Logo for the Center for Victims of Torture

Transitional Justice Initiative

Last updated: July 19, 2023
A woman and several children sit in a circle, eating food.

For two years beginning in 2015, CVT took on a Transitional Justice Initiative that aimed to integrate mental health and psychosocial support approaches into the work of transitional justice, arguing that awareness of the mental health impacts of trauma and justice processes is necessary to formulate more effective accountability mechanisms. Members of the CVT Policy team conducted research and assessment and published these reports of their findings.

Enforced Disappearances: Ambiguity Haunts the Families of Iraq’s Missing

Disappearances create an ambiguous loss, a category of loss for which there is no closure or verification. In this paper, CVT explores this sometimes overlooked human rights violation.

  • Download the full paper here.
  • Download an Arabic language version of the paper here.

Reclaiming Hope, Dignity and Respect

CVT’s report Reclaiming Hope, Dignity and Respect: Syrian and Iraqi Torture Survivors in Jordan, the product of two years of in-person interviews and study, is based on the stories of 64 men, women and children who either faced torture in their home countries or had close family members tortured and are working to rebuild their lives.

The report recommends a comprehensive review of safe and effective victim participation in the transitional justice process, beginning with the documentation phase.

Download the full report here.