WK 411 Reparations: Acknowledging abuse and addressing impunity

Legal mechanisms and nationwide processes can be used in innovative ways to acknowledge abuses and provide reparations to victims. They can also help tackle the difficult and contentious issue of impunity for abusers.

Panelists

Featured Tactic: Sandra Coliver, Center for Justice & Accountability, USA Complementary Presentation:

• Louis Bickford, International Center for Transitional Justice, Latin America/USA

Featured Tactic:

Using civil suits to gain reparations and addressing impunity Sandra Coliver, Center for Justice & Accountability, USA

• View Sandra Coliver’s PowerPoint presentation 89 KB
• Read the outline of her presentation

The Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) helps victims of torture by using United States Federal Laws to bring charges against their torturers, regardless of country in which the torture took place. This tactic shows that redress can be sought against perpetrators of torture. In creating and applying these kinds of laws, governments show a commitment to justice for victims and to exposing those who are guilty of crimes against humanity. U.S. courts have recognized that severe human rights abuses such as torture violate the "law of nations" and that claims for such abuses therefore could be brought under this statute. The Torture Victims Protection Act gives U.S. citizen plaintiffs the right to bring claims against individuals acting under "actual or apparent authority, or color of law, of any foreign nation", for torture and extrajudicial killing. Under both laws, the perpetrator must be physically within the United States in order for the court to have jurisdiction. The CJA has sought the deportation of perpetrators as a redress for its clients, but enforcing any damages awarded has been difficult because the money is often located in accounts overseas. However, this tactic has proven successful in prosecuting torturers and finding them guilty of human rights violations. It has also been successful in gaining public acknowledgement of the wrongs committed.

Complementary Presentation

Louis Bickford, International Center for Transitional Justice, USA (examples from around the world)

• View Louis Bickford’s PowerPoint presentation 133 KB
• Read the outline of his presentation

The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) has recently completed extensive research on the many ways in which countries around the world are addressing issues of reparations and impunity. ICTJ assists countries in pursuing accountability for past mass atrocities or human rights abuses through the development of strategies for transitional justice comprising five key elements: prosecuting perpetrators, documenting violations through nonjudicial means such as truth commissions, reforming abusive institutions, providing reparations to victims and advancing reconciliation. ICTJ provides comparative information, legal and policy analysis, documentation and strategic research to justice and truth-seeking institutions, nongovernmental organizations, governments and others. ICTJ works with local actors to gather information and analysis to assist them in designing and implementing effective transitional justice programs in order to formulate and implement transitional justice strategies before there is an urgent need to deal with issues just as a transition is unfolding.