Global Processes of Justice, Truth–Telling and Healing
The IARA Project is currently conducting a three-year project, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, to survey international examples of truth-telling, justice, and healing efforts, including truth commissions, tribunals, and community-based programs. The goal is to better understand what accountability looks like for these endeavors and what lessons can be used going forward.
Since 2021, the IARA team has spoken with over 120 individuals across seven countries, three U.S. states, and multiple Indigenous nations. Each is engaged in processes of truth-telling following violence committed against, perpetrated by, or occurring within their communities.
Map of cases
The project’s full report, led by Professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad and Dr. Gloria Yayra A. Ayee, is set to be published in the beginning of 2025. The IARA team hopes that the report will support vital truth-telling efforts, particularly within the context of addressing the U.S.’s own histories of harm and systemic racism. Subscribe to the IARA newsletter for news on this project.
Gloria Yayra A. Ayee
Senior Research Fellow
Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project
Khalil Gibran Muhammad
Director
Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project
Erica Licht
Research Project Director
Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project
In their own words
In this video, international project participants share their experience, wisdom, and expertise. Hear their advice on pathways toward transformation and healing, answering:
How do we describe, remember, and document violent legacies of the past? Which pathways lead us toward transformation and healing?
2024 Symposium
In May 2024, the IARA Project hosted a Symposium marking the culmination of the project. The event brought together 25 international leaders, advocates, and experts from nonprofit organizations, government institutions, and academia — most of whom had been interviewed during the project’s fieldwork. Attendees included leaders such as U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and President Natan Obed, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.
Hosted at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, the Symposium provided a space for the IARA team to share their findings, receive feedback from international experts, and hear about new developments in the field.
In this event report, we invite others to learn from the conversations, stories, and wisdom shared at this convening. Follow the link below to read insightful summaries of the program, including highlighted takeaways.
Photos by Sarah Grucza
Photos from Site Visits
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Large murals line the streets of a major road in Belfast, Northern Ireland where they justice icons including Frederick Douglas at center.
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Public wall mural in Belfast, Northern Ireland depicting freedom fighters and activists from the United States and throughout the globe, including Angela Davis, Steven Biko, and Bob Marley.
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Large scale mural in Belfast, Northern Ireland depicts Nelson Mandela alongside the Irish tricolour flag and the South African flag.
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IARA team members Khalil and Erica meet with Godeliève Mukasarasi, social worker and women’s activist who pioneered community dialogue programs after the Rwandan Genocide.
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IARA team member Erica interviews Dr. Eric Ndushabandi, Director of the Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace (IRDP) in Kigali, Rwanda where his institute uses research to promote best practices for interethnic peacebuilding.
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Aerial view of Kigali, Rwanda. The 1994 Rwandan Genocide resulted in the murder of approximately one million Tutsis, as well as Hutu and Twa allies and moderates.
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IARA Director Khalil Gibran Muhammad photographs the Camp Kigali Belgian Memorial where 10 UN Peacekeepers were killed for protecting the sitting Hutu moderate President. The original bullet-sprayed building remains intact.
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Camp Kigali Belgian Memorial.
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Memorial located in the parking lot of Hôtel des Mille Collines where 1000 people took refuge during the 1994 Genocide, which the film Hotel Rwanda is based on.
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More recent memorials erected in the Brixton neighborhood of London honor Black British, Caribbean and African men and women who served in World War I and World War II on behalf of the UK. These new markers recognize contributions of Black people to British history, and beyond those who arrived on England’s shores in 1948 on the Windrush ship from Jamaica.
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The Black Cultural Archives in London, England is one of few British cultural institutions which documents, centers and archives Black British History, through cultural artifacts, artwork and robust library.
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Len Kwesi Garrison, was an educationalist, community activist and historian who advocated for the preservation co-founded ACER (Afro-Caribbean Education Resource) and co-founded the Black Cultural Archives.
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Interior of the District Six Museum in Cape Town, South Africa, which was created as a memorial to the 60,000 residents who were forcibly removed during the apartheid era. The floor of the museum is covered with a large map with handwritten notes of former residents, showing where their homes were located.
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“List of Victims” wall at the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa. The wall is inscribed with the names of more than 19,000 known victims of apartheid, as recorded in Volume 7 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report.
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The Nelson Mandela statue on the grounds of the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa. The towering statue, which is 29.5 feet (9 meters) tall and made of bronze, is the tallest figurative sculpture of the former President of South Africa.
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The Wall of Names at the Freedom Park in Pretoria, South Africa is a memorial that includes a list of names of people who died during eight conflicts in South Africa’s history: the pre-colonial wars, slavery, genocide of Indigenous peoples, wars of resistance, the South African War, World War I, World War II, and the Struggle for Liberation (anti-apartheid movement).