97 results

Confronting Past Crimes at the National Level

Background on conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic (CAR) in the context of Jean-Pierre Bemba’s trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC is preparing to prosecute Bemba of the DRC for alleged rapes, torture and murders that...

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ICTJ

Fact Sheet

Contested Transitions: Dilemmas of Transitional Justice in Colombia and Comparative Experience

This volume examines the effects, risks, and potential of extending the field of transitional justice to cases that do not present a key moment of political transition to peace or democracy and instead are defined by political continuity and ongoing conflict. It begins with analyses o...

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Amanda Lyons and Michael Reed

Controlling the Narrative: An Afghan Human Rights Expert Describes the Taliban’s Stranglehold on the Media

Since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the regime has put in place a series of policies severely restricting independent media and giving it all but total control over news outlets and their content. Kobra Moradi is a lawyer and researcher working with Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization and author of the recent report, Afghan Media Under the Taliban: Restrictions and Violations. ICTJ sat down with the author to learn more about what impact these restrictions have had on journalists and the free press, and the important role media can still play in such a repressive regime.

01/18/23

by Hannah Frasure

Taliban armed officers seize a journalist.
In Focus

Courts of First Resort: Prosecuting International Crimes at the National Level

In the quest to bring perpetrators of massive crimes to justice, international courts should be considered only as a last resort. Efforts to establish rule of law require the development of national capacity to prosecute the most serious crimes. On 25 and 26 October 2012, leading international actors from the judicial, rule of law, and development sectors will convene at the Greentree Estate in Manhasset, New York for the third Greentree Conference on Complementarity. The meeting aims to examine the needs of and challenges to national prosecutions for the most serious crimes in four countries: Ivory Coast, the DRC, Colombia, and Guatemala.

10/24/12
In Focus

Democratic Republic of Congo: Impact of the Rome Statute and the International Criminal Court

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC or Congo) presents a critical test for the International Criminal Court (ICC). All of the accused in current ICC trials are from DRC. The Court plays a vital role in DRC regarding complementarity, peace, justice, victims, and affected communities....

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ICTJ; Mima Adjami and Guy Mushiata

Briefing Paper

Difficult Peace, Limited Justice: Ten Years of Peacemaking in the DRC

Difficult Peace, Limited Justice: Ten Years of Peacemaking in the DRC reviews the efforts to address justice during ten years of varied peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A close look the dynamics of peace talks and the resulting accords -- including those of Sun ...

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ICTJ; Laura Davis and Priscilla Hayner

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

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Ruben Carranza

World Report

DRC: Refusal to Pardon Serious Crimes Signals Justice Could be On the Way

A new amnesty law passed by the government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will grant amnesty to hundreds of members of armed groups engaged in hostilities, including members of the infamous M23 rebels, but stops short of pardoning serious crimes.

05/15/14
In Focus

Experts Discuss the Impact of Politics on National War Crimes Prosecutions

ICTJ partnered with the Center for Global Affairs at New York University to explore how political will of international and national actors impacts national war crimes proceedings. The panel examined four diverse country scenarios - the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Serbia, Iraq, and Guatemala.

12/03/12
In Focus

Experts Gather in Kinshasa to Discuss the National Judicial Response to Serious Crimes in the DRC

ICTJ, in cooperation with the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), organized a high-level conference in Kinshasa today to discuss ways to strengthen the Congolese judicial system and its ability to investigate and prosecute serious crimes, such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

11/12/14
Press Releases