Resource Library

Whether the government can lawfully rely on Exemption 7(F) of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(F), to withhold photographs depicting the abuse of prisoners held in U.S. custody without identifying with reasonable specificity any individuals who could reasonably be ...

Research Brief: Selected examples of Defence, Intelligence and Justice Investigative Reports into detention and interrogation practices.

Examples of pardons in international jurisprudence, including Inter-American Court and Commission, European Court of Human Rights, UN Treaty Bodies, and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Case studies on the use of pardons in Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, Peru, and South Africa.

Recent speculation indicates that U.S. President George W. Bush may grant pardons to administration officials and members of the military who might face prosecution for authorizing, ordering, endorsing, justifying or committing acts pursuant to the “war on terror.” While a pardon appl...

The Kenya Transitional Justice Brief, a quarterly bulletin by ICTJ highlighting current developments in the field of transitional justice in Kenya. This brief focuses on the process of implementing the 2010 constitution and the political context in which this takes place, providing a ...

“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. Authored by Céc...

Almost a year after the second post-election transition in Burundi, national and international attention is focused on the willingness and ability of the new government to implement the decisions agreed to during negotiations that culminated in the historic August 2000 peace and recon...

ICTJ filed an amicus brief in the apartheid reparations case before the Southern District Court of New York on November 25, 2009. The brief supports a decision by the South African Government not to oppose legal action against five international companies that are accused of aiding an...

This paper documents the opinions of victims of human rights violations in Kenya about the country’s unfolding transitional justice process. The first section gives background into the human rights violations; the second section presents victims ideas about reparative justice. The rep...

The South African Coalition for Transitional Justice (SACTJ) submits the following comments regarding the May 11, 2010 General Notice 282 published in the Government Gazette. The Coalition objects to the Notice 282 regulations on procedural, constitutional, and international law groun...

This paper explores practical issues regarding the relationship between the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and Special Court (SC) in Sierra Leone. It looks at: 1) the legal relationship of the Commission and the Court; 2) the question of whether the TRC information should b...

This report presents a study of ex-combatants' knowledge and opinions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and Special Court (SC) in Sierra Leone. Ex-combatants and these accountability institutions are interdependent. Ex-combatants need the TRC and SC to help them reinteg...

This handbook explains the mandate, origins, purposes, and operating methods of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and Special Court in Sierra Leone. It discusses the differences and similarities between them, in clear, non-technical language. The TRC and Special Court can...

This report describes the Special Court for Sierra Leone’s accomplishments in the first 18 months of its mandate. The Court was established to try "those bearing the greatest responsibility" for serious violations of international law and certain provisions of domestic law since Nove...

This paper provides an initial summary of the work of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and points to some of the key difficulties it has encountered. The Commission's first year was challenging: it effectively lost its full preparatory period and the first tw...

The development of effective transitional justice policies in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been plagued by lack of security, fear of destabilization, limited political will, and scarce resources. This paper focuses on three specific measures of transitional justice: prosecutio...

This report is based on a population-based survey assessing attitudes about peace and justice in Northern Uganda. For nearly two decades, the Lord's Resistance Army has been in conflict with Ugandan government forces, killing countless civilians and abducting tens of thousands of chil...

This report disscusses the Greensboro Truth and Reonciliation Commission's Final Report on the 1979 killings of five anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstrators. It focuses on a meeting of representatives from truth recovery efforts around the world to assess the Greensboro experience. Topics cov...

This case study provides basic information and policy analysis on the Special Court for Sierra Leone. It aims to help guide policymakers establishing and implementing similar mechanisms. The Court broke new ground in terms of narrowly focusing on those bearing the greatest responsibi...

This paper provides a brief history of Liberia, from Americo-Liberian rule in the 19th century to the 2005 elections. It provides accounts of the 1989-1996 and 1997-2003 civil wars, as well as of significant political changes and elections. It also includes appendixes of noteworthy in...

This study examines the development of restitution and reparations in international law and practice over the last century. It aims to provide recommendations on how restitution can best contribute to transitional justice by reviewing four case-studies: the Czech Republic, South Afric...

This report evaluates Ghana's National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) against its own objectives and the comparative experiences of truth commissions in other countries. Although the NRC was successful in securing some reconciliation, it was plagued by lack of resources and an overt ...

This paper discusses the challenges encountered during efforts to pursue justice in a number of sub-Saharan African countries in transition, including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and South Africa. It presents a background and geneal...

This report compares findings from two population-based surveys (in 2005 and 2007) in districts of northern Uganda most affected by 21 years of conflict, including the Acholi districts. The studies capture attitudes about peace, justice, and social reconstruction. Developing a deeper...

This paper focuses on the issue of reparations in Darfur. It particularly emphasizes victims' right to reparation for the harm done to them, and aims to ensure that this right is recognized and upheld in any peace process. Drawing on experiences from other regions, it reviews and addr...

This paper compares and contrasts peace negotiations in Sierra Leone and Liberia. It delineates lessons in peacemaking that emerge from this comparison. These include: considering all policy options, taking a nation's recent history into account, reinterpreting and challenging questio...

This report focuses Liberia's Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2003. It examines many key decisions that were made in creating the CPA, and centers on questions of justice, accountability and the rule of law. It notes developments in the four years after the CPA was signed, an...

This report focuses the Lomé Accord of 1999, that ended the Sierra Leone's 10 year civil war. It examines the negotiation dynamics influencing its creation and the impact of the accord from 1999 to 2007. The peace accord is often remembered for its unconditional amnesty provisions, wh...

This paper assesses the impact of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on conflicts in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Sudanese government challenged and undermined the jurisdiction of the ICC from the start. Conversely, the leading actors in the DRC supported ...

ICTJ's monthly newsletter, providing transitional justice news and updates from around the world. South Africa’s Constitutional Court recently made a landmark ruling on the right to speak the truth about crimes amnestied by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. ICTJ Truth-Seeking C...

The Kenya Transitional Justice Brief, a quarterly bulletin by ICTJ highlighting current developments in the field of transitional justice in Kenya. This first edition provides a summary and analysis of developments surrounding the International Criminal Court's (ICC's) involvement in ...

Background on the challenges in addressing legacies of past violence in sub-Saharan African countries such as Uganda, Ethiopia and Eritrea. The fact sheet gives an overview of the situation in the region and ICTJ's approaches in promoting transitional justice in individual countries. ...

Document from the High Court of South Africa regarding a case on enforced disappearances.

ICTJ provides an overview of various United States Commissions of Inquiry. This publication includes briefs on the Senate and House Committee Investigations of the Palmer Raids in 1920, the Senator Frank Church Committee in 1975, a commission into wartime relocation and internment of ...

In the U.S., the democratic principle that openness in government can act as an important check against the possibility of government abuse has been steadily undermined. A critical information gap, only partially addressed through fragmented investigative efforts within and outside go...