Impunity Watch was set up in response to calls from Guatemalan human rights groups for support in their struggle for redress. Starting out as a project of Solidaridad in 2004, we became an independent organisation in 2008.
We began working in Guatemala and Serbia, with offices in both countries. Our early work involved developing research instrument to monitor impunity and track progress in transitional justice, following outbreaks of violent conflict anywhere in the world.
This formed the basis for our research and policy work, and helped inform numerous activities with local partners.
Underpinned by the research, our Guatemala programme became well-established and began monitoring compliance with international obligations to human rights. We continue working in the country, with a strong focus on victim participation and strengthening the independence of the judiciary.
Building on the success of programmes in Guatemala and Serbia, we expanded into the Great Lakes region of Africa. We opened an office in Burundi in 2010 and started working on transitional justice in the DRC in 2014.
Between 2014-16 we expanded our work into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with a focus on Iraq, Syria, and Tunisia.
We no longer have an office in Serbia, but continue to work in the Western Balkans region through our network of local partners.
In all our programmes, we focus on a number of comparative themes relating to justice, in particular victim participation, politically-informed transitional justice and gender-transformative justice. We prioritise long-term engagements with our partners, and this guides decisions on where and how we expand.
Our priority for the coming years will be to strengthen our work on addressing the underlying drivers of impunity, such as historical inequalities and oppression. This will allow us to work towards systemic changes that can make justice a reality.
