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ICTJ World Report

May 201 5

In Focus
As Tunisia Prepares to Hear
Nations Truth, New Alliances
Amplify Womens Voices
As Tunisias Truth and Dignity
Commission (TDC) prepares to hear the testimonies of

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AFRICA
In April, the Supreme Court of Uganda ruled that the trial of Thomas Kwoyelo must resume before the
International Crimes Division (ICD) of the High Court of Uganda. A UN report on the country released
in May accused the Ugandan-based Allied Democratic Forces of committing systematic grave
violations over a three-month period at the end of 2014 in north-east DRC which may amount to war
crimes and crimes against humanity. The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC plans to investigate the
allegations of hate speech which may have resulted in recent xenophobic violence against
immigrants in South Africa. Meanwhile, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Trust Fund for
Victims (TFV) now has six months to submit a draft plan for implementing reparations in the Lubanga
case. In April, the DRCs Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, with the cooperation of the High
Council of Magistrates, launched the first tats gnraux de justice conference since 1996, bringing
together all high judicial and governmental authorities alongside representatives of the international
community to evaluate the judicial system and propose reforms. In Mali, Tuareg-led rebels signed a
preliminary peace agreement with the government as a gesture of good faith to end decades of
separatist fighting. In Sudan, Omar al-Bashir was re-elected while the countrys main opposition
parties chose to boycott the elections. Protests in Burundi continued following President Pierre
Kurunzizas plan to run for a third term. In early May, a group of 700 Kenyan refugees who fled during
the height of the 2007-08 post-election violence returned home after living in a camp in Western
Uganda. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated the people of the Central African Republic
on the adoption of a peace pact. Also in the CAR, more than 300 child soldiers were set free by
armed groups as part of a United Nations brokered deal.
Read More...

AMERICAS
The Colombian government and FARC guerrilla resumed the 36th cycle of the peace talks, focusing
on the issue of victims of the conflict. Colombias President Juan Manuel Santos confirmed that he
had authorized the travel to Cuba of the military heads of the country's largest guerrilla armies,
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Timochenko of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and Gabino of the National
Liberation Army (ELN), with the aim to end to the decades-long armed conflict in the country. After
nearly three months of deliberation, President Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala announced that he will
extend the mandate of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) for an
additional two-year period. Several days after national prosecutors and the CICIG dramatically
arrested 22 alleged conspirators in a customs tax scheme, political fallout in Guatemala ensued
leading to resignation of the countrys Vice President. Public anger coalesced through social
networks and thousands of Guatemalans rallied in Guatemala Citys main square. Peru reopened a
criminal investigation against ex-President Alberto Fujimori on charges he and three of his former
aides led a 1990s government program that forcibly sterilized thousands of poor indigenous women
to reduce the countrys birth rate. According to a new report by a group of dissident health
professionals and human rights activists, the American Psychological Association secretly
collaborated with the Bush administration to bolster a legal and ethical justification for the torture of
prisoners swept up in the post-9/11 War on Terror.
Read More...

ASIA
In Nepal, five major donor countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Switzerland and the United
Kingdom) decided to withdraw their support from the Nepal Peace Trust Fund, leaving USAID and the
European Union as its only major funders. Following the devastating earthquake in Nepal, The UN
estimated that eight million peoplemore than a quarter of the populationhave been affected,
putting the country on war footing according to Prime Minister Sushil Koirala. In the Philippines,
President Aquinos allies in the House of Representatives recently rushed to come up with a draft of
the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that satisfies the peace agreement and addresses any remaining
constitutional issues in advance of a planned vote by the House ad-hoc committee on the BBL. Sri
Lankas Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe announced that interim provisions under the 19th
Amendment will allow for the continued function of independent commissions such as the Human
Rights Commission, the Public Service Commission and the Commission to Investigate Allegations

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of Bribery or Corruption.
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EUROPE
In April, Bosnias State Investigation and Protection Agency on Tuesday arrested seven people
suspected of having committed war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war in the Buzim area
in 1994 and 1995. Also in the country, Jean-Eric Paquet, the European Commissions Western
Balkans director, reminded authorities that Brussels has repeatedly warned that financial assistance
for war crimes prosecutions will be stopped unless a justice sector reform strategy is adopted. In
late April, the military court in Arnhem ruled that Thomas Karremans, the commander of the Dutch
UN battalion, his assistant Robert Franken and officer Berend Oosterveen cannot be held
responsible for not safeguarding Bosniak civilians who took refuge at their headquarters which was
supposed to protected by the UN, but instead handing them over to Bosnian Serb forces. Tensions
surfaced in Armenia as Turkey made the decision to advance its Gallipoli commemorations to the
same day of the centenary of the Armenian genocide. In Northern Ireland, Amnesty International
warned that the planned repeal by the UK government of the Human Rights Act 1998 has the
potential to undermine the peace process. During a judicial review into the British governments
decision not to hold a public inquiry into the murder of human rights lawyer Pat Finucane, the Belfast
high court was told that the killing was part of British state policy to infiltrate, manipulate and direct
terror groups during the Troubles.
Read More...

MENA
A court in Egypt sentenced former President Mohanmed Morsi and 12 other defendants to 20 years
in prison in April. Morsi was convicted for ordering the arrest and torture of protesters in clashes
outside the presidential palace in December 2012 that killed 10 people. Also in the region, the
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outside the presidential palace in December 2012 that killed 10 people. Also in the region, the
Commission for International Justice and Accountability produced enough evidence to indict Syrias
President Bashar al-Assad and 24 senior members of his regime for their roles in suppressing
protests which led to the 2011 conflict. Many of the tens of thousands arrested were tortured and
killed, according to the findings of an international investigative commission. In other news, the ICC
warned Israel that the court may launch a full investigation without its input if it does not cooperate
with an initial investigation into possible breaches of international law in the occupied Palestinian
territories. In April, policymakers in Lebanon marked the 40th anniversary of the civil war with a
pledge of never again, while multiple commemorative events were held throughout the country. The
Committee of the Families of the Kidnapped and Disappeared, along with It is Our Right to Know
organized the most significant campaign which lasted for 40 days to call attention to the 17,000
disappeared. At the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in May, Progressive Party Chief Walid Jumblatt
testified that the Assad regime was responsible for the death of his father, Kamal Jumblatt, and that
the Syrian officials involved in Hariris assassination had all been eliminated.
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Publications

Upcoming Events
May 24 - 28, 2015

The Disappeared and Invisible: Revealing the Enduring

Impact of Enforced Disappearance on Women
This briefing paper is the summary of The Disappeared and
the Invisible: Revealing the Enduring Impact of Enforced
Disappearances on Women, a comprehensive study by ICTJ
that identifies the impacts and government responses to
enforced disappearances as they relate to women in 31
countries. It answers two key questions: 1) How Do Enforced
Disappearances Impact Women?

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ICTJ Course on
Transitional Justice
for Government
Officials & Staff of
International
Institutions
Location: The Hague
View Details

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View Report

Living with the Shadows of the Past: The Impact of

Disappearance on Wives of the Missing in Lebanon
This report examines the impact on women of enforced
disappearances committed during Lebanons civil war, focusing
in particular on the effects on wives of the missing or
disappearedand their children. The research is based on
interviews conducted by ICTJ with 23 wives of missing or
disappeared persons of varying backgrounds.

June 22 - 27, 2015

Georg Arnhold
Summer School on
Transitional Justice
and Education
Location: Braunschw eig,
Germ any
View Details

More Events

View Report

More Publications

Copyright 2015 International Center for Transitional Justice

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