Resource Library

Building a constitutional state and pursuing social change is best approached by looking at prior successes. Here is a comparison between the Kenyan and South African constitutions and an outline of how constitutional litigation unfolded in South Africa.

The importance of an independent, representative, and competent truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) to guarantee the rights of victims to truth, justice, and reparations should not be underestimated. Key recommendations in this regard are included in this briefing.

President Obama’s long-awaited plan to increase the number of US troops in Afghanistan is meant to include a number of benchmarks aimed at stabilizing Afghanistan as part of an overall strategy to defeat or contain Taliban/al-Qaeda extremists.

In Afghanistan's nation-building process, security has been prioritized over justice. Slow progress on crucial institutional reforms continues to impede efforts to create a competent and professional police force, a functioning civil service, and an accountable judiciary; all thr...

In Afghanistan's nation-building process, security has been prioritized over justice. Slow progress on crucial institutional reforms continues to impede efforts to create a competent and professional police force, a functioning civil service, and an accountable judiciary; all thr...

Truth commissions can provide a stage for a potentially powerful encounter with the past (and present) at the level of public discourse. While their capacity to effect transformation in societies marked by patterns of identity-related marginalization and exclusion is limited (and the ...

Essential among South Africa's transition programs was a process to disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate ex-combatants and to create a new defense force integrating the armed forces of opposing parties into a united military structure. Yet, DDR remained largely independent from other t...

Essential among South Africa's transition programs was a process to disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate ex-combatants and to create a new defense force integrating the armed forces of opposing parties into a united military structure. Yet, DDR remained largely independent from other t...

Gender-based violence, including sexual violence was a common feature of the 10-year-long armed conflict between the security forces and the Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist (CPN-M), yet few individual incidents were reported.

On August 20, 2009, Afghans went to the polls for the third time since the U.S.-led military intervention in 2001. Accountability and justice were underlying themes in the election, as made clear by many of the issues that attracted public attention. Nonetheless “calls for justice” re...

While Afghanistan goes through tremendous transition, it is important for justice and reconciliation actors to build transitional justice and gender initiatives based on experiences in other postconflict contexts.

Background on the rise in instability and deterioration in security in Afghanistan since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001. ICTJ summarizes the actions of the Karzai government in implementing transitional justice reforms based off findings of the Afghanistan Independent Human Righ...

Political choices made early on in the state-building process have contributed to the current governance and rule of law deficit in Afghanistan. European actions have been marked by a lack of coordination between political and development assistance as well as diverse – and sometimes ...

In the lead up to Afghanistan's second cycle of elections in 2009 and 2010, this report aims to analyze the legal and operational framework for vetting candidates in the upcoming elections; describe and assess the challenges to the vetting process in the previous elections; map out po...

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. ...

In April 2008 historic elections to Nepal’s Constituent Assembly led to a political watershed: former Maoist guerrillas surprised everyone by coming out ahead, suggesting that a new era had come to Nepal. In its first sitting, the Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a republic and bro...

In 1996, six years after Nepal replaced its absolute monarchy with multi-party democracy, Maoist rebels launched an armed struggle that led to an estimated 13,000 deaths over the next decade. In November 2006 the rebels and government made peace, paving the way for the abolition of th...

Applicants apply to the Supreme Court of Appeal against the judgment regarding North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria.

Although the inclusion of an amnesty clause was avoided in the stabilization and state-building agreement signed in December 2001, the Afghan government has shown little political will to promote transitional justice.

This research brief provides case studies on the use of pardons in Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, Peru and South Africa following periods of mass abuse, and highlights subsequent political and civil society action to overcome impunity exacerbated by pardons and amnesties.

ICTJ hosted a meeting, “Peace and Justice in Asia,” with a particular focus on Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and Nepal, on December 2-3, 2008. The two-day conference brought together senior experts, officials, and community leaders from three distinct areas that have suffered conflict in In...

This report arises out of a perceived opening or window of opportunity for transitional justice intervention around the specific gross human rights violation of enforced disappearances and abductions in Nepal. This issue connects powerfully to several dominant concerns within the tran...

The survey sought to ascertain the opinions and expectations of the victims and their families in Nepal on a range of transitional justice issues, such as human rights violations, truth-seeking, justice, accountability, reparations, and reconciliation.

South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique and Namibia have all experienced massive violations of human rights in the recent past. Apart from Zimbabwe, where a political crisis continues, all of these states have further seen the end of major conflicts within the last two decades. Onl...

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

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. ...

In Afghanistan, community theater has begun to be used as a method of transitional justice to give victims a voice and create positive impulses for peacebuilding. According to a new briefing paper released by ICTJ, through theater, victims are able to create a “safe space” to discuss ...

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...

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 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 briefing note provides a short overview of the conflict in Afghanistan's recent history, and the ongoing discussions and initiatives to address human rights violations and war crimes there. The state-building process, launched in 2001 after the ousting of the Taliban regime, has ...

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...

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...

“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...

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

During peace negotiations, there is often a belief that providing amnesties for certain crimes will help promote national reconciliation. Nepal's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Bill currently contains provisions on both amnesty and reconciliation. However, the Bill itself i...

Based on interviews with 1,200 people, this study assesses conflict victims' experience with the government's Interim Relief Program since its inception in 2008. The findings are intended to inform a future reparations policy that would seek to help those whose human rights were viola...

Indigenous peoples are among those most affected by contemporary conflict. The resource-rich territories they occupy are coveted by powerful, often violent groups. Their identity is perceived with mistrust, sometimes with hate. Indigenous communities live at a precarious intersection ...

ICTJ’s briefing paper “Building Trust and Strengthening the Rule of Law” examines how an ad hoc vetting mechanism for officers in senior command positions could help consolidate democracy in Nepal. Author Alexander Mayer-Rieckh says that as Nepal abandons its commitments to pursue acc...