Past Projects

Outreach Evaluation: The International Criminal Court in the Central African Republic

Patrick Vinck
Phuong Pham
2010

Public information and outreach have emerged as one of the fundamental activities of transitional justice mechanisms. Their objective is to raise public awareness, knowledge and participation among affected communities. Despite this increased focus, understanding of the role, impact and effectiveness of various outreach strategies remains limited, as is understanding of communities’ knowledge, perceptions and attitudes about transitional justice mechanisms, including their expectations. The study discussed in this article was designed to evaluate International Criminal Court (ICC)...

Association of Exposure to Violence and Potential Traumatic Events with Self-Reported Physical and Mental Health Status in the Central African Republic.

Patrick Vinck
Phuong Pham
2010
CONTEXT:

For decades, the Central African Republic (CAR) has experienced violence, economic stagnation, and institutional failure. The latest wave of violence erupted in 2001 and continues to this day in some areas. Yet there has been little attention to the conflict and even less research to document and quantify the conflict's human cost.

OBJECTIVE:

To study levels of violence in CAR, including mortality levels, and the association between exposure to violence and traumatic events with self-reported physical and mental health status.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS:

...

Sense of Coherence and Its Association with Exposure to Traumatic Events, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Depression in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Phuong Pham
Patrick Vinck
Harvey Weinstein
Didine Kaba Kinkodi
2010

The Democratic Republic of Congo is the scene of some of the worst atrocities in recent history. However, in the face of traumatic experience, only a minority of people develops symptoms that impair their functioning. The sense of coherence proposed by Antonovsky (1987) is a theoretical construct reflecting an individual's overall wellbeing and ability to cope with stress. This study explores the relationships between sense of coherence, exposure to traumatic events, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression. Results suggest an association between a high sense of...

Human Rights, Transitional Justice, Public Health and Social Reconstruction

Phuong Pham
Patrick Vinck
Harvey Weinstein
2010

Mass violence, armed conflict, genocide, and complex humanitarian emergencies continue to create major social and public health disasters at the dawn of the 21st Century. Transitional justice, a set of policies designed to address the effects of war on traumatized communities and bring justice, lies at the nexus of public health, conflict, and social reconstruction. Despite the paucity of empirical evidence, advocates of transitional justice have claimed that it can alleviate the effects of trauma, deter future violence, and bring about social reconstruction in war-affected communities....

Confronting Duch: Civil Party Participation in Case 001 at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

Eric Stover
Mychelle Balthazard
Alexa Koenig
2011

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) is unique because it is the first international criminal tribunal to allow victims of alleged crimes to act as civil parties at trial. This means that victims can have a role at the ECCC beyond being called as witnesses. After presenting the history of victim particiation in national and international war crimes trials, this article examines how civil party participation shaped the trial proceedings at the ECCC, and how the civil parties viewed their interactions with the court. It concludes by reflecting on the positive and...

Justice, Accountability and Social Reconstruction: An Interview Study of Bosnian Judges and Prosecutors

Harvey Weinstein
Laurel Fletcher
Damir Arnaut
Daska Babcock-Halaholo
Kerstin Carlson
Anne Mahle
2000

With the Centre for Human Rights (University of Sarajevo)

The report describes the findings from an interview study conducted in 1999, of a representative sample of thirty-two Bosnian judges and prosecutors with primary or appellate jurisdiction for national war crimes trials. The purpose of this study was to assess the understanding of attitudes among these legal professionals towards the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and prosecution of war crimes.

Iraqi Voices: Attitudes Toward Transitional Justice and Social Reconstruction

Nehal Bhuta
Hanny Megally
Harvey M. Weinstein
Phuong N. Pham
Eric Stover
Paul van Zyl
Suzana Grego
Sarah Rutledge
2004

With the International Center for Transitional Justice

This report is based on data obtained from extensive interviews and focus group discussions with representatives from a broad cross-section of the Iraqi population. Taking place months after the fall of Baghdad but before the capture of Saddam Hussein and the establishment of the Iraqi Special Tribunal, this survey provided many participants with the first opportunity to offer their opinions on these critical issues. This study reveals a shared...

Hidden Slaves: Forced Labor in the United States

Kevin Bales
Laurel Fletcher
Eric Stover
2004

With Free the Slaves

This report documents the nature and scope of forced labor in the United States from January 1998 to December 2003. It is the first study to examine the numbers, demographic characteristics, and origins of victims and perpetrators of forced labor in the United States and the adequacy of the U.S. response to this growing problem since the enactment of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000.

Freedom Denied: Forced Labor in California

David Tuller
2005

California is hardly a stranger to the issue of forced labor—especially because forced labor flourishes in states with large immigrants populations. Our research in this report identified 57 forced labor operations in almost a dozen cities in California between 1998 and 2003, involving more than 500 individuals from 18 countries.

Forgotten Voices: A Population-Based Survey on Attitudes about Peace and Justice in Northern Uganda

Phuong Pham
Patrick Vinck
Marieke Wierda
Eric Stover
Adrian di Giovanni
2005

With the International Center for Transitional Justice

This report is based on the preliminary analysis of quantitative data collected from interviews of populations in Northern Uganda.