234 results

ICTJ Receives Award for Contributions to the Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission

On July 13, 2021, the Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) presented an award to ICTJ for its sustained support of the commission and its commitment to the country’s transitional justice process. The award comes as the TRRC concludes its work and prepares to submit its final report to the country’s president by September 30, 2021.

08/10/21
In Focus

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

Setting an Agenda for Sustainable Peace: Transitional Justice and Prevention in Colombia

This report examines the preventive impact of transitional justice mechanisms in Colombia before the 2016 peace agreement. It finds that these measures have contributed to prevention by strengthening institutional responses to rights violations, shaping the public agenda, developing a...

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María Cielo Linares

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

New Study Considers Victim-Centered Approaches for Justice in Central African Republic

New York, March 10, 2021— “We want to turn the page, but not at the cost of justice”—that was a message repeated by victims of human rights abuses interviewed in a new report released today on transitional justice in the Central African Republic (CAR). Produced by the International Center for Transitional Justice and Cordaid, ‘A Drop of Water on a Hot Stone’: Justice for Victims in the Central African Republic presents findings from a study exploring victim-centered approaches to justice in CAR and their feasibility in a context of profound fragility and extreme poverty.

03/10/21
Press Releases

‘A Drop of Water on a Hot Stone:’ Justice for Victims in the Central African Republic

Providing justice to victims of human rights abuses in fragile contexts such as the Central African Republic (CAR) is challenging for reasons related not only to the state’s stability, capacity, and political will, but also socioeconomic inequality in the country. This research report...

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Rim El Gantri and Arnaud Yaliki

A young girl stands in the doorway to her house
Report

An Imperfect Transition: Tunisia’s Revolution 10 Years On

Ten years have passed since Tunisians took the streets to demand “Employment, Freedom, and National Dignity.” The revolution’s loud, courageous voice against corruption, extreme inequality, and repression echoed around the globe and inspired the “Arab Spring.” Today, Tunisians are still proud of their revolution. However, they continue to strive for goals, yet unattained, that the political class does not even seem to understand. It was thus not surprising to see large protests on the 10th anniversary, demanding concrete action and new public policies to advance social justice and better integrate marginalized regions and populations.

03/01/21

by

Salwa El Gantri

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

The Ongwen Verdict: A Step Closer to Acknowledgment and Justice for Victims in Northern Uganda

On February 4, 2021, the International Criminal Court issued its judgment in the case of the Prosecutor v Dominic Ongwen . The ICC found Ongwen guilty of 61 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Northern Uganda between July 1, 2002, and December 31, 2005. The verdict recognizes the enduring impact of the crimes on the victims, their families, and Ugandan society more generally.

02/08/21
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

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

Strengthening Synergies Between Reparations and Development Programs in Uganda

Over the last 15 years, the Ugandan government has implemented a series of recovery and reconstruction programs in Northern Uganda to address the social and economic devastation caused by the two-decade armed conflict in the region and set it on the path to sustainable peace. While these development programs alone cannot fulfill the state’s obligation to provide reparations to victims of human rights violations, if designed well, they can form a foundation upon which future reparations initiatives can be built.

11/19/20

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Sarah Kihika Kasande

In Focus

As the UN Agenda on Women, Peace, and Security Celebrates 20 Years, ICTJ Honors One of Its Own Women Peacebuilders

The purpose of Resolution 1325 is to highlight the particular way in which women and girls suffer in situations of conflict, as well as the critical role they play in peacebuilding. To commemorate the 20-year anniversary of the resolution, ICTJ would like celebrate the life and work of one its own women peacebuilders: María Camila Moreno Múnera, head of ICTJ’s Colombia office. She exemplifies what a woman leader can achieve in advancing truth, justice, reparation, and peace.

10/30/20

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María Margarita Rivera Escolar

In Focus

ICTJ Closes Office in Côte d’Ivoire, Maintains Scaled-Down Engagement

New York— ICTJ closed its office in Côte d’Ivoire on July 1 after eight years of operation due to several factors including a lack of political will in the government and difficulty securing funding. Although a sad moment for the organization, ICTJ is proud of its achievements in the country and remains confident that its local many partners will continue to advance justice.

09/23/20
Press Releases

ICTJ Experts Reflect on Côte d’Ivoire’s Transitional Justice Process and the Legacy of Their Work

Following the recent closure of ICTJ's office in Côte d’Ivoire, we caught up with Head of the Office Mohamed Suma and Senior Expert Cristián Correa to reflect on ICTJ’s work in the country and with victims, women, and youth, as well as the reasons why ICTJ has chosen to scale down its activities.

09/23/20
In Focus

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

In an Era of Social Distancing, Ugandan Activists Use Twitter to Assemble and Exchange Ideas

During this global pandemic, how do organizations such as ICTJ continue with their victim-centered and context-specific work, when their staff members cannot meet face to face with partners bilaterally, much less at organized convenings? The answer to these questions involves both rethinking how to use tools currently available and developing or finding new ones.

08/17/20
In Focus

Women Voices from Prison: A Virtual Tour Brings to Life a Legacy of Brutal Repression in Tunisia

Tunis, August 12, 2020 — As the world today commemorates International Youth Day and Tunisia observes it National Women’s Day on August 13, ICTJ is launching the Voices of Memory virtual tour, in partnership with the Voices of Memory Collective, an intergenerational group of Tunisian women, and the University of Birmingham. The result of a collaboration between the Voices of Memory Collective and Tunisian artists, the virtual tour allows visitors to explore and interact with an online version of the widely successful Voices of Memory exhibition that traveled throughout Tunisia in 2018.

08/12/20
Press Releases

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 ...

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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

The Trial of Dominic Ongwen: Has the Time for Accountability for Sexual Crimes in Contexts of War Finally Come?

This week, the International Criminal Court heard closing arguments in the trial of Dominic Ongwen, a top commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda. Among the 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity he faces are 19 counts of sexual and gender-based crimes, including rape, sexual slavery, and forced marriage—the widest range of such crimes ever to be brought to trial before the court. The case thus marks a milestone in the jurisprudence of these international crimes.

03/13/20

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Sarah Kihika Kasande

In Focus

A Landmark UNSC Discussion on Transitional Justice

The United Nations Security Council has considered transitional justice on several occasions in the past and included many of its components in country-specific resolutions, and also stressed the links between transitional justice and the other items on its thematic agenda including women, peace and security, and children and armed conflict, and it has made explicit reference to transitional justice as a key part of efforts to sustain peace. Yet, on February 13, the Security Council held its first open debate focusing solely on transitional justice.

03/04/20

by

Fernando Travesí

World Report

A Roadmap for Justice in Africa: Understanding the African Union’s Transitional Justice Policy

On February 12, 2019, the Assembly of the African Union adopted the African Union Transitional Justice Policy. The policy serves as a guide for member states on effective and credible transitional justice processes to achieve sustainable peace, justice, reconciliation, social cohesion...

PDF of the first page of the briefing paper "A Roadmap for Justice in Africa"
Briefing Paper