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Situation brief on the International Criminal Court's upcoming pretrial hearings on whether to pursue charges against Jean-Pierre Bemba for crimes his troops allegedly committed in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2002-03. The ICC prosecutor opened an investigation in May 2007 into crimes committed in the CAR, based on a December 2004 referral from Central African President. An arrest warrant was issued on May 24, 2008, he was arrested the same day. He is now in custody in The Hague.

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 his militia committed in the CAR.

In Congo over the past decade, demands for justice have been largely unmet in peace negotiations: impunity for the worst crimes is entrenched, and the root causes of the conflict remain unaddressed. As the European Union, often through the European Union Special Representatives (EUSRs), is engaging in more peace negotiations around the world, Small Steps, Large Hurdles: The EU’s role in promoting justice in peacemaking in the DRC analyses the EUSR's role in recent peace deals in Congo and the EU's policy framework for promoting justice in peacemaking.

Background of the generations-long conflict in Colombia involving the state, the guerilla group FARC and paramilitaries. The shifting boundaries between drug trafficking and political crime remain a serious obstacle to efforts to promote accountability and respect for human rights in the region.

For the last 50 years Cypriots have been living amid various forms of conflict between political leaders, communities and armed forces. Divisive re-tellings of key moments in these conflicts continue to be important to the politics of all communities on the island.

The Documentation Affinity Group (DAG) was established in 2005 by ICTJ and five partner organizations as a peer-to-peer network with a primary focus on human rights documentation. Documenting Truth collects the best practices derived from the work of the DAG organizations in Cambodia, Guatemala, Burma, Iraq, Serbia and the United States. Its goal is to provide useful lessons for groups documenting abuses around the world, working toward the protection and promotion of truth, and establishing just and democratic societies.

Background on the role of amnesty in processes of transitional justice and the 2009 DRC Amnesty Law. Given a fragile justice system and culture of impunity, this law risks rewarding blanket amnesty for all crimes committed in the DRC. ICTJ gives suggestions to break the culture of impunity, and necessary reforms in order to bring about true justice and a lasting peace.

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 City, Ituri, Nairobi, and Goma -- based on extensive interviews of those most closely involved from the national and international communities, provides an essential backdrop to the current efforts to end fighting in Eastern Congo.

In October 2008, fighting erupted in the North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between rebel troops of Laurent Nkunda's Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple (CNDP) movement, local militia groups, and troops of the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC), the national Congolese army. This outbreak of violence indicates that the Congolese security system is incapable of defending the state and the state's authority, and poses a serious threat to the population, particularly to women and children.

Situation brief on the International Criminal Court's prosecution against Thomas Lubanga, the former leader of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC) who has been charged with genocide and crimes against humanity. Due to problems with the prosecutor's proposed use of evidence, the trial was cancelled shortly before it was scheduled to begin and the proceedings were put on hold. After appeals by the prosecutor, the court's Trial Chamber reinstated the proceedings and set the trial for Jan. 26, 2009. Lubanga is the first accused to be tried by the court.