IUSTICOM facilitates communication between different accountability mechanisms and their stakeholders through the implementation of diverse projects, events and activities. IUSTICOM also increases the amount of accurate information about transitional justice and various accountability mechanisms in the public domain.
Our services include drafting comprehensive communications and outreach strategies; assisting victims and affected communities as well as grassroots organizations and the civil society in conceptualizing, creating and implementing accountability campaigns including securing international and donor support; organizing conferences, training sessions and other events, providing lectures, presentations and briefings; teaching; and producing engaging print and audio-visual material.
The last 30 years have seen remarkable progress in the field of transitional justice and the fight against impunity. Many different mechanisms – truth commissions, international and hybrid tribunals, as well as reform and other programs – have been successfully implemented and continue to do their important work. Recent years have also seen a rise in the number of cases tried in accordance with the principle of universal jurisdiction. And there are many people around the world who are still demanding justice for past wrongs.
However, the impact of these various mechanisms has not always matched their actual achievements due to the fact that they were not sufficiently known or understood by the affected communities and their other stakeholders.
Very often, for security and other reasons, the accountability mechanisms are located at a great distance from the communities affected by the crimes. In addition, the procedures they apply are so complex that the average person cannot follow their work. Finally, since these mechanisms are run predominantly by judges, prosecutors and lawyers and not communications specialists, they often struggle with effectively communicating with their diverse stakeholders, such as victims and affected communities, civil society, donors, states, inter-governmental organizations and the general public.
As a consequence, the stakeholders do not always understand the implications of such mechanisms or their work or mandate. In some cases, policy makers and potential donors are unsure of which accountability mechanism might be most appropriate in a given situation or they fail to achieve the desired outcomes due to a lack of popular or donor support.
Finally, the era of populism, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the already suffering and fragmented media landscape, and the decline in public trust in institutional expertise pose additional threats due to the rapid decline of reliable journalism and the deliberate spread of disinformation. In other words, proper understanding of concepts of justice and accountability more important than ever.
IUSTICOM specializes in assisting accountability mechanisms in communicating with their diverse stakeholders, such as victims and affected communities, civil society, donors, states, inter-governmental organizations and the general public. We simplify complex procedures and explain them in a language everyone can understand without sacrificing accuracy. We organize different events to support accountability mechanisms in achieving their goals – events focused on dissemination of information as well as capacity building, education and training. We assist diplomats, policy makers, legal advisors and other legal professionals, academics and students in understanding international and transitional justice mechanisms.
While there are many NGOs working in the field of justice, none of them are dedicated to ‘communicating justice.’ In this respect, IUSTICOM is unique.
IUSTICOM’s Founding Director combines extensive knowledge of the law with experience with the media, communications, public relations and event planning. She has drafted and implemented numerous communications and outreach strategies, conceptualized and organized hundreds of conferences, lectures, presentations and training sessions, produced thousands of pages of engaging and informative printed material as well as dozens of audio-visual projects and given hundreds of interviews for electronic, print and digital media. She has taught full courses and published academic articles on international criminal law and public international law. Her projects have been praised by the organizations she worked for as well as their funders and other stakeholders.
With many years of professional experience in this field, she fully understands the ever-present tension between the need for confidentiality and protection of sensitive people and information and the obligation to operate transparently. She knows and understands both the external and the internal challenges to communicating justice, has devised traditional and innovative ways of successfully overcoming them and has an extensive network of experts who have already expressed their commitment to engage.
IUSTICOM’s vision is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and particularly Goal 16 – “to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.” 1 We strongly agree that the “lack of access to justice means that conflicts remain unresolved, and people cannot obtain protection and redress. Institutions that do not function according to legitimate laws are prone to arbitrariness and abuse of power, and less capable of delivering public services to everyone. To exclude and to discriminate not only violates human rights, but also causes resentment and animosity, and could give rise to violence.”
to aid existing accountability mechanisms in effectively engaging with their stakeholders and thus enhancing their achievements and positive impact;
to aid policy makers or victims’ advocates in identifying the best accountability mechanism in a given situation and then devise comprehensive communications strategies to secure both donor and community support;
to increase the amount of accurate information and knowledge about transitional justice and diverse accountability mechanisms in the public domain.
IUSTICOM taps into extensive professional experience in international judicial institutions and other accountability mechanisms as well as human rights and the NGO sector.
IUSTICOM will achieve its aims using many of the successful tried and tested methods and will also continue to innovate so as to succeed in the most effective ways. Specific activities will include but will not be limited to the following:
The field of justice is rapidly evolving. In response to this, IUSTICOM will continue to innovate to ensure we achieve our goals in the most effective ways.
IUSTICOM is a Stichting (“Foundation”) under Dutch Law, registered in The Hague, the Netherlands.
If you need any help, advice or want to know more about our services, please feel free to call email or fill out the Contact form.