77 results

U.S. Accountability: The Difficult But Necessary Task

Response to the first 100 days of the Obama administration and the disclosure of evidence detailing abusive treatment of detainees in the "war on terror." ICTJ recommends the appointment of a special prosecutor, the creation of an independent, nonpartisan commission of inquiry and con...

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ICTJ

Fact Sheet

Achieving Justice One Beat at a Time: An ICTJ-Led Hip Hop Initiative Takes Center Stage

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the hip hop movement. To honor its contributions to the struggle for justice, truth, and equality, the Skoll Foundation hosted a panel discussion and concert event featuring hip hop artists, including cofounder of the legendary rap group Run-DMC Darryl McDaniels and Colombian rapper and producer Ali aka Mind, as part of its 20th World Forum held in April in Oxford, United Kingdom. ICTJ, which received the Skoll Award for Social Innovation in 2009 and has partnered with the Skoll Foundation since, invited Ali aka Mind as a representative of Rexistencia Hip Hop, an artistic mentorship and creation lab led by ICTJ’s office in Colombia and the Latin American media outlet and foundation Cartel Urbano.

05/18/23
Rappers perform on a stage
In Focus

Activists: Strong Civil Society is Key to Hopes of Stability in Africa’s Great Lakes

A new ICTJ report argues that in Africa's interconnected Great Lakes region, each country’s attempt to provide justice for past violations offers lessons for similar processes in others. We gathered civil society activists from across the region to discuss which strategies have worked for them, which have not, and opened up about the greatest challenges they face in securing justice.

03/29/17
In Focus

African Americans and Police: To Repair Broken Trust There Must Be a Reckoning First

In today’s United States, civic trust that has been systematically eroded among many communities of color. There is little basis, either historically or in the current political atmosphere, for African Americans and other minorities to have this essential trust in government institutions, particularly in the police. To build that relationship, there must first be a reckoning, writes ICTJ President David Tolbert.

04/07/17
In Focus

African Union Must Act to Address Impunity for International Crimes

In a major effort to promote accountability for serious crimes in Africa, ICTJ joined hundreds of human rights groups and transitional justice partners to ask the African Union to prioritize justice. Addressed to the new African Union (AU) Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the letter warns that strained relationships between the AU and the International Criminal Court (ICC) may put justice at risk.

01/18/13
In Focus

After Torture: U.S. Accountability and the Right to Redress

Counterterrorism detainees held in U.S. custody were subject to widespread abuses, including prolonged, arbitrary detention, physical and sexual abuse, enforced disappearance by way of the secret transfer of prisoners to undisclosed locations (“extraordinary rendition”), and other cru...

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ICTJ; Lisa Magarrell, Lorna Peterson

Report

After Torture Report, Rights of Victims and Accountability for Perpetrators Must Not Be Denied

With the publication of the much-delayed US Senate Intelligence Committee’s partial report on the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program, at long last the truth is out. In this op-ed, ICTJ's President David Tolbert asks the United States to acknowledge the truth, hold the perpetrators accountable and address its obligation to the victims of its detention policies.

12/11/14
In Focus

Amicus Curiae: Case No. 09-160

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 ...

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ICTJ, HRW, Amnesty International

Blood on the Root

Across the state of Maryland, communities are coming together to uncover the truth about racial terror lynchings and seek redress for the enduring consequences of these crimes. “More than the poll tax, the grandfather clause, and Jim Crow segregation, lynching and the threat of lynching...

Photos

Blood on the Root

There are at least 40 known lynchings in the state of Maryland. Activists, descendants, and others in the community have worked hard to uncover the truth, preserve the memory of victims, and provide redress. This video explores this legacy of racial terror and its impact on Black commun...

Videos

Building Democracies on a Foundation of Truth

This opinion piece by Eduardo González, director of the Truth and Memory program at ICTJ, asks: can you build a solid, legitimate democracy on the sands of silence, or does truth provide a more trustful foundation?

03/26/13
In Focus

Civil Society-Led Truth-Seeking Initiatives: Expanding Opportunities for Acknowledgment and Redress

At a time when truth-seeking and reparations initiatives are taking hold across the United States, this report offers reflections from various civil society-led truth-seeking processes. Drawing on case studies from the United States, Colombia, Scotland, and West Papua, the report iden...

People gather around a plaque marking the Greenboro Massacre outside during an inaugural ceremony
Report

U.S. Court of Appeals: Ali v. Rumsfeld Brief of Amici Curiae

This Brief of Amici Curiae is respectfully submitted by several human rights and torture treatment organizations pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 29 and District of Columbia Circuit Rule 29. The Brief is filed in support of the Plaintiffs-Appellants and seeks the revers...

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Aceves, William J; et al

Criminal Justice for Criminal Policy: Prosecuting Abuses of Detainees in U.S. Counterterrorism Operations (Briefing)

On August 24, 2009, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that he was appointing Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham to conduct a preliminary review into the possibility that federal laws were violated in the interrogation of specific detainees outside of the United States. The ...

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ICTJ

Briefing Paper

Criminal Justice for Criminal Policy: Prosecuting Abuses of Detainees in U.S. Counterterrorism Operations

The report documents that practices that included slamming detainees into walls, extended sleep deprivation, suspending them by the arms, forced nudity, threats, prolonged shackling in uncomfortable positions and disrespect of the Qur'an, were the result of officially sanctioned polic...

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ICTJ; Carolyn Patty Blum, Lisa Magarrell, Marieke Wierda

Report

Darren Walker and Sherrilyn Ifill to talk Racial Justice in the United States at This Year’s Emilio Mignone Lecture on Transitional Justice

ICTJ and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law are pleased to announce that that Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, and Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, will join ICTJ President David Tolbert in conversation for the ninth Emilio Mignone Lecture on Transitional Justice.

10/03/17
In Focus

Department of Defense v. American Civil Liberties Union Brief

Amicus curiae on petition for a writ of certiorari, to the United States Court of Appeals for the second circuit.

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US Supreme Court

Briefing Paper

Documenting Truth

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,...

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ICTJ; Louis Bickford, Patricia Karam, Hassan Mneimneh, and Patrick Pierce

Report

Emilio Mignone Lecture Asks: How Can the United States Confront Racial Injustice?

Do the concepts and strategies of transitional justice have a role to play in the United States? Our 2017 Emilio Mignone Lecture asked that question, with Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, and Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, joining ICTJ's David Tolbert in conversation. Watch the full discussion here.

11/27/17
In Focus

examples of Defence, Intelligence and Justice Investigative Reports into detention and interrogation practices

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

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ICTJ

Research Brief

Examples of United States Commissions of Inquiry

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ICTJ

Research Brief

Here We Are Again: Will Racist Violence in the United States Ever End?

It happened again. George Floyd’s name is now added to the tragic list—already far too long—of other people of color whose lives have been cut short as a direct result of the United States’ long history of racism and white supremacy. We at ICTJ are outraged by the cruel and senseless murder of an unarmed Black man by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As we try to process this horrific act and grieve the tragic loss of another human life, we must also grapple with the hard truth that it is frankly unsurprising that this list of names continues to grow.

06/05/20

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Fernando Travesí

In Focus

A Historic Black Community in the United States Resists Erasure

As plans to build a massive Wegmans distribution center forge ahead, residents of the historic Black community of Brown Grove, Virginia, demand acknowledgment and redress.

04/18/22
In Focus

A Historic Opportunity for Peace, Democracy, and Justice in Sudan

After decades of repressive rules, military coups, and conflicts in the country’s marginalized peripheries, the Sudanese people have come together and proven their resolve to break with the past and begin a new chapter of their nation’s history. Undeterred by a brutal crackdown, thousands of...

08/30/19

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Fernando Travesí

World Report

Holding a Mirror to Society: Acknowledgment and the Struggle for Indigenous Peoples Rights

Indigenous peoples are still some of the most marginalized and vulnerable communities around the world. In a conflict, they are often some of the most affected as their resource-rich territories are coveted by powerful and violent groups, their identity and loyalty perceived with mistrust, and their...

08/08/18
In Focus

Human Rights Movement Must Come Together to Resist Trump’s Agenda

Donald Trump is on a road to undermine the progress that decades of struggle has achieved - the time for action and resistance is now. The human rights movement must come together to resist his agenda, writes ICTJ President David Tolbert.

01/27/17
In Focus

ICTJ and Other Organizations Call Upon Uganda to Arrest ICC Fugitive Bashir As He Attends Inauguration

Human Rights Network-Uganda (HURINET-U), The Uganda Coalition on the International Criminal Court (UCICC), The International Center for Transitional Justice, Avocats San Frontiers and Atrocities Watch are dismayed to learn that Government of Uganda has extended an invitation to President Omar al...

05/12/16
Press Releases

ICTJ and Partners Host International Expert Seminar on Access to Justice for Indigenous Peoples

From February 27-March 1, leading indigenous rights activists from around the world will join their counterparts and other experts at Columbia University to discuss access to truth, justice, and reconciliation for indigenous peoples.

02/26/13
In Focus

ICTJ Conference Explores Efforts at Redress, Accountability and Reform in African Great Lakes Region

Today, ICTJ opened a two-day conference in Kampala, Uganda, gathering activists and officials from the African Great Lakes Region to discuss efforts at redress and accountability for serious human rights violations committed in their countries.

05/17/16
Press Releases

At ICTJ’s Institutional Retreat, Staff Reflect on Pressing Challenges to Justice

From February 22 to March 1, ICTJ held its annual retreat in Litchfield Hills, Connecticut. Staff members convened at the Wisdom House—an interfaith conference center that seeks to provide an environment conducive to introspection and teambuilding.

04/09/19
In Focus

ICTJ Organizes U.S. Visit for Syrian Advocates for the Detained and Disappeared

As part of its ongoing efforts to support Syrian civil society organizations seeking to end enforced disappearances in Syria, ICTJ organized a visit to the United States for members of two prominent family associations: Families for Freedom and the Caesar Families Association. The trip, which was planned in coordination with longtime partner Dawlaty, comes at a time when Syrian civil society and victims’ groups have been intensifying their calls for an international mechanism to uncover the fate of those who have gone missing in Syria since the start of the uprising in March 2011.

07/13/22
In Focus

ICTJ Partners Victims, Civil Society and Officials on Transitional Justice in Great Lakes Region

Civil society leaders, members of victims' groups and state officials throughout the Great Lakes region will convene in Kampala, Uganda next week at a conference hosted by ICTJ. Attendees will share their experiences working for redress in their communities and discuss what strategies have proven effective at the local level.

05/12/16
In Focus

ICTJ Program Report: Truth and Memory

In this edition of the ICTJ Program Report, ICTJ Senior Associate Felix Reátegui discusses the principles behind the Truth and Memory program, and explains the imperatives of uncovering, acknowledging, and memorializing the past.

09/18/14
In Focus

ICTJ Welcomes Two New Board Members

NEW YORK, August 19, 2019—The International Center for Transitional Justice announces the addition of two distinguished members to its Board of Directors. Ellen Taus and Brad Smith bring to ICTJ decades of experience in leadership roles at major global institutions.

08/19/19
Press Releases

International Justice Day Reminds Us: Without Accountability, There Is No Dignity

As we mark July 17, designated International Justice Day by the states parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) just over two years ago, we should not limit our focus to the work of the court or criminal justice as such. Pursuing justice in the aftermath of atrocity presents an opportunity to do three crucial things: reaffirm a society’s shared values about basic ideas of right and wrong; restore confidence in the institutions of the state charged with protecting fundamental rights and freedoms; and recognize the human dignity of the victims of atrocities that have taken place.

07/17/12
In Focus

At Last, Truth and Reconciliation for Maine's Indian Adoption Project Legacies

On June 29, the government of Maine joined chiefs from the state's five tribes to sign an agreement creating the Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Eduardo Gonzalez, director of ICTJ's Truth and Memory Program, attended the signing ceremony, and spoke about its importance—both local and global—in an interview with the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. Listen to the interview MPBN 04:54min

07/03/12
In Focus

Lessons in Truth-Seeking: International Experiences Informing United States Initiatives

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...

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ICTJ; Lisa Magarrell, Blaz Gutierrez

Report

Maine's Indigenous Truth Commission Marks First Year

The Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the first of its type in the United States, marks one year of work.

02/28/14
In Focus

Maine Truth Commission to Tell Story of Forced Assimilation of Wabanaki Children

Maine’s foster care system was intended to act in the best interests of all children. But for indigenous children removed from their communities and placed with white families, often without the consent of their parents or tribes, the foster care system caused the painful loss of their cultural identity and traumatic severing from their heritage.

02/19/13
In Focus

New Report Offers Lessons from Truth Commissions Around the World to Confront Racial Injustice in the United States

The United States has never collectively confronted its history of colonialism, slavery, and racism in an effort to reform the systems that perpetuate harms to Black communities and other marginalized groups, or to redress these wrongs. Events in recent years, however, have amplified calls for meaningful action to reckon with the past. Given that truth seeking is integral to the investigation of past wrongs, ICTJ and a coalition of practitioners from multiple law firms has released a new report that examines the experiences of official truth commissions from around the world to identify relevant considerations for US stakeholders.

12/14/22
Two sets of hands plant a white flower in the ground.
Press Releases

Opening Space for Healing and Change: Maryland Commission on Lynching Holds First Public Hearing

The Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission held its first public hearing in Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland, on October 2, 2021. The event, broadcast live from Emmanuel Episcopal Church, brought together commissioners, panelists, and guests to acknowledge and memorialize the tragic lynching of 18-year-old Robert Hughes (aka William Burns) in Cumberland in 1907. In the coming months, the commission will convene several more of these public hearings in counties across the state of Maryland.

10/22/21

by

Virginie Ladisch

In Focus

Optimistic and Apprehensive in South Sudan: Interview with Suliman Baldo

“People are very optimistic,” Suliman Baldo, ICTJ's Africa Director, says in an interview during his current visit this week to Juba, South Sudan. “At the same time, people are apprehensive because there are many serious issues, and sensitive ones, which have not been addressed, that were supposed to be addressed prior to the referendum.” [Download](/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Sudan-Referendum-Baldo-Podcast-03-03-2011.mp3) | Duration: 7mins | File size: 4MB

03/03/11
Podcasts

Pardons in international jurisprudence

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.

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ICTJ

Research Brief

Policy Brief: U.S. inquiry into human rights abuses in the "war on terror"

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...

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ICTJ; Lisa Magarrell

Briefing Paper

Policy Brief: Pardons

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...

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ICTJ; Carolyn Patty Blum

Briefing Paper

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

Reflections on the Struggle for Justice: Jill Williams

To mark 15 years of ICTJ, we asked staff past and present for the memories that stand out from their work. Former ICTJ consultant and Executive Director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Greensboro, North Carolina Jill Williams reflects on her efforts to bridge a cultural gap in the pursuit of shared values.

04/03/17
In Focus

Repairing the Past: What the United States Can Learn from the Global Transitional Justice Movement

“No peace without justice” is a chant that filled the streets of the United States last year following the murder George Floyd by police in May 2020. This same chant has animated protest movements and social and political upheaval in many countries around the world. We at ICTJ know from our experience that these calls for justice are for something far more encompassing than criminal accountability alone.

07/15/21

by

Fernando Travesí

In Focus

Reparation and the Darfur Peace Process: Ensuring Victims' Rights

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...

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ICTJ; Suliman Baldo, Lisa Magarrell

Report

Research Brief: Country case studies on the use of pardons

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

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ICTJ

Research Brief