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JAKARTA, Dec. 12, 2011—A report released today by the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), together with the Indonesian Association for Families of the Disappeared (IKOHI) and the Coalition for Justice and Truth (KKPK), calls on the government of Indonesia to fulfill its obligation to provide reparations to thousands of victims of gross violations of human rights.

A report released today by ICTJ, together with the Indonesian Association for Families of the Disappeared (IKOHI) and the Coalition for Justice and Truth (KKPK), calls on the government to fulfill its obligations to provide reparations to thousands of victims of gross human rights violations.

Indonesia has initiated transitional justice mechanisms to address human rights abuses that occurred during and after the New Order regime, but insufficient political will has rendered these efforts inadequate in achieving justice and reconciliation for victims.

Following a restive year, Indonesia's human rights record is one of the situations under review during the 13th session of the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process in May–June 2012.

For decades, successive Myanmar political and military leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s, have flatly denied what millions of their citizens know: that the military has committed and continues to commit human rights violations. A new UN inquiry into those crimes is provides a moment of truth for Suu Kyi's commitment to justice, writes ICTJ's Aileen Thomson.

This report focuses on 12 trials that took place before the Indonesian Ad Hoc Human Rights Court between March 2002 and August 2003. It analyzes the prosecution efforts and quality of the judgments, and assesses the political and institutional context in which these trials took place....

As UN member states convene virtually this week for the annual General Assembly, they will likely focus on a narrow list of agenda items, topped by issues related to the deadly coronavirus pandemic and a global economic downturn. For this reason, ICTJ would like to recall the vital importance of justice for global peace, security, health, and development by sharing findings from an analysis of the open debate on transitional justice that the UN Security Council held on February 13, 2020, as part of its peacebuilding and sustaining peace agenda.

On Monday, December 10, the International Center for Transitional Justice will help tell the stories of victims and human rights activists at the forefront of the struggle for human rights across the globe. Send us images and texts that portray efforts seeking accountability, truth, remembrance, and redress in your community: we will share them on ICTJ’s Facebook page, and feature a selection of these stories on our website.

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.

In this op-ed, ICTJ President David Tolbert argues that Japan's recent, controversial apology to South Korean "comfort women" falls short of international standards.

June 20, 2019 — In a tightly packed room at the United Nations, human rights experts gathered for a historic symposium to commemorate a dark chapter of South Korea’s past, the Jeju Uprising and Massacre that began on April 3, 1948, and continued until 1951, which Koreans now refer to as “the 4.3 Jeju” events. Over 100 persons, including notable academic panelists, human rights experts, journalists, diplomats, religious leaders, and peace activists attended the symposium.

This paper considers the UN-sponsored regime established to respond to the crimes committed in East Timor during the Indonesian occupation between 1975 and 1999. The story of the quest for justice in East Timor perhaps can be summed up as one involving good intentions that were not ba...

As the world marks August 30, the International Day of the Disappeared, we are reminded that forced disappearances and transitional justice share a common history. Indeed, processes working in concert that came to form the field of transitional justice were born from the search for truth and justice about the disappeared.

On June 25, President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte publicly proposed arming civilian supporters in his war on drugs. His statement comes barely a week after the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) outgoing prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, announced her request to open an investigation into crimes against humanity related the Philippines’ war on drugs. This step has been long-awaited by victims of the drug war. Nonetheless, the ICC case should be part of a larger, more strategic fight for justice in which the needs, safety, and future of the predominantly poor families victimized by the drug war are central and just as important as naming, shaming, and prosecuting the perpetrators and abettors of these crimes.

What hope is there for justice for victims of atrocities in profoundly fractured societies, where systems of government have broken down and social and political divisions run deep? What is the role of transitional justice in forging peace in countries like Colombia, after decades of ...

This report presents the main findings of a multiyear research project conducted by the International Center for Transitional Justice on the challenges and opportunities of responding to serious and massive human rights violations in different contexts. The project commissioned 21 stu...

Today, we are facing a global public health crisis of unprecedented proportions. Only time will tell the devastating toll that COVID-19 will exact on human life. The breakneck speed at which the virus is spreading does not give us reason for optimism in the near future. We at ICTJ fully grasp the gravity of the situation, and we take our responsibility for the health and safety of our staff, partners, and communities where we work seriously.

Truth commissions can make important contributions to peace processes if all parties can agree on common objectives and there is genuine local political will to shed light on past events. This is the key finding of a new study – titled “Challenging the Conventional: Can Truth Commissions Strengthen Peace Processes?” – to be released on 19 June 2014 by ICTJ and the Kofi Annan Foundation.

The United Nations Security Council has considered transitional justice on several occasions in the past and included many of its components in country-specific resolutions, and also stressed the links between transitional justice and the other items on its thematic agenda including women, peace and security, and children and armed conflict, and it has made explicit reference to transitional justice as a key part of efforts to sustain peace. Yet, on February 13, the Security Council held its first open debate focusing solely on transitional justice.

A groundbreaking new book from the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and UNICEF examines the complicated relationship between education, justice and peacebuilding in societies grappling with a legacy of violent conflict. It offers lessons on how education can be harnessed in a divided society to overcome the past and create the conditions for peace, often under very difficult circumstances.

The three conference organizers stressed the importance of bringing the stakeholders of victim participation in the ECCC together to encourage a dialogue to identify and address the various opportunities and challenges presented by victim participation, particularly as Civil Parties, ...

Seven and a half years after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Nepal's Parliament voted to establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a Commission of Investigation on Disappeared Persons. In this op-ed, ICTJ's Eduardo González Cueva explains why many victims have rejected the bill.

Jaya Luintel was a radio reporter in Nepal during the country's civil war, covering the conflict's impact on women. Now, she's helping female victims produce and broadcast their own stories to a national audience. Discover how her organization, The Story Kitchen, empowers women in Nepal.

As human rights advocates and state representatives increasingly acknowledge the necessity of involving children in truth-seeking processes, there is a growing need for practical tools that facilitate children’s participation while prioritizing their protection. This statement-taking ...

In the brutality of armed conflict or tyranny of a repressive regime, many who go missing are never found again: whether “disappeared” by agents of the state or abducted by an armed faction, the whereabouts of thousands are still unknown to this day. On this International Day of the Disappeared, ICTJ recognizes that enforced disappearances constitute crimes against humanity, and they affect women in ways unique from the impact on men.