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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...

A new book by ICTJ titled Justice Mosaics: How Context Shapes Transitional Justice in Fractured Societies examines the challenges of responding to massive human rights violations in different and difficult circumstances in today's world.

Transitional justice processes have a fundamental public dimension: their impact depends in part on the social support they receive. Beyond outreach programs, other initiatives, such as media and cultural interventions, can strengthen—or in some cases undermine—the public resonance of...

A new report from the International Center for Transitional Justice and the Martin Chautari Institute highlights the continued need for truth about the human rights abuses committed during the country’s 10-year civil war. The report is aimed at helping those working on truth seeking in Nepal to better understand the gaps that currently exist between victims’ needs and rights, public policy and the current transitional justice process.

ICTJ is pleased to announce an intensive course on transitional justice and peace processes to be held in Barcelona, Spain on October 9-13. Applications are now open.

Criminal accountability and the search for truth about abuses committed during Nepal’s armed conflict have become inextricably intertwined, at the expense of victims’ broader rights to truth. But for conflict victims, the truth is more than just a pathway to criminal justice writes ICTJ's Aileen Thomson.

The term reconciliation has long been associated with the field of transitional justice and is often presumed to be one of its goals. At the same time, reconciliation has been both controversial and vague as a concept, giving rise to different understandings and approaches. This paper...

When armed conflict or atrocities have torn a society apart, it can be difficult for people to regain trust in the government and reconcile with those they see as their enemies or abusers. While the idea of reconciliation has been closely linked to transitional justice, misunderstandings of the term have sometimes led to superficial, even harmful approaches to addressing the past. A new paper from the International Center for Transitional Justice looks at different understandings of reconciliation and its place in transitional justice.

Is reconciliation a central aim of transitional justice processes? Or does it have different bearings in different settings? A new paper presents possible understandings of the concept of reconciliation as well as its relationship to the field of transitional justice.

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

Where does transitional justice stand in Sri Lanka? Kelli Muddell, Director of ICTJ's Gender Justice Program, explores the country's contested historical narratives.

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.

During the past month, over 400,000 members of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim community have been driven from their homes as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign led by the military. What lies at the root of the current violence, how is it connected to political transition, and does transitional justice have a role to play? ICTJ's Anna Myriam Roccatello answers those questions and more.

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.

To mark the launch of our new publication, "Forms of Justice: A Guide to Designing Reparations Application Forms and Registration Processes for Victims of Human Rights Violations", we sat down with Karl Gaspar to talk about his experience participating in the reparations process as a victim in the Philippines.

In a number of countries around the world, governments have created state-administered reparations programs for victims and communities that were most affected by massive human rights violations. The success of these programs, which often involve thousands of individuals, depends in p...

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 aftermath of massive human rights violations, the voices of young people carry enormous potential: they can tell the truth about the past while offering new paths forward as their societies pursue peace and justice. However, if institutions want the insights of young people, they must avoid pre-formulated solutions and instead engage with youth on their own terms. A new guide released by ICTJ today aims to provide the tools necessary to do so, offering recommendations about how to responsibly and effectively gather statements from young people.

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...

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.

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.

In July, ICTJ’s Program Director Anna Myriam Roccatello and Senior Transitional Justice Expert Ruben Carranza traveled to Yerevan to meet with civil society organizations, human rights and anti-corruption activists, and key government officials, to join them in exploring strategies for change.

FOCUS: The Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Solomon Islands experienced a period of extreme unrest, known as the tensions, between 1998 and 2003. Since then, a number of positive steps have been taken to move toward a more stable democracy, including the establ...

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...

Since the Solomon Islands period of unrest, known as the tensions, between 1998 and 2003 a number positive steps have been taken through the creation of several transitional justice initiatives. These have included prosecutions for crimes committed during this period, traditional reco...