294 results

Shedding Light on the Mental Health Needs of Families of the Missing in Syria

On February 8, ICTJ held an event in The Hague on the missing and disappeared in Syria, in partnership with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event brought together activists, journalists, artists, and policymakers to reflect on the critical humanitarian needs of victims and their families and the role of the newly established international body on the missing in Syria, which is mandated in part to address these needs.
03/11/24
Two women seated on chairs engage in a conversation.
In Focus

A New Virtual Museum for Afghan Victims of Human Rights Violations Lays a Foundation for Truth and Justice 

ICTJ’s partner Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization (AHRDO) recently opened a new virtual museum and database dedicated to Afghan victims of conflict and human rights abuses. “The Afghanistan Memory House” not only preserves the memory of these victims but helps pave the path for truth and justice. To launch the virtual museum, ICTJ and AHRDO cohosted a panel discussion on memorialization, moderated BBC journalist Lyse Doucet, in ICTJ’s office in New York this past December.

02/23/24
Image features a collection of photos of the eyes of people arranged in a grid formation
In Focus

Repairing from the Bench: From Finding Responsibility to Fashioning Judicial Redress

What does the obligation to provide reparations mean when serious human rights violations are at issue? This report explores the evolving interpretation of the right to reparation in international law and jurisprudence and how domestic courts have provided judicial reparations at the ...

by

Adriana Garcia Garcia, Fatima Yasmin Bokhari, and Masha Lisitsyna

A man on a bicycle rides past a building whose exterior wall is covered in a colorful mural with writing in Spanish.
Report

2023 Year in Review

Throughout 2023, ICTJ’s experts have offered their unique perspective on breaking news around the globe as part of the World Report. Their insightful commentaries have brought into focus the impact these events have on victims of human right violations as well as larger struggles for peace and justice. In this edition, we look back on the past year through the Expert’s Choice column.

01/05/24
A collage of feature images from the 2023 Expert's Choice commentaries.
World Report

Statement on the UN Resolution Establishing an Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria

On June 29, 2023, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution creating a new independent institution on the missing in the Syria Arab Republic. Eighty-three member states voted in favor, 11 voted against, and 62 abstained. ICTJ welcomes the resolution, which represents a momentary reprieve in Syria’s otherwise bleak justice landscape. This vote represents a critical step forward in supporting all those who seek answers about the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones and who suffer daily from the indignities and grave hardships that ensue when a loved one goes missing.

07/21/23
People are assembled in the UN General Assembly chamber in New York and large screen shows a voting result, with 83 in favor, 11 against, and 62 abstentions.
In Focus

We Will Never Forget the Scars and Pains of Conflict: Nepal Study on Opportunities for Reparations for Victims and Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

This report presents the findings from research on the needs and expectations of women survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Nepal. Based on in-depth interviews, it explores what happened to these survivors during the country’s decade-long war (1996-2006), what they need no...

by

Elena Naughton and Dr. Susan Risal

A cartoon illustration of a group of people
Report

Welcome to the New ICTJ.org

In a fast-changing world, ICTJ regularly reexamines and adapts its methodology to develop innovative solutions to emerging problems, advance its mission, and achieve justice for victims of human rights violations. In that spirit, ICTJ recently launched an exciting new website and newsletter design. After over a year of research, planning, surveying stakeholders, designing, and testing, we unveiled a site that better aligns with what ICTJ and transitional justice are today.

01/24/23
A woman holds a cell phone and looks at a computer screen with ICTJs new website on it
In Focus

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

Strategic Plan 2022-2027

ICTJ is more than two decades old. At the time it was established, many of those who contributed to transitions in Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, South Africa, and the former Yugoslavia saw the value of a specialized organization that could draw from diverse national experiences to prov...

The cover of a report with the text, "2022-2027, Strategic Plan," with an image of people embracing underneath.
Report

The Expert’s Choice 2022 Year in Review

Throughout 2022, ICTJ’s experts weighed in on breaking news in more than 10 countries, offering incisive analyses of the political dynamics behind the coverage and the implications for justice, peace, and the rights of victims. In this December edition of the World Report, we look back at the year that was through our Expert’s Choice commentaries, bringing you all of our team’s valuable insights together in one place.

01/04/23
A collage of photos of transitional justice contexts from around the world
World Report

A New Animated Film Explores the Trauma and Resilience of Families of the Disappeared in Syria

ICTJ and the Bridges of Truth project are launching Tomorrow We Continue, a new short animated documentary that follows a young mother of two whose husband was detained and disappeared by security forces in Syria some years ago. The film takes the viewer on her journey as a refugee searching for safety in Berlin and depicts the daily struggles she encounters once settled as she tries to earn a living and care for her children while continuing to search for her husband. Since the uprising in Syria began in 2011, more than 100,000 people have been disappeared or arbitrarily detained. The families they leave behind may move to safer places as refugees, but the search for their loved ones persists wherever they go. This film is one of their stories.

12/19/22
Tomorrow We Continue - Film Poster
Press Releases

Tomorrow We Continue — Movie Trailer

This short animated documentary follows a young mother of two whose husband was detained and disappeared by security forces in Syria some years ago. The film takes the viewer on her journey as a refugee searching for safety in Berlin and depicts the daily struggles she encounters once s...

04/18/24
Videos

Ensuring the Role of Victims and Families in Search Processes for the Missing and Disappeared in Syria

This is an audio recording of a live event.

04/18/24

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Finding Hope Across Continents of Pain

On September 15, ICTJ organized a side event on the missing and disappeared in Syria, sponsored by the governments of Luxembourg and Finland, during the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The event was a timely one, as it addressed a recent proposal for the creation of a new...

10/21/22

by Nousha Kabawat and Elena Naughton

In Focus

Achieving a Delicate Balance: Victim Participation in International and Domestic Criminal Proceedings

The role of victim participation in international criminal proceedings, whether in international, hybrid, or national courts, has long been a matter of public deliberation among criminal justice practitioners and human rights activists. In the aftermath of mass atrocities and repression, the...

08/11/22

by

Elena Naughton

A man and woman embrace, touching foreheads.
In Focus

Victims, Survivors, and Agents of Change: Reparations for Sexual and Gender-Based Violations

Reparations for victims of sexual and gender-based violations (SGBV) raise a series of complicated questions and implementation challenges around how to acknowledge this category of victims and deliver reparations without exposing victims to stigma and rejection. Victims must weigh the risk of...

08/01/22

by

Virginie Ladisch

World Report

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

Under Marcos Again, What Lies Ahead for Filipinos

Thirty-six years after Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos were overthrown in a “People Power” revolution, the Marcos family is back in power, with Ferdinand Marcos Jr. elected as president (and Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter as his vice-president). While immediate as well as decades-late transitional justice...

06/06/22

by

Ruben Carranza

World Report

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

Gearing Up the Fight Against Impunity: Dedicated Investigative and Prosecutorial Capacities

This study explores specialized units established in 23 countries to investigate and prosecute serious international crimes. Notwithstanding the challenges faced by these units, the study concludes that countries with a specialized institutional approach are considerably more successf...

several judges dressed in black gowns sit on a judicial bench.
Report

New Guide Explores Realities Facing Syria’s Disappeared, Arbitrarily Detained, and Their Families

New York, March 1, 2022 —“There can be no peace in Syria until the rights of the wrongfully detained, disappeared, and their families are fully restored,” warns a new publication released today by the Bridges of Truth, a collaborative of eight Syrian civil society organizations and ICTJ. A Guide to...

03/01/22
Press Releases

A Guide Through the Untold Darkness: The Realities of Syria’s Disappeared, Arbitrarily Detained, and Their Families

Enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention devastate victims and all those who love them. This guide takes an unsparing look at the harsh realities that Syrian victims of these crimes face and offers guidance on what they and others can do to help. It is the product of the Bridges...

A drawing of a woman holding a young child. In the background are numerous eyes of different colors watching them.
Report

Waiting for the Bus

As the conflict in Syria nears an end, the human toll continues to rise, with millions of Syrians forcibly displaced, including millions who have been forced to flee the country. Children have experienced particular harms, including lasting trauma and disabilities, a lack of education, ...

04/18/24
Videos

The Case for Justice

Why pursue transitional justice in the aftermath of massive human rights violations? This video provides a window into the debate about the relevance of transitional justice in today’s world.

04/18/24
Videos

A Step Toward Justice in Syria

On Thursday, January 13, 2022, the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany, convicted Anwar Raslan, a senior official in the Syrian government, for crimes against humanity. The landmark trial, the first ever to prosecute a member of Bashar al-Assad’s regime for such crimes, highlights a crucial component without which Raslan would never have been convicted: the role of victims in achieving justice.

02/01/22

by

Nousha Kabawat

World Report

About ICTJ (2011)

ICTJ's President, as well as several ICTJ directors, speak about the critical need to address former injustices in order to prevent future conflicts.

04/18/24
Videos

Statement by Bridges of Truth Member Organizations The Path to Accountability Through European Courts

The start of 2022 was marked by two important victories in the fight for justice and redress for victims of human rights violations in Syria. The first was the sentencing of Anwar Raslan, a former colonel in the Syrian intelligence service, to life in prison by the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz...

01/26/22
Press Releases

2021 Year in Review

In 2021, there were significant developments, some hopeful and some devastating, in the struggle for truth, accountability, and redress in countries around the world. ICTJ experts covered these events in commentaries and feature stories published on our website and in our newsletters. While 2022 is already underway and we at ICTJ are hard at work, we would like to pause a moment to take stock and reflect on the year that was.

01/25/22
In Focus

ICTJ Announces Online Course on Prevention and Transitional Justice

New York, January 21, 2022— ICTJ will host an online course, entitled “Prevention and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence: The Role of Transitional Justice,” from March 14 through 18, 2022. Prevention has emerged as a top priority on international policy agendas for sustainable peace and development and global governance, and understanding the preventive capacity of transitional justice is more imperative than ever.

01/21/22
Press Releases

A Transitional Justice Approach to Foreign Fighters

This study explores a transitional justice approach to the dilemma of foreign fighters in violent conflict. Such an approach can help center human rights in comprehensive responses to foreign fighters, and shift the current focus from security and punishment to justice and long-term p...

Image of Children looking through holes in a tent at al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria, on April 2, 2019.
Report

ICTJ to Release New Report on Transitional Justice and Foreign Fighters

New York, December 10, 2021— In contexts such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Iraq, Somalia, and Syria, hundreds, sometimes thousands, of individuals have crossed national borders to engage in violent conflicts in which serious human rights violations and mass atrocities have been committed...

12/10/21
Image of Children looking through holes in a tent at al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria, on April 2, 2019.
Press Releases

What Does the Future Hold for Afghanistan?

Afghanistan is a tragic example of how a country in transition can dramatically reverse course on the arduous path toward peace and democracy and return to an abyss of violence and repression at breakneck speed. In the span of a few short weeks, the Taliban regained control over the country. When they finally entered Kabul, the internationally backed Afghan government collapsed. Now in charge, the Taliban has lost no time in demonstrating their goal to re-impose the same extremist and oppressive rule, despite initial declarations affirming a commitment to peace and human rights.

10/01/21

by

Fernando Travesí

Youths stand around outside holding certificates
World Report

We All Fiddle, and Afghanistan Burns

It only takes a quick skim of the daily news to see how the world has yet again failed Afghan civilians. Afghanistan has not had many good years in the past four decades of war, but the past 15 months have been decidedly fraught. The current chaos and spiking violence are proof that, despite what the US government has proclaimed, the “forever war” rages on. Peace and meaningful, victim-centered justice remain elusive.

08/02/21
A group of women stand together, four of them wearing full face coverings, or abayas, one with her face uncovered
World Report

Justice Is More Than Accountability for Victims of Rodrigo Duterte’s ‘War on Drugs’

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.

07/21/21

by

Ruben Carranza

In Focus

Disrupting Cycles of Discontent: Transitional Justice and Prevention in the Philippines

This report examines the contribution of transitional justice to prevention in the Philippines, as well as the limits of this contribution due to the failure to comprehensively address and learn from the past and undertake structural changes. While reparations, truth telling, and inst...

by

Robert Francis B. Garcia

Report

Transitional Justice and Prevention: Summary Findings from Five Country Case Studies

This report summarizes the findings of an ICTJ research project on the contribution of transitional justice to prevention. Drawing from five country case studies, it contends that addressing the past can help to prevent the recurrence not only of human rights violations but also viole...

by

Roger Duthie

A young person with back facing the viewer is wearing a T-shirt that reads “Colombia in Peace"
Report

The Future of Peace in Afghanistan: An Interview with ICTJ’s Reem El Gantri

After several years hiatus, ICTJ has recently resumed work in Afghanistan. Last month, ICTJ’s communication intern, Edward Mercado-Gumbs, sat down with expert and cohead of ICTJ’s program in Afghanistan Reem El Gantri to discuss ICTJ’s latest engagement in the country, as well as the prospects for justice and peace.

06/07/21
In Focus

No Longer Welcome: Syrian Refugees in Denmark Face an Impossible Choice

The millions of Syrians displaced by the grinding decade-long war have sought out safety far and wide, in safe havens within the country, in neighboring countries in the region, and further afield. Those who managed to reach Europe often did so against the odds and often after experiencing displacement more than once. Now , one of these countries, Denmark , is taking away from Syrians living in its borders the protection they so desperately sought and still need and, with it, the tiny bit of hope that they have worked so hard to preserve.

06/01/21

by

Nousha Kabawat

World Report

ICTJ at 20 Years: An Ever-Evolving Pursuit for Justice and Sustainable Peace in Societies Grappling with Legacies of Mass Human Rights Violations

This year marks ICTJ’s 20th anniversary. For the past two decades, the organization has engaged in more than 50 countries, providing technical assistance and other critical support to victims, civil society, governments, and other stakeholders. Since its beginnings, ICTJ has served as a meeting point for transitional justice experts and practitioners and a hub of knowledge, research, and analysis. As a think tank that does, it has been at the forefront of the field’s evolution.

05/24/21

by

Fernando Travesí

In Focus

Protesters and a Shadow National Unity Government Refuse to Surrender in Myanmar

Myanmar’s democratic transition was brought to an abrupt halt on February 1, 2021, with the seizure of power by the country’s armed forces. Public protests against the military coup d'état quickly swelled to some of the largest since 2007, to which the military has responded with deadly force. Given the deteriorating situation, restoring civilian rule appears to be an increasingly immense challenge.

04/29/21

by

Anna Myriam Roccatello

World Report

2020 Year in Review

2020 was a year of unforeseen hardships throughout the world. We may wish to write off last year as a loss and move forward. However, looking back on it as we do in this 2020 Year in Review, in which we highlight our most read content, we can find and take heart in important victories and apply lessons learned in 2021 and beyond.

02/19/21
In Focus

New Report Explores Challenges of Measuring Results of Transitional Justice Processes

New York, January 25, 2021— "You cannot deliver 500 kilograms of transitional justice,” explains a high-level UN official in a new ICTJ report released today that explores the theoretical and practical challenges of measuring the results of transitional justice processes. These processes are complex and politically contested and are thus notoriously difficult to evaluate. The report offers key insights related to and tools for evaluating and monitoring transitional justice processes and assessing their impact.

01/25/21
Press Releases

Measuring Results and Monitoring Progress of Transitional Justice Processes

Because transitional justice processes are complex, politically contested, and not necessarily linear, they present unique theoretical and practical challenges for measuring their results. This report seeks to improve monitoring and evaluation practices and support evidence-based proc...

by

Mateo Porciuncula

Children, women, and men look at a wall covered in faces of people.
Report

Applying Universal Jurisdiction to Prosecute International Crimes and the Implications for Syrian Victims

For many victims of human rights violations and international crimes around the world, the prospects of holding perpetrators to account, especially high-level individuals, have long seemed farfetched, given current political and legal hurdles and the limitations of international criminal justice mechanisms. For this reason, the multiple ongoing investigations into international crimes committed in Syria and court cases against suspected perpetrators based on the principle of universal jurisdiction across Europe have offered a ray of hope in an otherwise bleak justice landscape.

12/23/20
In Focus

With Violence Against Women on the Rise Around the World, ICTJ’s Gender Modules Offer a Timely Training Tool

In what UN Women describes as the “shadow pandemic,” rates of violence against women have soared since the public health and economic crises brought about by COVID-19. With stay-at-home orders in place in countries around the world, women are more susceptible than ever to domestic violence. In countries affected by conflict or repressive rule, all forms of sexual and gender-based violence are on the rise. The ICTJ Gender Modules offer a timely tool to raise awareness about these issues and help develop gender-sensitive responses to them.

12/21/20
In Focus

Advancing Global Accountability: The Role of Universal Jurisdiction in Prosecuting International Crimes

Invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction opens the door to the possibility of some accountability in circumstances where justice is not possible in countries where the crimes took place. This study considers the challenges facing the exercise of universal jurisdiction and asse...

by

Howard Varney and Katarzyna Zduńczyk

Report

International Community Commits to Nuanced, Comprehensive Transitional Justice at UN Security Council Open Debate

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.

09/21/20
In Focus

New Report: "Gone Without A Trace" Examines the Dark Reality of Detentions in Syria

New York, May 29, 2020 — Time is of the essence for breaking the deadlock over the release of detainees, abductees, and the forcibly disappeared in Syria, says a policy paper released today by ICTJ and the New York University’s Center on International Cooperation (CIC). Coordinated action by the Syrian regime and other parties to the conflict, as well as the international community, must begin now, particularly as the spread of the coronavirus accelerates in Syria. The consequences of delay and a failure to act — for the detainees and their families — are likely to be calamitous.

05/29/20
Press Releases

Gone Without a Trace: Syria’s Detained, Abducted, and Forcibly Disappeared

In most cases, to be imprisoned in Syria is to disappear. Tens of thousands of people, if not more, have been unlawfully taken prisoner or held incommunicado in the context of the Syrian conflict. This policy paper examines the dark reality of detentions in Syria, its impact on those ...

by

Hanny Megally and Elena Naughton

Report

Special Report on COVID-19: Keeping Justice in Sight

Sparing almost no corner of the world from its wrath, the COVID-19 pandemic has now spread to every country. In an effort to slow the contagion, governments in most countries have been taking drastic measures requiring all residents other than essential workers to confine themselves in their homes, and shutting down vast sectors of their economies. The impact has been crushing. COVID-19 has profoundly affected every country where ICTJ currently works: Armenia, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Uganda. We recently caught up with ICTJ’s heads of country programs to learn more about the impact the pandemic is having on transitional justice and society more broadly.

05/19/20
In Focus