Search

Indonesia and Timor-Leste created the Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) bilaterally in 2005. The commission has not yet delivered substantive transitional-justice benefits, and its public hearings have seriously compromised the goals of truth and resconciliation. This report is the first part of an analysis of the CTF, considering the Commission's establishment, terms of reference and hearing process.

ICTJ hosted a meeting, “Peace and Justice in Asia,” with a particular focus on Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and Nepal, on December 2-3, 2008. The two-day conference brought together senior experts, officials, and community leaders from three distinct areas that have suffered conflict in Indonesia: Aceh, Papua, and Maluku. In addition, experts traveled from Timor-Leste and Nepal to speak of the challenges and lessons emerging in those post-conflict contexts.

On January 12, 2008, the Iraqi parliament passed the “Law of the Supreme National Commission for Accountability and Justice.” The new law replaces the earlier framework governing Iraq’s De-Ba’athification policies. This document is intended to provide a short summary and preliminary analysis of key aspects of the new law. It points to some improvements and also notes some major shortcomings.

With socio-economic development a crucial priority in Africa, transitional justice practitioners are asking whether methods of addressing past human rights abuses can also help tackle development issues.

The Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence (CIPEV) was the outcome of the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation Accord of February 28, 2008, negotiated by Kofi Annan and the Panel of Eminent African Personalities, and its sister agreement of March 4, 2008, known as Agenda Item 4, which called for the establishment of a number of bodies of inquiry to address justice and accountability and longer-term issues of governance and the rule of law.

A range of transitional justice measures should be considered in addressing the Kenyan crisis, including holding key perpetrators to account in a court of law, providing reparations for victims of the recent violence, and vetting security forces in order to remove those involved in abuses. The intent of this statement is to present guidelines, based on internationally-accepted best practices and the experience of many previous truth commissions to date, that should serve as the minimal starting point for any official truth-seeking initiative.

This initiative aims to promote accountability within the media through independent monitoring of the performance of the media during the TRC process. While freedom of the press is essential to the cultivation of a democratic culture, it is only fair for the media to labor in overcoming obstacles to fair, independent, balanced and accurate presentation of news and information.

The transitional justice mechanisms the Mexican government put in place to investigate the grave human rights violations committed before the political transition of 2000 did not achieve their aims.

This report arises out of a perceived opening or window of opportunity for transitional justice intervention around the specific gross human rights violation of enforced disappearances and abductions in Nepal. This issue connects powerfully to several dominant concerns within the transitional justice field, and thus offers challenges and opportunities for ICTJ.

The survey sought to ascertain the opinions and expectations of the victims and their families in Nepal on a range of transitional justice issues, such as human rights violations, truth-seeking, justice, accountability, reparations, and reconciliation.