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On January 27, 2022, the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group will examine Uganda’s human rights record. The UPR process presents an important opportunity to spotlight the human rights situation in the country, and recommend actions that the government of Uganda should take to fulfill its human rights obligations.

A three-judge panel of Peru’s Supreme Court will announce a verdict before the end of this year in the trial of Alberto Fujimori, Peru’s president from 1990-2000, on charges of murder and kidnapping. Prosecutors hold him responsible for the deaths of 25 people at the hands of a death squad known as the Colina group, whose members were military intelligence officers.

This study examines the preventive effect of transitional justice in Peru in the aftermath of internal conflict and authoritarianism, focusing on the violence’s root causes and the differentiated impact on victims and affected communities. It contends that while transitional justice has led to policies that contribute to preventing political violence and has enhanced society’s control of institutions, the absence of broader cultural transformation means that the process of change remains unfinished.

The photography exhibition “All Our Tears” weaves together the stories of victims from the wars in the Western Balkan region in the 1990s. It consists of 34 original photographs, taken by four photographers in various locations in Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The photographs feature artifacts such as family photos of missing persons as well as sites of atrocities, mass graves, and memorials, bringing into sharp focus the tragedy of war and its devastating consequences on the lives of victims. The exhibition had its final opening at the gallery in the Council of Europe’s Palais de l’Europe, in Strasbourg, France, in June 2023. In 2022, it traveled through the region, with openings in Belgrade, Serbia; Prishtina, Kosovo; and Skopje, Macedonia. The exhibition was part of “Strengthening Inclusive Victim Voices, Transforming Narratives,” a three-year project funded by the European Union (EU) that brought together civil society organizations and victims’ groups in Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia, along with the international organizations ICTJ and PAX to develop meaningful, victim-led peacebuilding and reconciliation initiatives in the region. As part of the EU project, the organizations also developed a set of shared, victim-centered, and context-specific transitional justice principles that victims’ groups in the Western Balkans can use to guide their work at the national and regional levels. PHOTO: Attendees walk through the “All Our Tears” exhibition in the Council of Europe’s Palais de l’Europe, in Strasbourg, France, in June 2023. (ICTJ) Throughout the 1990s, as Yugoslavia broke apart, its territories became brutal battlegrounds and the sites of the most serious conflict and abuses in Europe since World War II. The abuses included widespread attacks against civilians, enforced disappearances, population expulsions, systematic rape, and the use of concentration camps. Between 1991 and 2000, more than 140,000 people were killed, and almost four million others were displaced. The issue of the missing continues to haunt the region: At the time hostilities ended, an estimated 35,000 people were unaccounted for, and many families are still waiting for answers regarding the fate of their loved ones. “All Our Tears” shines a light on the experiences of the families of the missing and deceased as well as internally displaced persons in the region, and seeks to mobilize broader public support in their search for truth and justice. “This regional project exemplifies a remarkable collaboration among diverse groups, transcending borders and fostering unity in the pursuit of truth, justice, and healing for families affected by the wars in ex-Yugoslavia,” explained Teodora Zahirović, the public relations manager at Civic Initiatives, a Serbian civil society organization that participated in the project and helped organize the exhibition. For more information on “All Our Tears,” including detailed photo captions, see the exhibition catalogue.

The photography exhibition “All Our Tears” weaves together the stories of victims from the wars in the Western Balkan region in the 1990s. It consists of photographs taken by four photographers in various locations in Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia, and was part of a three-year project funded by the European Union that brought together civil society organizations and victims’ groups in Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia, along with the international organizations ICTJ and PAX to develop meaningful, victim-led peacebuilding and reconciliation initiatives in the region.

The allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the final phases of the conflict in Sri Lanka, made in the Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka released on April 25, must be thoroughly investigated. This is the first comprehensive UN report examining the events in the Vanni region between January and May of 2009 and it alleges that “tens of thousands of civilians” were killed. The Government of Sri Lanka, but also the relevant international bodies, cannot claim credibility if these findings are ignored.

ICTJ is pleased to announce that Peruvian diplomat and renowned international peace mediator Alvaro de Soto has joined ICTJ's Advisory Board.

ICTJ filed an amicus brief in the apartheid reparations case before the Southern District Court of New York on November 25, 2009. The brief supports a decision by the South African Government not to oppose legal action against five international companies that are accused of aiding and abetting crimes committed by the apartheid government.

Whether the government can lawfully rely on Exemption 7(F) of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(F), to withhold photographs depicting the abuse of prisoners held in U.S. custody without identifying with reasonable specificity any individuals who could reasonably be expected to be endangered by the photographs’ release.

This April, Sudan marked a double anniversary: one of the 2019 revolution that toppled President Omar al Bashir’s decades-long repressive regime, the other of the 2023 outbreak of the ongoing civil war that has devastated the country. These contrasting occasions bring with them great hopes and deep pain. They also raise pressing questions: How long will Sudan have to suffer while the world’s attention seems turned the other way? How long will the voices of Sudanese who yearn for peace and justice continue to be sidelined?