Carla Ferstman - Reparations for Victims of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity [2009][A]

This book provides detailed analyses of systems that have been established to provide reparations to victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and the way in which these systems have worked and are working in practice. Many of these systems are described and assessed for the first time in an academic publication.
The publication draws upon a groundbreaking Conference organised by the Clemens Nathan Research Centre (CNRC) and REDRESS at the Peace Palace in The Hague, with the support of the Dutch Carnegie Foundation. Both CNRC and REDRESS had become very concerned about the extreme difficulty encountered by most victims of serious international crimes in attempting to access effective and enforceable remedies and reparation for harm suffered. In discussions between the Conference organisers and Judges and officials of the International Criminal Court, it became ever more apparent that there was a great need for frank and open exchanges on the question of effective reparation, between the representatives of victims, of NGOs and IGOs, and other experts.
It was clear to all that the many current initiatives of governments and regional and international institutions to afford reparations to victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes could benefit greatly by taking into full account the wide and varied practice that had been built up over several decades. In particular, the Hague Conference sought to consider in detail the long experience of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany (the Claims Conference) in respect of Holocaust restitution programmes, as well as the practice of truth commissions, arbitral proceedings and a variety of national processes to identify common trends, best practices and lessons.
This book thus explores the actions of governments, as well as of national and international courts and commissions in applying, processing, implementing and enforcing a variety of reparations schemes and awards. Crucially, it considers the entire complex of issues from the perspective of the beneficiaries - survivors and their communities - and from the perspective of the policy-makers and implementers tasked with resolving technical and procedural challenges in bringing to fruition adequate, effective and meaningful reparations in the context of mass victimisation.

Table of contents
Preface (Judge Elizabeth Odio Benito);
Introduction (Carla Ferstman, Mariana Goetz and Alan Stephens);
Part I: Reparations for Victims – Key Themes and Concepts: 1. Victims’ Rights to a Remedy and Reparation: the New United Nations Principles and Guidelines (Professor Theo Van Boven); 2. Reparation Programmes: A Gendered Perspective (Anne Saris and Katherine Lofts); 3. Massive Trauma and the Healing Role of Reparative Justice (Yael Danieli, Ph.D.);
Part II: Reparations and the Holocaust: 4. The Claims Conference and the Historic Jewish Efforts for Holocaust-Related Compensation and Restitution (Gideon Taylor, Greg Schneider and Saul Kagan); 5. The Swiss Banks Holocaust Settlement (Judah Gribetz and Shari C. Reig);
Part III: The Internationalised Context of ‘Mass Claims’: 6. Overcoming Evidentiary Weaknesses in Reparation Claims Programmes - The Mass Claims Context (Heike Niebergall); 7. International Mass Claims Processes and the ICC Trust Fund for Victims (Edda Kristjánsdóttir); 8. The United Nations Compensation Commission (Linda A. Taylor);
Part IV: Reparations and International and Regional Courts: 9. Bringing Justice to Victims? Responses of Regional and International Human Rights Courts and Treaty Bodies to Mass Violations (Dr. Lutz Oette); 10. The Concepts of ‘Injured Party’ and ‘Victim’ of Gross Human Rights Violations in the Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: A Commentary on their Implications for Reparations (Clara Sandoval-Villalba); 11. Reparation for Gross Violations of Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law at the International Court of Justice (Conor McCarthy); 12. Reparations and the International Criminal Court (Carla Ferstman and Mariana Goetz);
Part V: Pursuing Extraterritorial Reparations Claims – Lawyers’ Perspectives: 13. The Prosecution of International Crimes and the Role of Victims’ Lawyers (Luc Walleyn); 14. Compensation for the Victims of Chemical Warfare in Iraq and Iran (Liesbeth Zegveld);
Part VI: Reparations in National (Territorial) Contexts: 15. Reparations and Victim Participation: A Look at the Truth Commission Experience (Cristián Correa, Julie Guillerot and Lisa Magarrell); 16. The Argentinean Reparations Programme for Grave Violations of Human Rights Perpetrated During the Last Military Dictatorship (1976-1983) (Andrea Gualde and Natalia Luterstein); 17. Reparations for Victims in Colombia: Colombia´s Law on Justice and Peace (Julián Guerrero Orozco and Mariana Goetz); 18. Policy Challenges for Property Restitution in Transition - The Example of Iraq (Peter Van der Auweraert); 19. Reparations in Dayton’s Bosnia and Herzegovina (Carla Ferstman and Sheri P. Rosenberg); 20. Goats & Graves: Reparations in Rwanda’s Community Courts (Lars Waldorf); 21. Still Not Talking: The South African Government's Exclusive Reparations Rolicy and the Impact of the R30,000 Financial Reparations on Survivors (Oupa Makhalemele);
Conclusions.