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On June 21-23, 2022, Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction of Peace (la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz, or JEP) held its first acknowledgment hearing on the taking hostages, serious deprivation of liberty, and other concurrent crimes (known as Case 01) at the Virgilio Barco Library auditorium in Bogotá. Seven former leaders of the guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People’s Army (FARC-EP) acknowledged their command responsibility for the kidnapping crimes that were the FARC-EP’s policy from 1993 to 2012 in the presence of victims, JEP officials, representatives from civil society and international organizations, and members of the national and international press.   This hearing marked the first time ever FARC-EP leaders publicly acknowledged their role in such systemic crimes and represents a decisive step in the country’s restorative justice process and in the affirmation of the victims’ dignity, both needed to mend Colombia’s social fabric torn apart by over 50 years of war.  In order to lay the strongest possible foundation for the encounter between victims and the former FARC-EP leaders, ICTJ facilitated three individual sessions with each of the 29 victims who offered their testimony at the hearing, four preparation workshops with former FARC-EP leaders, and three restorative justice meetings between victims and those responsible before the hearing.  For more, visit "The Road to Acknowledgment in Colombia" feature story.

The role of victim participation in international criminal proceedings, whether in international, hybrid, or national courts, has long been a matter of public deliberation among criminal justice practitioners and human rights activists. In the aftermath of mass atrocities and repression, the...

Reparations for victims of sexual and gender-based violations (SGBV) raise a series of complicated questions and implementation challenges around how to acknowledge this category of victims and deliver reparations without exposing victims to stigma and rejection. Victims must weigh the risk of...

As part of its ongoing efforts to support Syrian civil society organizations seeking to end enforced disappearances in Syria, ICTJ organized a visit to the United States for members of two prominent family associations: Families for Freedom and the Caesar Families Association. The trip, which was planned in coordination with longtime partner Dawlaty, comes at a time when Syrian civil society and victims’ groups have been intensifying their calls for an international mechanism to uncover the fate of those who have gone missing in Syria since the start of the uprising in March 2011.

For many years now, the International Center for Transitional Justice and other organizations have supported young activists and artists as they harness the power of art, culture, and new media to advance truth, justice, reform, and redress, not only where they live, but across borders and in collaboration with others. This innovative and inspiring work offers lessons about how to increase civic engagement and help societies know the truth about their country’s past and actively shape the national narrative.

Since Russian armed forces invaded Ukraine in late February 2022, the horrific nature of violence endured by Ukrainian civilians at the hands of Russian soldiers has shocked the world. At the time of this writing, there have been 16,000 reports of alleged war crimes, including forcible transfer...

Across the state of Maryland, communities are coming together to uncover the truth about racial terror lynchings and seek redress for the enduring consequences of these crimes. “More than the poll tax, the grandfather clause, and Jim Crow segregation, lynching and the threat of lynching helped regulate and restrict all aspects of black advancement, independence, and citizenship,” writes Sheryllyn Ifill in her book On the Courthouse Lawn. Between 1877 and 1950, over 4,000 African Americans were lynched across the United States. Lynchings were public acts of racial terrorism designed to instill fear and devastate African American communities. No one was held accountable for these grave human rights violations; instead, many officials turned a blind eye or condoned this violence. The Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission was formed by state legislators and signed into law in 2019. It is mandated to investigate racial terror lynchings in the state, hold public hearings, and make recommendations for addressing this violent legacy. It is the first and only commission of its kind in the nation. This state-level effort is complemented by county-level commissions and a strong network of volunteers determined to break the silence and complicity around these crimes and prevent their recurrence. As Karen Hughes White, a descendant of Robert Hughes who was lynched in Cumberland, Maryland, put it: "America needs to stand accountable for its children. Period.” As ICTJ has seen in its work around the world, revealing the truth and humanizing and honoring the victims of human rights violations are crucial first steps in this long-term process. For more, visit "The Ghosts of Racial Violence in Maryland" feature story.

By Sean Yoes Terror on the Eastern Shore December 4, 1931, is a night that lives on in the minds of Black residents in Salisbury, Maryland, a small town along the state’s Eastern Shore. That cold winter night, a mob of more than 2,000 racist residents hung 18-year-old Matthew “Buddie” Williams from...

Thirty-six years after Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos were overthrown in a “People Power” revolution, the Marcos family is back in power, with Ferdinand Marcos Jr. elected as president (and Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter as his vice-president). While immediate as well as decades-late transitional justice...