Abstract
Since the 1990s we can observe both an increasing inclusion of victims as participants in transitional justice processes and a still ongoing debate on the opportunities and risks of such an inclusion. In this chapter we first illustrate several ways in which victims become more integrated into transitional justice. We argue that the valorisation of the victim can basically be traced back to the institutionalisation and dissemination of human rights, which served as a central reference point for social movements in order to demand victims’ rights in the context of dealing with past macro violence. Institutionally, victim participation is visible in transitional justice efforts of international criminal law. Since the present debate about the possibilities and risks of transitional justice is strongly focused on the proceedings of the International Criminal Court (ICC), this example seems particularly well suited to discuss the specific form of victim participation. After the reconstruction of the enhancement of victim participation we will conclude by discussing the ambiguities that result from this enhancement for both the victims and transitional justice processes.
Thorsten Bonacker is Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Center for Conflict Studies at the University of Marburg, Germany. Anika Oettler is Professor of Sociology at the University of Marburg. Christoph Safferling is Professor of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, International Criminal Law and Public International Law at the University of Marburg as well as Director of the International Research and Documentation Center War Crimes Trials.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Safferling 2012.
- 3.
Teitel 2003.
- 4.
Huntington 1991.
- 5.
Ainley 2008, pp. 37–60.
- 6.
Teitel 2003.
- 7.
Teitel 2003, p. 77.
- 8.
Oettler 2008.
- 9.
Humphrey 2003, p. 72.
- 10.
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
- 11.
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
- 12.
Safferling 2011.
- 13.
Bonacker 2012.
- 14.
Arthur 2009.
- 15.
Koenig 2008, p. 99.
- 16.
United Nations 1985.
- 17.
Trumbull 2008, p. 784.
- 18.
- 19.
Oettler 2012.
- 20.
Teitel 2003, p. 83.
- 21.
- 22.
Jelin 2007.
- 23.
Brysk 1993.
- 24.
Brysk 1993.
- 25.
Oettler 2008.
- 26.
Keck and Sikkink 1998, p. 92.
- 27.
Pearson 2006.
- 28.
Safferling 2011.
- 29.
Hassemer 1990, p. 72.
- 30.
Neubacher 2005, p. 209.
- 31.
Walther 2000.
- 32.
Möller 2003, pp. 600–606.
- 33.
Rome Statute, Article 68, para 3 (ICC 2002b, p. 38).
- 34.
ICC 2002b, p. 42.
- 35.
Rules of Procedure and Evidence.
- 36.
ICC 2002a, p. 31.
- 37.
“‘Victims’ means persons who, individually or collectively, have suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that are in violation of criminal laws operative within Member States, including those laws proscribing criminal abuse of power” (United Nations 1985).
- 38.
See also the chapter of Michael Kelly in this volume.
- 39.
ICC 2002b, p. 38.
- 40.
ICC 2002a, p. 34.
- 41.
Compare ICC, The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, 01/04-01/06 (OA7), from 13.02.2007, § 44. On this point the Appeals Chamber was not unanimous. While the status of victim remains in place, once they are so recognised, the “personal interests” are to be considered again in each case; Judge Sang Hyun Song, the current president is, however, in favour of a one-time recognition for all the instances, which, however, can be revoked or modified. That would certainly be a more practicable solution.
- 42.
Regulations of the Court, Regulation 86, para 1 (ICC 2004, p. 51).
- 43.
ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I, Situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, ICC-01/04-101, Pre-Trial Chamber I, Ruling from 17.01.2006, § 54. See also RPE 50 (ICC 2002a, p. 18).
- 44.
Rome Statute, Article 17, para 3 (ICC 2002b, p. 12).
- 45.
- 46.
ICC, The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, 01/04-01/06 (OA7), from 13.02.2007. The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) also relied on this decision in re Nuon, 002/19-09-2007-ECCC-OCJI (PTC01), Pre-Trial Chamber, Ruling from 20.03.2008, Victims admitted to habeas corpus proceedings.
- 47.
RPE Rule 102 (ICC 2002a, p. 40).
- 48.
RPE Rules 89 and 91 (ICC 2002a, pp. 34, 35).
- 49.
ICC 2004, p. 48.
- 50.
Oettler 2006.
- 51.
- 52.
Safferling 2012.
- 53.
Safferling 2011.
- 54.
ICC 2002b, p. 4.
- 55.
Rome Statute, Article 5 (ICC 2002b, p. 4).
- 56.
- 57.
See Hoven and Studzinsky 2010 in this volume.
- 58.
Chaumont 2001, p. 42.
- 59.
Goldblatt, cited in Hayner 2001, p. 77.
- 60.
Hayner 2001, p. 37.
- 61.
Straßner 2007, p. 45.
- 62.
CNPT 2004, p. 77.
- 63.
CNPT 2004, p. 76.
- 64.
- 65.
Tsutsui 2006.
- 66.
Tsutsui 2006, p. 335.
- 67.
Findlay 2009.
- 68.
Bonacker 2012.
- 69.
Humphrey 2003.
- 70.
Humphrey 2003, p. 184.
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Bonacker, T., Oettler, A., Safferling, C. (2013). Valorising Victims’ Ambivalences in Contemporary Trends in Transitional Justice. In: Bonacker, T., Safferling, C. (eds) Victims of International Crimes: An Interdisciplinary Discourse. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague, The Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-6704-912-2_17
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