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As the world marks the third anniversary of the brutal war in Sudan, it is a moment to reflect on a conflict that rarely receives the media attention it deserves and to consider the millions of Sudanese caught in cycles of violence.

Throughout 2025, ICTJ’s experts offered thoughtful analysis on conflicts and major political developments in more than 10 countries as part of the World Report newsletter. Their insightful commentaries shed light on the obstacles that victims, civil society, and their partners must navigate as they pursue sustainable peace and justice. In this edition, we look back on the past year through the Expert’s Choice column.

On November 20 — on the 80th anniversary of the opening of the main Nuremberg trial, which prosecuted Nazi leadership for aggression and mass atrocities of World War II — details of the allegedly proposed new “peace” plan for Ukraine emerged. The initiative has surfaced one of the Kremlin’s recurrent demands: full amnesty for wartime atrocities — the very acts Nuremberg sought to punish and prevent.

On October 6, the International Criminal Court (ICC) found former Janjaweed militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (also known as Ali Kushayb) guilty of 27 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur between August 2003 and March 2004. This landmark verdict counters cycles of impunity in Sudan and sends a powerful message that these crimes are not tolerated.

On August 8, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed the Joint Declaration on Future Relations. Hailed by some as a “historic peace deal,” it neither is a treaty nor ends the 37-year Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Rather, it is a political framework that requires international support and attention.

The numerous atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine have been part of the former's aggression since its initial invasion of the Crimea and Donbas regions in 2014, though they have skyrocketed in number and severity since the full-scale invasion in 2022. Among these crimes are enforced disappearances, which serve as the means by which the Kremlin more broadly intends to subjugate Ukrainians and eliminate any traces of the Ukrainian national identity.

This April, Sudan marked a double anniversary: one of the 2019 revolution that toppled President Omar al Bashir’s decades-long repressive regime, the other of the 2023 outbreak of the ongoing civil war that has devastated the country. These contrasting occasions bring with them great hopes and deep pain. They also raise pressing questions: How long will Sudan have to suffer while the world’s attention seems turned the other way? How long will the voices of Sudanese who yearn for peace and justice continue to be sidelined?

Since long before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has spread disinformation to justify its aggression, disguising their longstanding premises that Ukraine is, allegedly, not a sovereign nation, and its statehood is conditioned upon an alliance with Russia. Countering these narratives is not only valuable for Ukrainians, but also for buoying any democratic transformations in Russia and for establishing a more nuanced understanding of the history of Central and Eastern Europe.

Two and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, victims continue to demand justice for the massive violations they have suffered, which have left many of them gravely harmed. The International Criminal Court opened an investigation into alleged crimes in March 2022. It now faces a critical challenge: how to ensure that Ukrainian victims can meaningfully participate in all stages of its procedures, despite the court’s location far from the conflict.

Throughout 2023, ICTJ’s experts have offered their unique perspective on breaking news around the globe as part of the World Report. Their insightful commentaries have brought into focus the impact these events have on victims of human right violations as well as larger struggles for peace and justice. In this edition, we look back on the past year through the Expert’s Choice column.