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The report by the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict has reaffirmed the importance of justice in the pursuit of sustainable peace in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Released September 15, 2009, the 575-page report (PDF) documents violations of international law...

Your Excellency, We, the undersigned civil society organizations, are writing to urge your government to support recommendations in the Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (Goldstone Report) and work with others in the General Assembly to secure adoption of a...

NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2010 --Ten years after Israeli security forces killed 13 Palestinian demonstrators, 12 of them citizens of Israel, the families' calls for accountability have gone unanswered, the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) said today. "Despite an official commission of...

The International Criminal Court (ICC) must better communicate what is driving its actions to the public of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and elsewhere around the world if it is to develop confidence in its capacity to act as a guardian of international criminal law.

In this podcast, Kelli Muddell, director of ICTJ’s Gender Justice Program, discusses ICTJ's work on gender and transitional justice in the Middle East and North Africa, which included a meeting of women policymakers and activists in Amman, Jordan earlier this month. [Download](/sites/default/files/Muddell_ICTJ_Podcast_07172011.mp3) | Duration: 8mins | File size: 4.5MB

The latest ICTJ Program Report explores transitional justice issues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and charts our work in this important and dynamic region. Claudio Cordone, ICTJ’s program director covering the MENA region, discusses individual country scenarios, prospects for transitional justice processes and explains ICTJ’s involvement and impact. Cordone speaks about transitional justice principles being at the root of popular uprisings referred to as “Arab Spring” and the challenges facing societies in their efforts to reckon with legacies of dictatorships and recent violence. He describes ICTJ’s efforts to address the impact of violence on women and promote their participation in transitional justice initiatives. The interview provides a thorough overview of ongoing initiatives and future prospects in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Transitional justice measures should serve to rectify, not replicate, patterns of discrimination against women. These mechanisms can challenge structural causes of gender inequality, by publicly acknowledging the factors that made such abuse possible. In the Middle East and North Africa, like in many other contexts, it is a challenge to ensure transitional justice measures do not further entrench the invisibility of gender-based abuses. As different countries consider the ways to confront the legacies of past abuses, ICTJ works with women’s groups across the region to build their capacity to engage in discussions around transitional justice and gender.

The United Nations has proclaimed December 10 as International Human Rights Day. The date commemorates the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which represented the reaction of the international community to the horrors of the Second World War. Today is a day for reflection more than celebration. A cursory scan of events from the last few weeks has thrown up examples that demonstrate that the belief in human rights for all - in treating all states the same - is more of a tissue-thin membrane than a robust bulwark.

In this edition of ICTJ's Program report, Kelli Muddell, director of ICTJ's Gender Justice program, reflects on ICTJ’s vision of gender justice, the challenges facing survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in times of transition, and how ICTJ is working to address inequality in countries like Colombia, Nepal, and Tunisia.