20 December 2024
An end of 2024 year message from our Executive Director Marlies Stappers
Dear friends and colleagues,
As 2024 draws to a close, I want to take a moment to thank you for all your support and solidarity. We look back on 2024, as a year of tremendous change all over the world directly impacting ours and partners’ work.
The year is ending with a historic liberation of the Syrian people from oppression and tyranny. In the coming period, we will work tirelessly with our Syrian partners to support their path of dealing with past injustices and their healing and transition towards a free Syria where all its citizens enjoy their rights.
The events in Syria come amidst an unprecedented backdrop of a changing geopolitical landscape. The logic of war, division and militarisation is back at the global level with a vengeance. The contexts we work in have been deeply affected.
We see a stark increase in the disregard to human rights, and an undermining of the international justice order. This translates into shrinking space for civil society, shifting funding priorities, and an attack on the multilateral human rights architecture. While the rise of the extreme right and authoritarianism fuels polarisation and divide, we are all oscillating between fear and the hope for change in this political climate.
Victims and survivors show that solidarity and empathy is the only way forward to tackle the root causes of impunity. The call is for us to unleash the care for all those subject to violence and inequality.
Tirelessly, victims and survivors have been searching for their loved ones and remembering the past for a better future in Iraq, mobilising at the grassroots level to fight for justice in Guatemala, and speaking truth to power in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They have done so for a better future and more just societies.
They have taught us that real change takes time. We need long-term approaches in order to truly address structural causes of violence. Democracy and strong rule of law institutions are such long-term investments that build on participation, inclusion and impartiality. We need to preserve and promote these values that have been at the core of fighting impunity, and we need togetherness to strengthen partnerships, defend victims and prevent violence so that tangible change can become a reality.
One way forward is to continue building stronger movements for change. In this spirit, we promoted regional youth participation in transitional justice debates at the African Union and, under the European Union, we joined forces with others on the “Global Initiative Against Impunity for International Crimes and Serious Human Rights Violations”.
At the global level, we supported the international victims’ network INOVAS in developing one-of-a-kind guidelines for victim participation in justice processes, to be launched in 2025. We promoted a timely first expert meeting on Artificial Intelligence and the future of justice, leading to the creation of a multidisciplinary platform to contribute to victim-centred technology solutions.
Such challenging times show more than ever the importance of Impunity Watch’s work in connecting victims and survivors to global decision making, and fostering new alliances to connect the past with the future, amidst pressing shifts as migration and climate change.
It is by putting victims’ needs and aspirations at the centre that we can transform systems and break cycles of violence, human rights abuses and impunity. Be with us!
Wishing you all a restful holiday season and let’s stand united for renewed determination and hope in the new year.
With gratitude,
Marlies Stappers, Executive Director