Dear friends,

Today, in our troubled times marked by ongoing conflicts, incredible violence and increasing hostility, it is imperative that we stand united in the struggle against impunity. Our attention and effort must be directed to do what we can in defense and remedy of those targeted by brutal violence from Syria to Central African Republic, from Pakistan to Turkey and beyond.

As we search for ways to halt the violence and foster lasting peace in societies grappling with a legacy of massive human rights abuse, there is arguably no more important day to reflect upon the importance of the struggle for truth and justice than today, March 24. Thus, we take a moment to mark the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims.

The pursuit of justice can take many forms, and truth telling is an essential one. In 2010, the United Nations established March 24 as a day to honor the memory of victims of gross and systematic human rights violations and their right to truth and justice. If peace is to have any chance of prevailing in times of escalating conflict, it is more necessary than ever to uphold this fundamental right.

Truth telling is essential to achieve long-lasting peace and social change. It helps reduce tensions between opposing parties by revealing and validating the experiences of different groups. To build a dignified and inclusive future, it is necessary to overcome divisive sectoral narratives by establishing an objective account of the violent past.

In many post-conflict settings, efforts to establish a reliable account of what happened during conflict have taken the form of a truth commission. Truth commissions are temporary, official inquiries established to determine the facts, causes, and consequences of past human rights violations. Victims are at the heart of such truth-seeking processes, because oftentimes their voices have been silenced or ignored for years.

Since 1983, more than 30 truth commissions have been established around the world to investigate past human rights abuses committed during periods of conflict or repression. In 2013, ICTJ and the Kofi Annan Foundation joined efforts to reexamine assumptions about how truth commissions may be established and what makes them operate effectively as a tool to strengthen peace processes.

This project has produced several outcomes, including the publication “Challenging the Conventional: Can Truth Commissions Strengthen Peace Processes?” and thoughtful discussions in Geneva, New York, and Bogotá, among other places.

Today, as part of this sustained effort and our firm commitment to building peace on the foundation of truth, we are launching a multimedia presentation based on the reflections we have developed throughout this 3-year project. We invite you to learn – in English, Spanish and Arabic – from Guatemala, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Nepal on how truth seeking can serve as a catalyzer for peace.

Go to Multimedia Presentation

Join us in challenging the conventional to find new ways to contribute towards building accountable and dignified societies.

Sincerely, 

David Tolbert

ICTJ President

ICTJ Brings Together the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania to Discuss Response to International Crimes

Dear friends,

Eastern DRC continues to be affected by conflict and serious crimes continue to be committed against civilians living in the area by the national army (FARDC), national armed groups, and foreign armed forces. Holding perpetrators accountable is essential to dismantling the structures that allow the ongoing cycle of abuses to continue in the DRC.

The porous borders the country shares with neighbors in the Great Lakes Region greatly complicate any effort to ensure justice is done. This has allowed certain states to harbor or protect some of the worst perpetrators who were able to hide by simply crossing the border.

With the signing of the Peace Security and Cooperation Framework in Addis Abeba (2013), 11 states pledged to take concrete measures to “put an end to recurring cycles of violence” that has afflicted civilians in Eastern DRC. Yet, despite the political commitments, the investigation and prosecution of domestic and international crimes continue to be severely affected by the lack of appropriate judicial cooperation among the states of the region.

With this in mind, ICTJ has focused a significant portion of its work on criminal justice in the DRC on trying to facilitate such regional cooperation. As part of this effort, on March 15-16, ICTJ is for the first time bringing together the relevant national authorities and specialized prosecutors from the DRC and neighboring countries of Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda for high-level discussion and planning. The objective is to facilitate contact, exchanges and discussions between relevant national authorities on the technical and operational (rather than political) level, to discuss their respective national legislative and procedural frameworks.

The event is happening in coordination with the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) and collaboration of the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, the Ministry of Defense as well as the the Office of the Military General Prosecutor.

The conference comes at a very significant time. Ladislas Ntaganzwa, indicted since 1996 by International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for charges of genocide against Tutsis during the 1994 Rwanda genocide was arrested in Eastern DRC on December 9, 2015, and should be transferred from Kinshasa to the United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (UNMICT) after numerous exchanges between the DRC and Rwanda. Ladislas was among the fugitives referred from the ICTR’s prosecutor to Rwanda under article 11 bis of the ICTR statute.

Also, Jamil Mukulu, head of the Ugandan armed group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), was arrested in Tanzania and extradited to his home country, Uganda, in 2015. In Uganda, Mukulu is allegedly responsible for a series of attacks in the west between 1998 and 2000, which led to more than 1,000 deaths. Yet, Mukulu was also wanted by the DRC for atrocities committed in the Beni area, North Kivu. Because Mukulu is facing different charges in Uganda and the DRC, participants at tomorrow’s conference are likely to discuss the case and the possibility of extraditing him to the DRC.

The meeting, which will take place tomorrow and on Wednesday in Kinshasa, comes as culmination of a long lasting effort. Two years ago, ICTJ made the strategic decision to move its field office in the DRC from the capital Kinshasa to Goma in the eastern part of the country. The principal rationale behind this was to be based closer to where violations amounting to international crimes are committed, to help catalyze their investigation and prosecution. This has allowed us to work more directly with prosecutors, judicial authorities, victims and civil society activists coming from communities affected by these crimes.

Bearing in mind the lack of infrastructure, which greatly contributes to the disconnect between the capital and the eastern part of the country, to be based in Goma has enabled us to inform our work with the specific challenges met by our Congolese counterparts when they attempt to prosecute international crimes. Crucially, we were able to establish channels of consultation with the Congolese authorities from Eastern DRC and Kinshasa, and this has proven instrumental to the work that we do in the DRC, which in the last year focused on regional cooperation.

We have spent the last year planning and preparing tomorrow’s conference, and this included drafting of a baseline working document assessing the current regional judicial cooperation framework in the region, numerous bilateral meetings with national counterparts, and coordination efforts with the UNJHRO and the Office of the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region. As this work comes to fruition in gathering representatives of these key states to discuss technical aspects of regional cooperation, the hope is that its conclusions will inform the high level meeting of government representatives of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region, which is to be held in Nairobi in April.

Ultimately, the goal of this effort is to ensure that the key states in the region work together to bring perpetrators of atrocities to justice and deter future crimes in eastern DRC. Tomorrow’s conference is a significant first step in that direction.

We also invite you to read our latest report The Accountability Landscape in Eastern DRC: Analysis of the National Legislative and Judicial Response to International Crimes (2009–2014).

Best regards,

Myriam Raymond-Jetté

Head of ICTJ Office in DRC

Email: mraymond-jette@ictj.org

Additional contact:

Refik Hodzic

Director of Communications, ICTJ New York

Tel: +1 917-637-3853

Email: rhodzic@ictj.org