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Through its initiatives in several countries, ICTJ has learned that hip hop music can be a powerful and effective way to engage young people in transitional justice issues, such as truth, memory, and reconciliation, and encourage their participation in ongoing processes. The music, which particularly appeals to younger generations, can uniquely connect them to historical and ongoing injustices through a cathartic musical experience. It can also inspire them to resist oppression and to demand justice and positive social and political change. In the Gambia and Côte d’Ivoire, for instance, ICTJ partnered with rising hip hop artists in an effort to educate young people about transitional justice processes underway in their respective countries and motivate them to take part in them. The artists created hip hop music about issues related transitional justice, effectively reaching a segment of the population that may not have otherwise known the full extent of past abuses or paid attention to policies meant to address them. These ICTJ-led initiatives fomented creativity and democratized knowledge about how to deal with gross human rights violations after conflict or repression. Several of the young people who participated in them later became leaders in their communities. Knowing the positive role hip hop music can play in the pursuit of truth, justice, and redress, ICTJ staff members from different country offices discussed the idea of holding an international hip hop festival in Colombia where hip hop artists from around world could come together, learn from their each other’s experiences, and share their ideas about transitional justice issues with other artists, experts, practitioners, and civil society representatives. After many months of planning and numerous postponements due to the global COVID-19 public health crisis, ICTJ's office in Colombia joined forces with the Movement of Latin American Expressions of Hip Hop (MELAH) and the online cultural outlet Revista Cartel Urbano to host the hybrid virtual and live International Hip Hop Encounter in Bogotá, Colombia on November 25 through November 28. The four-day event assembled artists, musicians, and activists from across Latin America and Africa for live performances and to discuss the role of hip hop music and culture in uncovering truth, preserving memory, and resisting violence and oppression. Black and Latinx youth in the South Bronx, in New York City, created hip hop music and culture in the 1970’s, against a backdrop of urban blight, poverty, and rising violent and often drug-related crime. The artistic and cultural movement has since spread to nearly every country around the globe. The music, graffiti, and breakdancing often articulate the hardships of marginalized populations and their desire for justice and greater opportunities, regardless of the country where they are made.  Many marginalized populations today, especially those in countries with legacies of gross human rights violations, still grapple with poverty, inequality, social exclusion, and targeted police brutality. For young people in these communities, hip hop remains a relevant tool to help affirm their dignity in face of discrimination and an outlet of creative expression and cultural resistance.  Learn more about the international hip hop encounter here:  

Saudi Arabia’s recent proposed plan to end the brutal conflict in Yemen comes as it enters its seventh grueling year. The initiative was widely welcomed by countries in the region and around the world. The United Nations considers the initiative to be in line with its efforts to broker a peace deal in Yemen and reiterated that “all actors and stakeholders must do their utmost to facilitate an immediate agreement that brings Yemen back to a path towards peace.” However, the Saudi initiative is only the latest in a series of attempts to establish peace in Yemen. Other recent ceasefire agreements have failed.

On March 31, 2021, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court upheld the Trial Chamber I’s acquittal of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé of all charges relating to crimes against humanity they allegedly committed during Côte d’Ivoire’s 2010-2011 post-election crisis. While the acquittal may be frustrating to many pursuing justice and accountability in Côte d’Ivoire, a silver lining is that it could mean tangible benefits for victims.

With a special court that has yet to open a trial and a truth commission that is not up and running, international attention on victims in the Central African Republic is waning. Since 2015, the unfulfilled promises of justice made to these victims have failed to address their daily realities and needs for immediate moral, physical, and material reparations, writes Rim El Gantri, one of the authors of a recent study by ICTJ and Cordaid.

A significant portion of Colombian society has been indifferent to the pain of those who lived through the war in the flesh. Some have even denied the existence of an internal armed conflict. This is why it is necessary for us to recount our early and recent history. A new, more comprehensive and nuanced narrative must emerge from the testimonies of victims, responsible parties, and even spectators of this unending war.

This briefing paper examines how transitional justice approaches can guide the discussion around dismantling systemic racism in the United States to focus on root causes of violence and racial injustice. Drawing from relevant experiences internationally and within the United States, it provides ideas for what steps can be taken to advance acknowledgment, redress harms linked to the legacy of slavery, reform institutions, and prevent future recurrences.

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.

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.

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.