17 December 2025
An end of year message from our Executive Director
Dear friends, colleagues, partners, and supporters,
2025 has brought with it deeper challenges in the global political landscape, but also reaffirmed the raison d’etre of our mission as an organisation that centres the fight against impunity in its name. Impunity is the word of the moment, and to resist it is a responsibility we have not only towards victims and survivors, but also towards a society based on democratic values and the rule of law. We want to thank you all for your continued solidarity and commitment to justice and the fight against impunity.
This fight is more important than ever. The global landscape for justice and accountability is deteriorating at unprecedented speeds, with the erosion of international human rights standards and a rules-based order.
Yet, we see hope. The current political moment provides opportunities for change and actively challenging impunity. The need for a strong, aligned, and activist civil society is greater than ever, which we embodied throughout the year in various ways.
We celebrated another win for the Maya Achi women in Guatemala, who achieved justice in a second trial against their perpetrators, building on the historic January 2022 verdict. Impunity Watch supported the case by providing legal and financial support to survivors throughout the trial process. Despite such progress, Indigenous human rights defenders continue to be persecuted and detained for fighting against corruption, and we are closely observing the pivotal election periods in 2026 that will be essential for re-capturing the justice system and ensuring democracy is upheld. Why is the independence of justice so important? Hear from Claudia Gonzalez, a human rights defender and lawyer from Guatemala.
Similarly, Tunisia faces intense restrictions to civil society, coupled with increasing crackdowns on human rights defenders and NGOs. In this increasingly hostile environment, we continued our path to resist impunity by strengthening analysis and research. We monitored the Specialized Criminal Chambers this past year, and are soon releasing reports on corruption and memorialisation to expose gaps in justice and accountability.
Since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria last December, the country is at a critical juncture to integrate a comprehensive and inclusive transitional justice (TJ) process–one that ensures justice, reconciliation, and long-term stability. We came together with other civil society organisations and survivors to address the full spectrum of what this could look like. Impunity Watch continues to support coalition building and centring victims’ and survivors’ political calls for accountability. This includes launching guidelines for victim participation in justice processes, led by the International Network of Victims and Survivors of Serious Human Rights Abuses (INOVAS), which were recently used to train the National Commission for TJ in Syria.
This year was instrumental for us to pave the way forward for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in transitional justice. AI will not replace justice, but it will re-shape it and shift power. We are here to make sure that victims are not left behind. From analysing AI’s connections to the TJ field, to a global mapping of its uses across 40+ case studies, we are building a collective foundation for learning and calling for the development of responsible, victim-centred principles to guide the use of AI in TJ–including through policy engagements such as a side-event at the recent 24th Session of the Assembly of State Parties with the Trust Fund for Victims at the ICC.
As the African Union continues to advance its Transitional Justice policy (AUTJP), we are actively working to integrate more youth and women’s voices into such arenas regionally–ensuring that these processes centre rather than silence them. From developing a youth-friendly AUTJP, to unpacking the legacy of historical injustices and their enduring impacts on youths’ lived realities, to ensuring that gender and masculinities are integrated into the AUTJP through dedicated regional consultations that address unequal power relationships–we seek to promote a holistic and inclusive picture of justice on the continent. A positive message is urgently needed in a world where impunity is the norm; led by Africa’s youth who have been at a forefront in mobilising, resisting, and calling out corruption and state capture.
With global freedom on the decline for the nineteenth year straight, we observe with concern the impact of widespread political polarisation on dominant narratives, and the intertwining of populism with denialism and historical revisionism. In the Western Balkans, the UN resolution to commemorate the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, which was adopted in 2024, ignited old tensions with leaders openly campaigning against its adoption. To combat such narratives, we celebrated the 30-year anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide with our partners–honouring the memory of victims, amplifying the voices of survivors, and creating space for reflection, learning, and dialogue, especially with younger generations.
As the Hague hosted the NATO summit this summer, we took the opportunity to sound the alarm on increased militarisation and record-defense spending amid worsening global crises. Our long-term work with victims and survivors have shown that violent/militarised masculinities are a root cause of human rights abuses and persistent gender inequality–with direct impacts on the persistence of impunity worldwide. Breaking cycles of violence means we must transform such gender relations completely, as evidenced by our work with ex-combatants in Burundi. This working paper by Philipp Schulz unpacks the concept more deeply. We aim to release a policy document in 2026 with calls-to-action for human rights investigators to integrate up-front analysis on violent forms of masculinities to tackle impunity on this topic from the very beginning.
One of our key missions is to amplify grassroots voices. On the European Union’s 10th anniversary of its Transitional Justice policy, we released a visual booklet, ‘Transitional Justice in Action’ with the Global Initiative Against Impunity. In it, we celebrate powerful stories and statements from victims and survivors leading these movements worldwide—bridging the gap between grassroots action and global advocacy. Our joint statement also highlights the systemic challenges that still persist in our collective fight against impunity, and puts forward key recommendations for the EU and Member States. We called on the EU and its member states to redouble efforts to fight back against the global trend of normalising impunity.
All of these examples demonstrate that our work continues to be rooted in mobilising for change and resistance to the shifting global landscape where “might is right”. We do this in deep solidarity with victims and affected communities, especially the most marginalised. Justice and accountability for them is our starting point and ultimate measure.
In a context where impunity is becoming normalised and the support for human rights work is dwindling, business as usual is not an option. This is why, over the past months, we have worked to update our strategy. In the coming year, we are stepping up our actions on resistance, political action, innovation, and agility. The fight against impunity is rooted in strong activism of victim- and civil society-led movements, and their capacity to continuously develop innovative strategies to confront obstacles. The current moment requires us to reconnect with these roots.
We hope you will join us on this journey!
With gratitude,
Marlies Stappers
Executive Director