Abstract
The chapter provides a brief overview of the mandates and role of the Trust Fund for Victims as an unprecedented sui generis mechanism in the context of transitional justice. It elaborates on how the interplay between its two mandates make it a key element of the Rome Statute system that can add in an important way to its success in the eyes of victims and the international community as a whole. In particular, it will provide examples of how the activities it supports enable the empowerment of victims with a view to reintegrating them back into society and promoting reconciliation. The chapter will also highlight some of the challenges still ahead, including first and foremost the Trust Fund’s dependency on long-term financial and political support from States, civil society, victims’ groups and individuals. Such support will be essential if the Trust Fund is to reach its full potential and set an inspirational example for how a victims-centred approach to transitional justice can function.
Legal Advisor of the Trust Fund for Victims. This chapter is written in a personal capacity and the view expressed reflect those of the author and not necessarily those of the Trust Fund for Victims or the International Criminal Court.
The author would gratefully like to acknowledge that she has used in this chapter analysis and research conducted on program and gender issues by Kristin Kalla, Senior Program Officer and Peter Dixon, Senior Research and Evaluation Fellow. More detailed information on these and other topics relevant to the Trust Fund can be found online at www.trusfundforvictim.org and in particular in the Trust Fund’s biannual Programme Progress Reports of the Trust Fund for Victims. The author would further like to thank Pieter de Baan, Executive Director of the Trust Fund, for his helpful comments and Ms. Daisy Schmidt, intern with the Trust Fund, for her input.
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Notes
- 1.
International Centre for Transitional Justice (2012) What is transitional justice? www.ictj.org/about/transitional-justice.
- 2.
McGoldrick et al. 2004, pp. 464 et subs.
- 3.
Article 79 of the Rome Statute.
- 4.
De Greiff and Wierda 2006, pp. 225 et subs.
- 5.
ICC-ASP/1/Res. 6.
- 6.
This is set out in Regulation 56 of the Regulations of the Trust Fund.
- 7.
Regulation 50 (a) (ii) of the Regulations of the Trust Fund.
- 8.
These partners include international non-governmental organisations, local grassroots organisations, women’s associations, faith-based organisations and the private sector. The Fund aims to ensure that they have the financial resources, technical expertise and oversight they need to adequately rehabilitate victims.
- 9.
For more details on this argument see Trust Fund for Victims’ Programme Progress Report Fall 2010, available online at www.trustfundforvctims.org.
- 10.
De Greiff 2006, pp. 451–477.
- 11.
For more details on this argument, see Van Zyl 2005, p. 217.
- 12.
Arenhövel 2008, pp. 572, 573, claims for example that “a basic precondition for a democratic society lies in the “self-evident truth”, that everybody acknowledges everybody else as a free and equal citizen, regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, social status or heritage. Democratic procedures (one person, one vote) only make sense when this democratic promise is unquestioned by all citizens and all conflicting parties, and when it is guaranteed by political institutions and procedures.”
- 13.
TFV/RDC/2007/R2/029.
- 14.
In case they fail to achieve the necessary educational level to join their class at school, the girls are reoriented towards vocational training.
- 15.
This project is implemented in Ituri, North and South Kivu and directly benefits over 14,000 children. In Ituri, activities are carried out in Bunia, Bogoro, Mongwalu, Komanda, Mahagi, Badiya and Gety.
- 16.
A detailed analysis of the research, conducted by Kristin Kalla and Peter Dixon will be forthcoming before the end of 2011 and made publically available through the Trust Fund. Some first results of the study are already available in the Programme Progress Reports, Fall 2010 and Summer 2011, available online at www.trustfundforvctims.org.
- 17.
The Trust Fund has also received donations from non-European countries, including Senegal, Namibia, the DRC, South Korea, Jordan, Mexico, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago which show the global support for the idea of such an institution. Moreover, private individuals have contributed money.
- 18.
Garcia-Godos 2008.
References
Arenhövel M (2008) Democratization and transitional justice. Democratization 15(3):572–573
De Greiff P (2006) Justice and reparations. In: De Greiff P (ed) The handbook of reparations. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 451–477
De Greiff P, Wierda M (2006) The trust fund for victims of the International Criminal Court: between possibilities and constraints. In: Feyter K, Parmentier S, Bossuyt M, Lemmens P (eds) Out of the ashes: reparations for victims of gross human rights violations. Intersentia, Antwerp, pp. 225 et subs.
Garcia-Godos J (2008) Victims reparations in transitional justice—What is at stake and why? NJHR 26(2):111–130
McGoldrick D, Rowe P, Donnelly E (2004) The permanent International Criminal Court—legal and policy issues. Hart Publishers, London, pp. 464–468.
Van Zyl P (2005) Promoting transitional justice in post-conflict societies. In: Bryden A, Hanggi H (eds) Security governance in post-conflict peacebuilding. Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, Geneva, p. 217
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© 2013 T.M.C. ASSER PRESS, The Hague, The Netherlands, and the authors
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Peschke, K. (2013). The Role and Mandates of the ICC Trust Fund for Victims. 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_19
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