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In the aftermath of armed conflict or repression, communities often struggle to rebuild social relations that have been damaged or destroyed by violence and abuse. Restorative justice can potentially play a valuable role in such societies, bringing together the people who have been harmed by crimes and the individuals responsible for those harms, often in the form of a dialogue, to address the offense and its consequences. A new ICTJ research report offers insight and guidance on the use of a restorative justice framework in responding to massive and grave human rights violations, drawing primarily from experiences in Colombia, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, and the Philippines’ Bangsamoro region.

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.

ICTJ welcomes the decision by the Special Court for Sierra Leone to uphold the guilty verdict against former Liberian President Charles Taylor for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court dismissed challenges from Taylor’s defense, and the prosecution’s request for the sentence to be increased to 80 years, and affirmed his 50-year sentence with immediate effect.

As the Special Court for Sierra Leone wraps up cases against accused war criminals, a conference will be held later this week in Freetown to assess the Court’s work and lasting legacy. The conference is part of a larger international effort to look at how the court has helped to bring peace and establish the rule of law for the people of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the region as a whole.