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Driving Justice Forward, Together — A PJI Community Update (October 2025)

Dear Friends,

You are not alone! Read the latest on the progress you helped create.

The Reckoning: Amplifying Survivor Voices

On 7 June 2025, PJI’s Co-Executive Director Max Marcus participated in a talk following a powerful stage performance related to the war in Ukraine.

IPHR Report: Sexualised Torture in Ukraine

On 12 May 2025, the International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) published its report exposing sexualised torture at a Russian temporary detention centre in Kherson.

Victory in the Chiquita Trial!

On 10 June 2024, after weeks of powerful testimony and evidence, a Florida jury issued its verdict against Chiquita Brands International and in favour of plaintiff family members of Colombian trade unionists, banana workers, activists, and others targeted by paramilitaries in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and awarded a total of $38.3 million in damages

Staying the Course for Justice! A PJI Community Update (May 2025)

Dear Friends,

PJI is bringing justice home!

International Conference of Prosecutors on Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

From March 26 to 28, 2024, with PJI’s support, the Office of the Special Representative for the Secretary General For Sexual Violence in Conflict, through its Team Of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict, convened the first ever international conference of prosecutors focusing on accountability for conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) crimes.

PJI Stands with Victims in Key Tech Lawsuit

On 21 April 2025, PJI and Professor William Aceves intervened on behalf of Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-47^th District) in a US Supreme Court case led by the Human Rights Law Foundation (HRLF) and Schonbrun Seplow Harris Hoffman & Zeldes LLP.

A Victory for Sri Lankan Victims and Survivors!

On 24 March 2025, the United Kingdom sanctioned four individuals responsible for serious human rights abuses during the Sri Lankan civil war (1983-2009).

Major Progress! A PJI Community Update (Oct. 2024)

Dear Friends,

We have some exciting progress to share with you!

Evidence Sharing Policies and Protocols – UN Investigative Bodies and OHCHR

From November 2023 to March 2024, PJI partnered with the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) on a project addressing issues of cooperation and information sharing between United Nations Human Rights Council-mandated investigative bodies (IBs) and civil society groups (CSOs).

Speaking Frankly about CRSV in Ukraine

In October 2023, PJI facilitated a panel during the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Right’s Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDMI) in Warsaw.

Crimes Against Humanity in Tarhuna, Libya

In June 2023, PJI co-sponsored and participated in International Best Practices for Investigating Gross Human Rights Violations and Crimes against Humanity in Tarhuna as part of Transitional Justice, a workshop convened by the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya.

Tackling Impunity: Strengthening Domestic Accountability for CRSV

On 29 November 2022, PJI co-Founder Max Marcus spoke about her experience strengthening domestic accountability for conflict-related sexual violence as part of a panel entitled, “Tackling Impunity: Strengthening Domestic Accountability for CRSV” during the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office’s second Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) Conference in London.

Colombian human rights case to go forward

On September 6, 2022, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling and reinstated claims against Chiquita Brands International, Inc. in a historic lawsuit over the company’s role in funding paramilitaries in Colombia, allowing the case finally to proceed to a jury trial.

Investigating War Crimes in Ukraine

On March 25, 2022, in connection with the conflict in Ukraine, PJI was invited to speak in a workshop held for European prosecutors and law enforcement entitled “Introduction to Investigating and Prosecuting Core International Crimes.”

Intersectionality in International Criminal Law

On 25 January 2022, PJI’s Director Max Marcus joined a panel of experts convened by the Transitional Justice Institute, the Emergent Justice Collective, and the Unit for Global Justice at Goldsmiths, University of London as part of their webinar series on the application of intersectionality in international criminal law.

Using Digital Technology for War Crimes Documentation and Accountability

On December 14, 2021, as part of the ICC Assembly of States Parties side events, PJI Co-Director Dr. Kathleen Roberts moderated a panel co-hosted by eyeWitness to Atrocities and Truth Hounds on Using Digital Technology for War Crimes Documentation and Accountability.

Assessing the Scope and Parameters of Transitional Justice in Somalia

On November 18, 2021, PJI co-Director Kathleen Roberts participated in person in the Somalia Learning and Research Day in Nairobi, Kenya, providing expert comment at a panel presentation of research and recommendations made under the auspices of the Somalia Stability Fund through an internal publication entitled Assessing the Scope and Parameters of Transitional Justice in Somalia.

Credibility as a tool against impunity

On December 10, 2021, at an event in Guatemala, PJI Director Max Marcus joined an incredible group of speakers addressing the theme: “El principio de credibilidad como herramienta jurídica y social contra la impunidad de la violencia sexual” – the principle of credibility as a legal and social tool against impunity for sexual violence.

Roundtable: Afghan Women and International Law

On October 27, 2021, PJI Co-Founder Kathleen Roberts moderated a roundtable on the urgent question: What Use is International Law to Afghan Women?

Partners in Justice: Launch!

PJI formally launched on Tuesday, March 16, 2021.

Access to Justice for Atrocity Crimes in Myanmar

Myanmar is undergoing a period of violence and unrest following the military coup on February 1, 2021. Thousands of civilians have been killed, arrested, tortured, and displaced. This recent violence is occurring in a context where ethnic minorities such as Rohingya Muslims, the Karen, the Kachin, and so many others have already suffered massive and systematic human rights violations at the hands of the government of Myanmar for decades.

Protecting Victim Privacy in Colombia Litigation

On July 8, 2021, PJI intervened at the U.S. Supreme Court by filing an amicus brief in the consolidated appeal known as In Re: Chiquita Brands International, Inc., Alien Tort Statute and Shareholder Derivative Litigation.

Evidence of U.S. Torture

On August 20, 2021, PJI joined an amicus brief filed at the United States Supreme Court in the appeal of a detainee at the U.S. Detention Camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba in the case known as The United States of America v. Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, aka Abu Zubaydah.

Publication and Launch of UN Model Legislation

Domesticating International Sexual Violence Crimes in National Legal Systems

Webinar: Data for What?

PJI Co-Director Kathy Roberts contributed to a panel discussion designed with the goal of building shared understanding between civil-society documenters and investigators on June 3, 2021.

The Gender Dimensions of Criminal Justice

On 23 June 2021, PJI Director Maxine Marcus moderated a panel convened by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as part of their Gender Equality Forum.

PJI Co-Founder, a Distinguished Voice

In January 2021, the Harvard International Law Journal published its conversation with PJI Director Maxine Marcus as part of the Women in International Law: Distinguished Voices interview series.

COVID-19 Update

Human rights are at their most vulnerable at times of crises. During the pandemic, Partners in Justice International has continued our work in solidarity with the most vulnerable members of our communities.

UN DPRK Roundtable

On October 29, 2020, PJI participated in a roundtable hosted by the UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights Seoul on the topic of international organisations working on accountability processes and strategies for accountability.

Children in Armed Conflict

In March 2021, Save the Children and the Oxford Programme on International Peace and Security at the Blavatnik School of Government’s Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict (ELAC) Published a critical report on advancing justice for children.

Chiquita Banana and Crimes Against Humanity

The PJI Legal Team has intervened multiple times to support victims in U.S. litigation against Chiquita Brands International, Inc., for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Colombia.

International Criminal Justice in the Age of Social Media

On March 5, 2020, PJI Co-Director spoke at Yale Law School on the topic of Mass Atrocities in the Age of Social Media: Prevention, Response, and Accountability.

Model Provisions for CRSV Prosecution in National Jurisdictions Announced

The PJI Legal Team was requested by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (OSRSG-SVC) to develop Model Legislative Provisions on the Investigation and Prosecution of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence on behalf of SRSG-SVC Pramila Patten.

Transitional Justice in South Sudan

Since 2018, PJI lawyer Maxine Marcus has been serving as a member of the Justice Advisory Group for South Sudan, established by the Ferencz International Justice Initiative of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.