny Megally, ICTJ Vice President for Programs, talks about demonstrations and upheaval in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and elsewhere.

Overview of the proceedings of the ECCC, the hybrid tribunal created in 2006 to try senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge and those "most responsible" for the crimes that took place. The court has five suspects in custody and has almost completed its first trial which began in March of 20...

Transforming a Legacy of Genocide presents the findings of a November 2007 survey of visitors to Choeung Ek, a public memorial of one of Cambodia's notorious "killing fields" during the Khmer Rouge regime, where approximately 20,000 people were killed between 1975 and 1979. The survey...

This transitional justice review of Cambodia addresses both the achievements of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and the persisting concerns of political influence, corruption and delays that have the potential to undermine the judicial process. The review c...

This paper is meant to help the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the civil parties before the court and other Khmer Rouge period survivors and their families deal with practical and legal issues in the course of fulfilling the reparations mandate of the ECCC. ...

The Documentation Affinity Group (DAG) was established in 2005 by ICTJ and five partner organizations as a peer-to-peer network with a primary focus on human rights documentation. Documenting Truth collects the best practices derived from the work of the DAG organizations in Cambodia,...

This update covers the first, complainant phase of the Anfal trial, which lasted for twenty-three sessions from August 21 to November 27, 2006. Seventy-six complainants presented testimony regarding their experiences during the Anfal campaign. Information is taken directly from obser...

As the first truth commission in the region, Morocco’s Equity and Reconciliation Commission sought to address the legacy of more than 40 years of repression and human rights violations known as the “Years of Lead.” The commission was part of a gradual process of dealing with the past,...

While not seen as sufficient in and of themselves as a means of reparation, the concept of “collective reparations” has been one of the ways in which reparation advocates have respond to practical challenges and to the overall complexity of responding to massive violations of human...

The Cambodian diaspora in France and Belgium has been actively following the development of efforts to prosecute Khmer Rouge officials responsible for crimes committed in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. Diasporas have assumed a new and important role in the judicial and political aren...

Treatment of historical legacies of discrimination against Aboriginal groups in Canada (First Nations, Inuit, Métis) currently focuses on settlement for abuses committed against Aboriginal children in educational institutions known as “Indian Residential Schools” (IRSs), which pursued...

As the first national truth commission to be created in an established democracy, Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is a bold experiment. It is also the first TRC to focus exclusively on crimes committed against children and indigenous groups.

Indigenous populations throughout the world are widely recognized as groups affected by political and economic marginalization. Countries that have used truth commissions to examine patterns of exclusion—including Chile, Guatemala and Peru—have found clear links between racism, politi...

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon is an internationalized court that will sit in the Netherlands and seek accountability for a specific set of crimes in Lebanon. It remains to be seen whether or how the Tribunal might contribute toward accountability in Lebanon, but it is clear from ex...

On January 12, 2008, the Iraqi parliament passed the “Law of the Supreme National Commission for Accountability and Justice.” The new law replaces the earlier framework governing Iraq’s De-Ba’athification policies. This document is intended to provide a short summary and preliminary a...

This report is based on data obtained from extensive interviews and focus group discussions conducted in July and August 2003 with representatives from a broad cross-section of the Iraqi population. The report’s conclusions and recommendations are divided into seven main areas: past h...

Demobilization was first initiated in Cambodia in 1992, but there have been few attempts to link disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) processes to transitional justice measures. The government's overriding consideration has been the preservation of stability, narrowly i...

ICTJ’s Middle East and North Africa Program, in partnership with the Arab Institute for Human Rights, the Tunisian League for Human Rights, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, convened an international conference entitled “Addressing the Past, Building the Future...

This paper evaluates the Dujail trial, the first of fourteen trials in Iraq against persons accused of crimes against humanity. Although the trial was potentially a new attempt at Iraqi justice, it fell short in many ways. Ultimately, it was rendered ineffective due to political inter...

This report provides an update on the developments in the Anfal trial before the Iraqi High Tribunal, including the trial of Saddam Hussein, his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, and five other co-defendants. This update focuses on the prosecution witness and documentary evidence phases of ...

This article examines and evaluates the Iraq Tribunal's Dujail Trial. The trial marks the beginning of a longer accountability process in the country and can potentially make a lasting contribution to transitional justice. This study assesses the fairness and effectiveness of the tria...