ICTJ World Report
September 2016

In Focus

ICTJ Welcomes the Signing of Colombia’s Historic Peace AgreementThe International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) welcomes the historic peace agreement signed yesterday between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) – an essential step toward building lasting peace in the country.

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World Report

AFRICAIn the Democratic Republic of Congo at least 17 people were killed in violence in Kinshasa, as the political opposition escalated its calls for President Joseph Kabila to step down. In Kenya human rights organizations called on the country to investigate extrajudicial killings and disappearances. The country’s director of prosecutions snubbed journalists who protested against violent attacks and harassment in the line of duty, including the recent death of reporter Joseph Masha after suspected food poisoning. In Uganda, pre-trial hearings began in the case of former LRA commander Thomas Kwoyelo commenced. Kwoyelo’s lawyers questioned the legality of the presiding judge on the grounds that she is not a judge in the International Crimes Division of High Court, but the Judge overruled the objection. The court further ruled that the participation of victims at the trial will be in accordance with the Rome Statute and ICC Rules of Procedure and Evidence. UN human rights experts say that women have suffered more violence than anyone else in South Sudan. The UN has also launched a 19-day mission regarding the human rights situation in South Sudan. In Zimbabwe opposition political partiesvowed to defy President Robert Mugabe’s threats against demonstrations.

AMERICASIn Colombia, the government and FARC rebels agreed to a historic peace deal, bringing an end to 52 years of conflict. The agreement will be signed in late September and voted on in a national plebiscite on October 2. The International Criminal Court welcomed Colombia’s peace deal, but called for “genuine” prosecution of perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes. The FARC also began demobilizing child soldiers this month. In Argentina the ex-head of the air force was sentencedto 25 years in prison for the abduction and disappearance of a married couple of young activists during the country’s military dictatorship. In Guatemala, President Jimmy Morales’ family is under investigationover corruption charges, an issue the country has struggled with in the past and sunk Morales’ predecessor. In Peru, a court sentenced 16 former soldiers for the 1985 massacre of 69 people in Ayacucho during the armed conflict with the Shining Path. In Mexico, the chief of criminal investigations for the country’s attorney general resigned amid an internal affairs inquiry into his office’s handling of the case of 43 college students who vanished nearly two years ago. International human rights officials are demanding an investigation into the brutal sexual assaults of 11 Mexican women during protests a decade ago — an inquiry that would take aim at President Enrique Peña Nieto, who was the governor in charge at the time of the attacks.

ASIANepali attorney general said that there would be no amnesty granted for crimes committed duringNepal’s decade-long conflict, which are considered serious by international law. Nepal Army Colonel Kumar Lama was acquitted by a British court in what victims and rights groups maintain is a temporary setback in the push for justice. Myanmar is scrapping its ‘Midnight Inspections’ law, which forced people to report overnight guests and was often used by authorities to barge into houses and target activists. In the Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte was accused of ordering members of a death squad to kill criminal and opponents in a senate committee hearing. Since Duterte became president, 1,900 have died in extrajudicial killings. Sri Lanka has vowed to cooperate with UN human rights mechanisms, deeming them helpful for institutional reform. Tamil human rights activists, however,delivered a letter highlighting their worries about Sri Lanka’s transitional justice process to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

EUROPEAn Ohio man was arrested after authorities say he was part of a Serbian volunteer army company that participated in crimes in Bosnia. The Constitutional Court in the country’s Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska ruled that a referendum on the Day of Republika Srpska could proceed. The referendum is designed to challenge last year’s ruling that the holiday is unconstitutional on the grounds that it contributed to the outbreak of war in 1992. In Greece, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipraspledged to do “whatever is necessary” – including taking legal action – to get Germany to pay damages for the wartime atrocities of Nazi troops. Germany has dictated tough austerity terms in return for Greece’s three European bailouts, and maintains that it settled reparations with Greece in 1960. InPoland, the conservative government says anyone who uses language that implies Polish responsibility for Nazi German atrocities will face jail or a fine.

MENAIn Tunisia, the head of the Anti-Corruption Commission reported that almost $1 billion has been drained from the state budget, calling the problem an “epidemic”. Top U.S. and Russian diplomats, along with more than a dozen of their Arab and European counterparts, met in New York on September 20 but left Syria no closer to peace. The same day of the meeting, an aid convoy was attacked, killing 20 civilians. U.N. investigators said they found it increasingly difficult to interview newly arrived Syrian refugees in Europe and urged countries to allow access to them to help document suspected war crimes. Lebanon’s national dialogue sessions, which were intended to resolve a number of deadlocks including the presidency, were suspended over a lack of progress. On the 34th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, a march was organized in Beirut in remembrance of the victims of the massacre of thousands of civilians by militias allied with Israel in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. In Yemen, calls for an independent investigation into alleged breaches of humanitarian law escalated when the Dutch government requested an inquiry at a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva. In Egypt, parliament ended a legislative year without passing the transitional justice law, or the unified media law and the local municipality election law, despite constitutional obligation.The country also froze the assets of five prominent human rights defenders as part of an ongoing crackdown against the government’s critics.

Publications

Media and Transitional Justice: A Dream of Symbiosis in a Troubled Relationship

In transitional contexts, reporting does not simply present the facts, but instead shapes the parameters for interpreting divisive political issues. Coverage in such polarized contexts can mitigate or obscure the substance of transitional justice efforts to establish what happened, who the victims were, and who was responsible for the violations.

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The Case for Action on Transitional Justice and Displacement

As the refugee crisis deepens, does action on transitional justice issues have to wait for peace? A new paper explores what sort of consultation and documentation work can be done now, while conflict is ongoing, to shape outcomes moving forward.

View Report

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October 06, 2016

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November 03, 2016

Global Leaders: Conversations with Alon Ben-Meir, International Organization for Migration Location: New York, NY View Details

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