Gouja Ahmed, who works in Darfur, had told the participants that the ghosts of Darfur of 2003 are back in full, bloody rage with hundreds of people killed, schools, hospitals and homes destroyed and thousands displaced by marauding militias.
"Same events, same militia, same atrocities... it's happening all over, again. People have to be held accountable otherwise impunity will become the order of the day, that's why are they are repeating these things," he said.
Zainab told human rights groups in Sudan to push hard the call for accountability and transitional justice in the country. She said they should not wait for the transitional justice agenda to be put on the table rather they should force it to be on the table through relentless, innovative advocacy.
Human rights advocates in the Sudan must be bold, aggressive and focused. They must not look left or right but straight ahead, she said.
"At the banquet table, there are no reserved seats. If you are not on the table, you are most likely to be in the menu. Nobody invites you, you have to invite yourself to the making of peace. Nobody loves the Sudan more than you do," she advised.
Adam expressed helplessness of victims where peace is prioritised at the expense of justice, leaving long term grievances festering. He complained that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which silenced the guns in South Sudan, left many victims wounded and perpetrators of injustice scot free.
"Sudan will never move on until people confront each other in justice terms, and hold each other to account," he said.
Chris Gitari, a senior advisor at the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission of South Sudan, talked of the scourge of intersectionality of victims of violence which, more often than not, is lost to the framers of transitional justice mechanisms.
"Someone is a black, widowed, is a woman, is raped, displaced, disabled and poor... the intersecting violations ought to be factored for any transitional justice mechanism to have a meaningful impact in that person's life," he said.
Brammertz spoke of the need to integrate international justice mechanisms with local mechanisms to deal with mid-level perpetrators. He spoke of the UN's experience in Rwanda were local courts processed thousands of cases with an emphasis towards reconciliation and forgiveness.
"You cannot achieve much if you focus on the big guys and forget the mid-level perpetrators," he said.
Mikel Delagrange, an international criminal justice and victim's expert with Wayamo, challenged framers of transitional justice mechanisms to look beyond retributive justice, and innovate around victim restitution or compensation.
He said often victims need support to pick up their lives after conflict. Sometimes its just about help to go back to school, start income generating activities, or get water nearby homes.
At the symposium, the importance of collecting evidence at the time of conflict, and preservation of the same was emphasised. Speakers also called upon states and international community to innovate around victim reparation.
The symposium was hosted by Wayamo in conjunction with Africa Group for Justice and Accountability.