Compensation and Reparations

              This post is a summary of the article with the title above published at   https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/compensation

              There is a growing awareness that addressing past injustice is a crucial part of the process of healing and reconciliation. In order to move towards a peaceful future, governments must acknowledge and respond to the wrongs and injuries of the past, especially human rights violations. Doing so takes various forms. One way is through compensation programs and reparations for the victims of injustice. To commit injustice is to violate or suppress people's rights or fundamental freedoms as recognized by international law. Unfortunately, many instances of injustice can be tied to policies either condoned or consciously chosen by governments. These state-sponsored human rights violations cause serious damage to the physical and moral integrity of individuals. Although these harms are often irreparable, international and national courts have required states to pay victims compensation for both material and psychological injury sustained as a direct result of their actions or policies. This serves both to acknowledge the violation and to sanction the state in question. A society that once tolerated human rights abuses must come to terms with the past, accept responsibilty, and try to make amends. Customary international law provides the legal foundation for victims' right to compensation. Various international treaties have recognized that victims of human rights violations have a right to restitution, compensation and rehabilitation. And the obligation to provide compensation for victims of injustice has become part of international humanitarian law. Such law stress the importance of publicly recognizing the damages caused by injustice and of addressing the needs of victims. Compensation serves a variety of important functions. First, it helps victims to manage the material aspect of their loss. In many cases, monetary reparations in the form of monthly payments are essential to ensure victims' survival. Monetary compensation programs may also deter the state from future abuses by imposing a financial cost on such misdeeds. However, many note that such reparations are not primarily about money, but rather about making crucial repairs to individuals' psyches, and to social and political institutions. Compensation programs serve to acknowledge wrongdoing, restore survivors' dignity, and raise public awareness about the harms victims have suffered. For this reason, reparations for former victims or/and their family members are often a psychologically necessary component of the healing process. This can help victims to come to terms with the traumatic events that have occurred. Indeed, compensation programs are a crucial part of restorative justice and serve as focal points in the healing process. They can help victims move beyond the desire for revenge and make it possible to repair relationships that have been damaged by acts of injustice. Restitution paid to the victims can serve as a symbolic apology and signify a move to make amends. Lastly, compensation programs serve to promote and protect human rights. They aim to recognize the harms victims have suffered, correct these abuses, and prevent the reoccurrence of such acts. Customary international law suggests that the victims of human rights violations must receive a remedy for the injuries they have suffered. But what counts as an appropriate remedy? Apologies are not enough to satisfy victims's demands for justice and allay their fears that the same atrocities might be repeated. Victims should receive compensation for all damages that result from the wrongful act, including any profits that would have been possible if had those unjust acts not occurred. This includes lost educational opportunities, wages, business profits, etc. It also encompasses physical, psychological, and material damages, as well as medical and legal costs associated with the violations. Measures should also be taken to ensure that relatives of missing persons receive adequate financial assistance to carry out investigations. Family members of those killed should receive pensions for lost wages. However, compensation need not be strivtly monetary. It should also include necessary psychological and social assistance and support. This includes the establishment of local treatment centers for the victims and rehabilitation systems. Compensation can also be provided through the restitution of property that was wrongfully seized and the reallocation of economic resources. And in cases where victims have lost their employment or their employability was harmed. Program to return employment or property that was wrongfully removed aim to re-establish the situation that would have existed if the wrongful act had not taken place. In addition, states must carry out various initiatives to ensure that justice is served and guarantee that abuses will not be repeated. This includes both formal apologies and the prosecution and punishment of those responsible for the violations. In order to ensure that violations will not reoccur, states must also provide human rights training to military forces and law enforcement officials, protect human rights workers, and strengthen the judiciary. While monetary compensation is indeed integral to addressing injustice, many have noted that such programs are often limited. Regimes that have tolerated human rights abuses may be unwilling to recognize the injustices. In fact, individuals responsible for violations may retain their positions and oppose such programs. While many victims will initially be satisfied with monetary compensation, they may grow increasingly dissatisfied as time passes. If victims do not feel that justice has been served, they will find difficult to put the past behind them. In addition to suffering, victims of violations typically suffer psychological injury and emotional distress. Compensation programs that simply pay out financial grants are not sufficient to help individuals overcome their trauma. This is because the amount of distress, injustice, and anger that victims typically struggle with is immeasurable. Ultimate responsibility for ensuring the victims receive compensation should reside with the state. Victims often do not know the identities of those who perpetrated abuses against them. Also, because the state has obligations under international law to uphold human rights, it has a duty to afford remedies to victims. State responsibility results from actions directly attributable to state agents, from those that only indirectly involve the state, and from a state's failure to prevent human rights abuses. Even if governments actors do not perpetrate violations, the state bears responsibility for reparations. In addition, if the old government that committed or tolerated the abuses does not provide compensation, the obligation carries over to the successor government. Third parties often play a crucial role in ensuring that all victims receive assistance. Agencies and mechanisms that deal with human rights can make recommendations to governments about compensation for those who have suffered from human rights abuses. Outside actors can also insist that victims receive reparations and pressure governments to implement such programs. In many cases, countries need help to establish mechanisms to make effective remedies available. Outside governments often offer assistance to refugees who have been victims of violations, and NGOs often assist with compensation efforts. This includes upholding victims' right to reparation, working to expose violations, and helping victims to pursue their claims. In addition, more and more intergovernmental organizations are helping to fund projects that assist former victims.