23 results

Why Victims Must Lead the Way to Peace in Sudan

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.

04/15/26

by

Ilaria Martorelli

Men and women carry large boxes and sacks on their heads
Opinion

Human Rights Defenders from Sudan and the Wider Region Harness the Power of Digital, Open-Source Investigative Tools

ICTJ recently convened human rights defenders, journalists, and lawyers from Libya, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen for a workshop on digital, open-source investigations. Held on November 3-8 in Kampala, Uganda, the course trained participants on open-source tools with a view to strengthening their work investigating, documenting, and monitoring human rights violations.

03/17/26
three people seat together look at a computer screen
In Focus

The Expert’s Choice 2025 Year in Review

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.

01/06/26
Collage of feature images from Experts Choice pieces in 2025
Opinion

The Conviction of Abd-Al-Rahman and What It Means for Victims Amid Ongoing Atrocities in Sudan 

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.

11/04/25

by

Ilaria Martorelli

A man wearing a suit and glasses is seated in a chair, in profile position (side view), head looking straight ahead with a straight face.
Opinion

The Prospect for Justice in Sudan: An Interview with ICTJ’s Ilaria Martorelli

Despite the enormous challenges, Sudanese civil society and other stakeholders are prioritizing transitional justice, acknowledging the need to address past injustices to end the cycle of conflict in their country. ICTJ continues to support them as they envision and design victim-centered, gender-sensitive, and inclusive strategies. Leading these efforts is ICTJ's Ilaria Martorelli. In this interview, she discusses the prospects for lasting peace, accountability, and repair in Sudan.

10/22/25

by Karsten Rynearson

A woman builds a makeshift shelter made from tree branches and clothing.
In Focus

Amid Epic Crisis, Sudan Marks Double Anniversary of Revolution and War

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?

05/02/25

by Ilaria Martorelli, Yasir Masoud, and Emma Merritt-Cuneo

People gather in front of government buildings in Khartoum waiving Sudanese flags.
Opinion

ICTJ Accompanies Sudanese Victims to ICC War Crimes Trial

ICTJ accompanied more than 10 Sudanese victim stakeholders to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to attend the closing statements in the case of The Prosecutor v. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman ("Ali Kushayb"). The statements took place on December 11 to 13. ICTJ supported the ICC in the selection of the stakeholders, who were chosen for their strong ties with affected communities.

12/11/24
A man wearing black plastic-framed glasses and a suit sits in a chair turning his slightly looking directly into the camera.
Press Release

Special Report on COVID-19: Keeping Justice in Sight

Sparing almost no corner of the world from its wrath, the COVID-19 pandemic has now spread to every country. In an effort to slow the contagion, governments in most countries have been taking drastic measures requiring all residents other than essential workers to confine themselves in their homes, and shutting down vast sectors of their economies. The impact has been crushing. COVID-19 has profoundly affected every country where ICTJ currently works: Armenia, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Uganda. We recently caught up with ICTJ’s heads of country programs to learn more about the impact the pandemic is having on transitional justice and society more broadly.

05/19/20
In Focus

A Historic Opportunity for Peace, Democracy, and Justice in Sudan

After decades of repressive rules, military coups, and conflicts in the country’s marginalized peripheries, the Sudanese people have come together and proven their resolve to break with the past and begin a new chapter of their nation’s history. Undeterred by a brutal crackdown, thousands of...

08/30/19

by

Fernando Travesí-Sanz

Opinion

The Bumpy Road to Peace and Accountability: Transitional Justice in the African Great Lakes Region

In Africa's Great Lakes region, countries face common challenges like bad governance, inequitable distribution of natural resources, and ethnic divisions. As nations like Burundi, Central African Republic and South Sudan work towards peacebuilding and accountability, they should learn from what has worked and what has not in neighboring countries, writes Sarah Kihika Kasande, ICTJ's Head of Office in Uganda.

04/24/17
In Focus

Activists: Strong Civil Society is Key to Hopes of Stability in Africa’s Great Lakes

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.

03/29/17
In Focus

Victims Fighting Impunity Transitional Justice in the African Great Lakes Region

In many countries of the African Great Lakes region, state-led approaches to transitional justice have been created by wide-ranging agreements or policies that have been later forgotten or only partially implemented. Even when implemented, they are often subject to years of delay and/...

by

Aileen Thomson and Kasande Sarah Kihika

Report

AU Strategy for Collective Withdrawal from the ICC a Non-Starter

The Africa Union's resolution to collectively support a strategy to withdraw from the ICC looks more like a machination of those who have instrumentalized an argument against the court to protect themselves from the long arm of justice, write ICTJ's top experts on Africa.

02/16/17
In Focus

South Africa's Obligations to the ICC Persist

South African authorities apparently believe that once the country has officially withdrawn from the ICC, it will be free to invite the likes of Sudanese President al-Bashir to the country. That's not so, writes ICTJ's Howard Varney, who explains why the country's obligations would continue beyond its departure from the court.

12/12/16
In Focus

Unpacking the Nuances of Complementarity

The struggle against impunity remains as important –and precarious –as ever as we celebrate International Justice Day on July 17. ICTJ marks the occasion with a look at complementarity, a concept critical to understanding the role that the ICC and national courts play in this struggle.

07/12/16
In Focus

Survivors Speak: Book Launch and Workshop on Women and Girls in Conflict

Evelyn Amony tells the harrowing story of her years in captivity with the LRA, and experience of grinding poverty and stigma after returning home with two children, in her new memoir, I Am Evelyn Amony: Reclaiming my Life from the Lord's Resistance Army. The autobiography, which tells the difficult truths of women and girls in wartime as only a firsthand witness can, will be launched today in New York, at the Japan Society.

06/15/16
Press Release

ICTJ Conference Explores Efforts at Redress, Accountability and Reform in African Great Lakes Region

Today, ICTJ opened a two-day conference in Kampala, Uganda, gathering activists and officials from the African Great Lakes Region to discuss efforts at redress and accountability for serious human rights violations committed in their countries.

05/17/16
Press Release

ICTJ Partners Victims, Civil Society and Officials on Transitional Justice in Great Lakes Region

Civil society leaders, members of victims' groups and state officials throughout the Great Lakes region will convene in Kampala, Uganda next week at a conference hosted by ICTJ. Attendees will share their experiences working for redress in their communities and discuss what strategies have proven effective at the local level.

05/12/16
In Focus

ICTJ and Other Organizations Call Upon Uganda to Arrest ICC Fugitive Bashir As He Attends Inauguration

Human Rights Network-Uganda (HURINET-U), The Uganda Coalition on the International Criminal Court (UCICC), The International Center for Transitional Justice, Avocats San Frontiers and Atrocities Watch are dismayed to learn that Government of Uganda has extended an invitation to President Omar al...

05/12/16
Press Release

African Union Must Act to Address Impunity for International Crimes

In a major effort to promote accountability for serious crimes in Africa, ICTJ joined hundreds of human rights groups and transitional justice partners to ask the African Union to prioritize justice. Addressed to the new African Union (AU) Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the letter warns that strained relationships between the AU and the International Criminal Court (ICC) may put justice at risk.

01/18/13
In Focus

Reparation and the Darfur Peace Process: Ensuring Victims' Rights

This paper focuses on the issue of reparations in Darfur. It particularly emphasizes victims' right to reparation for the harm done to them, and aims to ensure that this right is recognized and upheld in any peace process. Drawing on experiences from other regions, it reviews and addr...

by

ICTJ; Suliman Baldo, Lisa Magarrell

Report

Sudan: Impact of the Rome Statute and the International Criminal Court

Few conflicts have garnered as much attention as the recent one in Darfur. Widespread atrocities reported by several organizations including an International Commission of Investigation compelled the United Nations (UN) Security Council to refer the situation in the western region of ...

by

ICTJ; Suliman Baldo

Briefing Paper

Transitions January 2011: Sudan: A Perilous Road Ahead

Transitions focuses on Sudan's referendum on whether the south will be independent. Suliman Baldo, ICTJ Africa Program Director, talks about the referendum and prospects for peace in Sudan.

by

ICTJ

Newsletter