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Since the beginning of the 1980s, Latin American countries have undergone various processes of political transformation. In general terms, this change has consisted of a transition from authoritarian to democratic regimes. In some specific cases, such as Guatemala and El Salvador, the transition consisted of peace processes after armed confrontations that had reached such proportions as to become known commonly as “civil wars”. Political scientists have studied such transformations extensively.

This paper explores the challenges to uncovering the truth about the atrocities committed under the Khmer Rouge and achieving justice for victims in Cambodia. It discusses which transitional justice mechanisms are applicable and what opportunities to achieve truth and accountability exist. With victims still demanding justice and the Khmer Rouge leaders getting older, the need to establish a minimal level of justice is crucial. Although a tribunal should be supported, a much more holistic approach is necessary to recover and restore society.

In Colombia, the shifting boundaries between drug trafficking and political crime and the tension between security and human rights pose particular challenges for those seeking accountability for past abuses and respect for human rights.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development establishes an ambitious set of goals and targets, the achievement of which will be a formidable challenge for any country struggling with poverty and inequality. This challenge increases dramatically for countries currently experiencing or emerging from violent conflict.

This report traces the human rights abuses under King Hassan II—including arbitrary arrest, torture, and disappearance—that led to the development of the Moroccan Equity and Reconciliation Commission (Instance Équité et Réconciliation (IER)). It provides both a historical reference and lays the foundation for a more thorough analysis once the Commission's work has been completed. It also offers several recommendations to bolster and augment Morocco's truth-seeking experience in the coming months and years.

On August 20, 2009, Afghans went to the polls for the third time since the U.S.-led military intervention in 2001. Accountability and justice were underlying themes in the election, as made clear by many of the issues that attracted public attention. Nonetheless “calls for justice” remain weak compared with the persuasive culture of impunity that has institutionalized itself over the last eight years.

Background on the massive human rights violations in the states that declared independence from the Former Yugoslavia from 1991 onwards, including Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, resulting in the deaths of over 140,000 people and four million displaced. The fact sheet covers the criminal prosecutions of major figures that took place in the aftermath of the violence, and initiatives in truth-seeking, institutional reforms and reparations.

This policy brief reviews the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council as it relates to transitional justice, five years after the Council's establishment. Overall findings indicate that the Council and its mechanisms, notably the system of Special Procedures, have approached justice for mass atrocities in a piecemeal and—sometimes—politicized manner. More effective use of a transitional justice framework could strengthen the Council's ability to fulfill its mandate to address human rights violations and prevent future abuse.

Pursuing justice in a transitional context may take the form of multiple measures and goes beyond the pursuit of criminal prosecutions. Tunisia’s Basic Law on Transitional Law, adopted in December 2013, is a case in point. Despite its flaws, the the law introduced a fairly comprehensive framework to redress past abuses and to hold perpetrators to account.

Ukraine's Maidan Revolution in 2014 ushered in a wave of decommunization efforts, ostensibly in order to ensure respect for human rights and to prevent a recurrence of the crimes of Communist and Nazi regimes. However, the laws were largely a product of contentious politics of memory: they further a particular understanding of past events that will likely continue to fuel division and distrust among Ukrainians, and between Ukraine and Russia.