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ICTJ is deeply saddened by the death of Guatemalan Supreme Court Justice Doctor Cesar Barrientos Pellecer, this past March 2. Guatemala has lost one of its greatest crusaders against impunity in the country.

To mark International Women’s Day, we invite you to read about four countries at the top of our gender justice priorities in the coming year, each with its own history, context, and complex sets of challenges.

ICTJ has expressed deep concern over the criminal proceedings that resulted in the imposition of death sentences on 529 supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi in Egypt on Monday. The verdict, announced by a criminal court in Minya, came after a trial that lasted less than an hour, according to news reports.

In the span of only one month, Tunisia has witnessed the historic passing of a transitional justice law and adoption of a new constitution. A key actor in the country's transition is the media.

Lebanon has ruled that families of missing and disappeared persons would be allowed access to the investigation files and full report of the Commissions of Inquiry on the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared in Lebanon. In a new episode of our ICTJ Forum, we speak with lawyer Nizar Saghieh about what the ruling means for Lebanese families who continues to search for their missing loved ones.

In this op-ed, ICTJ President David Tolbert argues that in order to meet the EU’s high standards on the rule of law and human rights, Serbia must address the legacy of its recent past in which Slobodan Milosevic’s regime and the institutions under its control were involved in some of the most notorious crimes committed in Europe since World War II.

From March 27 to 30, some 20,000 Canadians gathered in Edmonton, Alberta, for the final national event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC). Established in 2008, the TRC is now entering a new stage: the writing of its final report based on the more than 6,500 statements it has gathered.

For the past three years, April 9th has become an important date to recognize more than 6 million victims of the armed conflict in Colombia. This year, hundreds of Colombians again went to the streets, to mark the National Day of Memory and Solidarity with Victims, as established by Law 1448 –also known as the Victims Law. Across the country, citizens reaffirmed their pledge of sin olvido –to never forget. While the government and the FARC continue to negotiate to put an end to an armed conflict that has lasted for more than 50 years, demonstrators voiced their demands for justice, truth and reparation to be a part of the plans for peace. “April 9th is a day to recall that the tragic history of our country is part of our collective memory of pain,” says María Camila Moreno, director of ICTJ’s Colombia program. “We should see and listen to the multitude of voices, memories, and strengths of victims and survivors.” Colombians arrived in Bogotá from various regions of the country and from different ethnic backgrounds –afrocolombians, indigenous and non-indigenous alike– came together to be part of the day’s events, organized by the Colombian Congress, the National Center for Historical Memory, the Victims Unit and other institutional and civil society organizations from the regions. The day started with the opening of the exhibition Conflict in High Resolution (Conflicto en Alta Resolución) in which Colombian youth conveyed memories of the conflict through plastic sculptures and other visual art. In recognition of the day, Colombia’s Congress hosted a special session in which victims of the conflict participated. At the event, President Juan Manuel Santos addressed the audience: “To attain peace is the most valuable achievement of any society. In the case of Colombia, a country that has suffered so much because of the violence, it has an even greater value.” In addition, people marched through the in the streets of the capital following the so called “Memory Route,” beginning at the National Park and ending in Plaza de Bolivar, in the city center. Many marchers carried photographs of relatives that were killed or disappeared, faces in a sea of white flags, symbols of the demand for peace. Many of the demonstrators held banners calling for justice and reparation for victims. “The National Memory Day is not a simple claim, nor a call for sentimentalism: it is, above all, a reparative act, aimed at the reconstruction of civic trust,” said Moreno.

As Nepal’s Parliament discussed key proposal to establish truth-seeking bodies, the ICTJ expresses deep concern that the bill retains flaws already rejected by the country’s Supreme Court in January.

ICTJ is pleased to announce the opening of an innovative site-specific theater performance in Beirut to mark the 39th anniversary of the Lebanese Civil War.