Resource Library

On August 18, nearly two decades after Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was brutally assassinated in a car bombing, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon delivered a long-awaited conviction. The judgment found Salim Ayyash guilty of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, committing a terrorist act, the intentional homicide of Hariri and 21 others, and attempted homicide of the 226 injured. However, the tribunal did not find enough evidence that the three other defendants were aware in advance of the conspiracy and thus acquitted them of all charges. This split verdict makes an uncertain situation in Lebanon even more tenuous.

In a new briefing paper, ICTJ's Paul Seils and Roger Duthie examine what steps the international community can take during a crisis to support democracy and accountability.

Today, we are facing a global public health crisis of unprecedented proportions. Only time will tell the devastating toll that COVID-19 will exact on human life. The breakneck speed at which the virus is spreading does not give us reason for optimism in the near future. We at ICTJ fully grasp the gravity of the situation, and we take our responsibility for the health and safety of our staff, partners, and communities where we work seriously.

The United Nations Security Council has considered transitional justice on several occasions in the past and included many of its components in country-specific resolutions, and also stressed the links between transitional justice and the other items on its thematic agenda including women, peace and security, and children and armed conflict, and it has made explicit reference to transitional justice as a key part of efforts to sustain peace. Yet, on February 13, the Security Council held its first open debate focusing solely on transitional justice.

This is the third time that the Tunisian government, supported by several Members of Parliament, has put debate of the National Reconciliation Law on the political agenda. Rearranged in form but with the same substantial faults, this law has mobilized the opposition — for the third time — of approximately 20 civil society organizations that met yesterday and plan to soon hold a press conference.

A groundbreaking new book from the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and UNICEF examines the complicated relationship between education, justice and peacebuilding in societies grappling with a legacy of violent conflict. It offers lessons on how education can be harnessed in a divided society to overcome the past and create the conditions for peace, often under very difficult circumstances.

For many people in Lebanon, being uprooted from home is no longer an exceptional event. In this Expert’s Choice, ICTJ's Firas BouZeineddine draws a connection between the dire situation many Lebanese are facing and the culture of impunity that prevails in the country. In particular, he calls on domestic and external actors to be held accountable for past and present violations.

The wives of the missing and disappeared in Lebanon continue to suffer serious social, psychological, legal and financial effects on their lives, and the lives of their children, says a new report by ICTJ and the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World at Lebanese American University.

Life continues to stand still for the many families of the missing and disappeared in Lebanon. The Lebanese War ended 28 years ago, but for these families the war rages on. A recent legislative breakthrough, however, might finally pave the way for Lebanon to confront this legacy.