149 results

We Will Never Forget the Scars and Pains of Conflict: Nepal Study on Opportunities for Reparations for Victims and Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

This report presents the findings from research on the needs and expectations of women survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Nepal. Based on in-depth interviews, it explores what happened to these survivors during the country’s decade-long war (1996-2006), what they need no...

by

Elena Naughton and Dr. Susan Risal

A cartoon illustration of a group of people
Report

Victims, Survivors, and Agents of Change: Reparations for Sexual and Gender-Based Violations

Reparations for victims of sexual and gender-based violations (SGBV) raise a series of complicated questions and implementation challenges around how to acknowledge this category of victims and deliver reparations without exposing victims to stigma and rejection. Victims must weigh the risk of...

08/01/22

by

Virginie Ladisch

World Report

Seeds of Justice

This multimedia project brings together voices of five Sierra Leoneans of different backgrounds reflecting on the legacy of the court as it nears the completion of its mandate.

Videos

A Transitional Justice Approach to Foreign Fighters

This study explores a transitional justice approach to the dilemma of foreign fighters in violent conflict. Such an approach can help center human rights in comprehensive responses to foreign fighters, and shift the current focus from security and punishment to justice and long-term p...

Image of Children looking through holes in a tent at al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria, on April 2, 2019.
Report

ICTJ to Release New Report on Transitional Justice and Foreign Fighters

New York, December 10, 2021—In contexts such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Iraq, Somalia, and Syria, hundreds, sometimes thousands, of individuals have crossed national borders to engage in violent conflicts in which serious human rights violations and mass atrocities have been committed...

12/10/21
Image of Children looking through holes in a tent at al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria, on April 2, 2019.
Press Releases

With Violence Against Women on the Rise Around the World, ICTJ’s Gender Modules Offer a Timely Training Tool

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.

12/21/20
In Focus

Advancing Global Accountability: The Role of Universal Jurisdiction in Prosecuting International Crimes

Invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction opens the door to the possibility of some accountability in circumstances where justice is not possible in countries where the crimes took place. This study considers the challenges facing the exercise of universal jurisdiction and asse...

by

Howard Varney and Katarzyna Zduńczyk

Report

Don’t Call It ‘International Justice Day’

It may seem trivial for me to write about why those who continue to mark July 17 as "International Justice Day" should finally stop calling it that. Many human rights groups (including ICTJ), United Nations agencies, and governments have been publicly using that phrase since 2010. It is for victims of massive and systematic human rights violations, including abuses that amount to international crimes under the Rome Statute, that it is important to end the misconception that the phrase encourages.

08/03/20

by

Ruben Carranza

World Report

The Future of International Criminal Justice in Africa

Given the political challenges emerging from authoritarian states and conflicts in Africa, what is the best way to pursue accountability for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law on the continent? ICTJ experts Chris Gitari and Howard Varney sit down to discuss regional initiatives, complementarity, and other strategies for pursuing accountability.

10/03/19
In Focus

'You Can Change the Course of a Country:' Report on the International Gender Symposium

In February 2019, ICTJ hosted an international symposium on gender and transitional justice in Tunisia that brought together representatives from eight countries where ICTJ has been actively engaged in implementing a gender-focused approach to its programming. This briefing paper pres...

by

Sibley Hawkins

Briefing Paper

The Evolution of Alex Boraine, ICTJ's North Star

Regardless of how the world remembers Alex Boraine's legacy—or the success and shortcomings of the truth and reconciliation process in South Africa—history will recall that Boraine withstood his own, and his nation’s, transitions to cement his legacy as an architect for truth and reconciliation and a champion for justice for victims.

06/12/19
In Focus

Molding Justice: Women's Voices from the Tunis Gender Conference

ICTJ’s Gender Symposium, held on February 2 to 4, 2019, in Tunis, Tunisia, brought together fearless women leaders working in 8 countries to advance the needs of victims and to bring gender issues to the center of transitional justice processes. What was achieved? What experiences cut across these diverse contexts? Kelli Muddell and Sibley Hawkins reflect on these questions and more in this short podcast.

05/15/19
In Focus

Remembering Alex Boraine: An Intimate Conversation

In December 2018, we mourned the loss of ICTJ's founder, Alex Boraine. On December 12, Fernando Travesí sat down for an intimate conversation with Vincent Mai—ICTJ’s first chairman—to learn more about a life that we will continue to commemorate in the months and years to come.

02/06/19
In Focus

'Prince of Peace' and ICTJ Founder Alex Boraine Laid to Rest

Alex Boraine, founder of the ICTJ and soldier in the struggle for human rights around the world, will be laid to rest in Cape Town today. He has been called the “Prince of Peace” for his lifelong commitment to transforming South Africa’s society through truth, reconciliation, justice, following the horrors of apartheid.

12/12/18
Press Releases

In Memoriam, ICTJ Founder Alex Boraine

Dr. Alex Boraine, founder of the ICTJ, was larger than life. In his long career, he touched the lives of thousands in his beloved South Africa and around the world.

12/05/18

by

Howard Varney

In Focus

An Overlooked Aspect of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Recent recognition of the work of Nobel Laureate Nadia Murad has drawn global attention to the issue of sexual violence and gender-based violence in conflict. But, as ICTJ Expert Kelli Muddell argues, the nuances of gender norms and how they impact women, men, and vulnerable populations are still often missing from conversations about victims.

10/30/18

by

Kelli Muddell

In Focus

Fanning the Flames of Hope in Nepal

Victims in Nepal have been calling on the government for public consultation to ensure wider discussion, a process that would allow them to share their expectations, help them to comprehend the dense language of the proposed amendments and its many gaps. They needed to understand the dubious phrasing especially on issues of criminal accountability that created suspicion, instead of trust and legitimacy in the process.

10/25/18

by

Kelen Meregali

In Focus

Barcelona Course Explores Linkages Between Prevention and Transitional Justice

From October 1 to October 5, 2018, ICTJ hosted its eleventh intensive course on transitional justice in collaboration with the International Peace Center for in Barcelona. Participants included leaders in their respective fields, including human rights law, community justice and legal services, peacebuilding, education, and humanitarian affairs.

10/24/18
In Focus

“Now Is a Time to Lead:” Advancing Transitional Justice Initiatives through Local Governments in Nepal

This report aims to help local governments, victims’ groups, and other stakeholders in Nepal to understand the scope of and potential inherent in local governmental powers and to identify what local governments can do to design and implement initiatives that support victims of conflic...

by

Elena Naughton and Kelen Meregali

Report

Turning Tears into Happiness: The Prospects of Local Reparations Initiatives in Nepal

Nepal’s new local government structure – comprised of districts, municipalities, sub-municipalities, and wards formed within the new federal system under the 2015 Constitution – offers the possibility of some individualized redress for victims at the community-level. This article by Elena Naughton was published in the Kathmandu Post on May 6, 2018.

04/26/18
In Focus

Pursuing Truth, Justice, and Redress in Nepal

The ICTJ continues to support human rights victims in Nepal in their pursuit of justice, truth, reparations, and institutional reform. This briefing paper presents a summary of findings and recommendations from workshops that ICTJ conducted with women victims, as well as meetings it h...

by

Elena Naughton

Briefing Paper

In South Africa, a Ruling in an Apartheid-era Murder Case Opens Paths to Justice

Anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol died in South African police custody in 1971, and his family continues to demand justice. While police claimed Timol died by suicide, evidence indicated that he was tortured and murdered. The family’s tenacious efforts led to the reopening of an inquest into Timol's death this year, with ICTJ senior program advisor Howard Varney representing the family. Last month the Pretoria High Court ruled in the family’s favor, finding that Timol did not kill himself but was indeed murdered while in police custody. ICTJ’s Sam McCann sat down with Varney to discuss the ruling, what it means to Timol’s family, and its significance for the fight for justice in South Africa.

11/29/17
In Focus

ICTJ Course Examines the Place for Justice in Peace Negotiations

From Syria to Colombia and beyond, how do societies navigate the pursuit of justice in peace processes? That question animated ICTJ’s annual Intensive Course on Transitional Justice and Peace Processes, which this month gathered 31 participants from nearly 20 countries in Barcelona to discuss the place of justice in negotiations to end conflict. Go behind-the-scenes with our instructors and participants.

11/02/17
In Focus

To Prevent Enforced Disappearances, Rethink the Justice and Security Equation

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.

08/30/17
In Focus

“Once the Truth is Found”: ICTJ Report Sparks Discussion in Nepal

A new ICTJ report on truth and memory in Nepal sparked discussion – and calls for victim-centered policies – at national and local launch events.

07/06/17
In Focus