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A new ICTJ report argues that in Africa's interconnected Great Lakes region, each country’s attempt to provide justice for past violations offers lessons for similar processes in others. We gathered civil society activists from across the region to discuss which strategies have worked for them, which have not, and opened up about the greatest challenges they face in securing justice.

It is an honor and a privilege for me to be with you for this important national conference. One year ago, on this exact same date, just three months after the Tunisian people impressed the world by peacefully ending decades of repression, I had the pleasure to speak at a conference ICTJ organized here in Tunis together with the Arab Institute for Human Rights, the Tunisian League for Human Rights and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. It was an important and lively debate on how to address the legacy of the past and move forward.

Humanitarians, development agencies, human rights organizations, and peacebuilding actors are commonly drawn to the same flash points of conflict, human rights violations, and states in need of rebuilding. Operating in common country contexts leads to increased interactions between these actors, creating tensions as well as opportunities for collaboration and cooperation. This paper focuses on the specific concerns of humanitarian actors regarding transitional justice in contexts of displacement, and offers some suggestions for bridging the apparent divide between humanitarian and transitional justice actors.

While Afghanistan goes through tremendous transition, it is important for justice and reconciliation actors to build transitional justice and gender initiatives based on experiences in other postconflict contexts.

The removal of monuments to Confederate heroes is an important blow to the white-supremacy ideology that underpins ongoing racial injustices in the United States today, from mass incarceration to institutional violence. ICTJ President David Tolbert calls for a reckoning with these haunting injustices through memorials, acknowledgements and more.

ICTJ’s Middle East and North Africa Program, in partnership with the Arab Institute for Human Rights, the Tunisian League for Human Rights, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, convened an international conference entitled “Addressing the Past, Building the Future: Justice in Times of Transition” in Tunis, Tunisia on April 14-15, 2011. This report summarizes the five sessions focusing on criminal accountability, security sector reform and vetting, truth-seeking, gender justice, and reparations, as well as the concluding observations of the conference.

Invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction opens the door to the possibility of some accountability in circumstances where justice is not possible in countries where the crimes took place. This study considers the challenges facing the exercise of universal jurisdiction and assesses to what extent it remains a viable option for victims seeking justice for international crimes. While resort to universal jurisdiction is on the rise, it still faces considerable obstacles, particularly of a political nature.

This comparative study examines strategies used by local actors to help operationalize reparations for victims of widespread human rights violations, while highlighting the synergies between these efforts and sustainable development. It is based on the fieldwork of ICTJ and its partners in four contexts: Colombia, The Gambia, Tunisia, and Uganda. The report presents findings from the comparative study and offers practical guidance and policy recommendations on how to advance both reparations and sustainable development.