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What is Reparation
Although most people associate reparation with financial compensation, it includes a broader spectrum of measures and actions that can be taken by governments, perpetrators and society.
A general principle of reparation is that compensation and other forms of redress must respond to the needs and wishes of the victims.
An important instrument of reference for reparation (although non binding) are the 2005 United Nations Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law.
In the sense of financial compensation, reparation must cover:
- physical or mental harm
- lost opportunities, including employment, education and social benefits
- material damages and loss of earnings, including loss of earning potential
- moral damages
- costs required for legal or expert assistance, medicine and medical services, and psychological and social services
Aspects of Reparation
Some of the broader aspects of reparation include:
Restitution:
- If the disappeared person is still alive, he or she must immediately be released.
- If the person has been killed, restitution means the exhumation, identification of the body and restoration of the mortal remains to the relative for the purposes of a decent burial.
- In case of abducted children or children born during their mothers’ captivity and subsequently abducted, restitution (taking into account the best interests of the child) includes the restoration of the child’s identity and the annulment of their adoption.
Rehabilitation: The relatives of the disappeared person (and the latter in case he or she reappears alive) are entitled to free extensive medical, psychological, legal and social care.
Satisfaction (including restoration of dignity and reputation): This is a very broad category that includes measures such as:
- apologies by the authorities (including acknowledgment of the fact and acceptance of responsibility),
- apologies from the government responsible for the disappearance, and
- the disclosure of all relevant facts related to the disappearance known by the government.
The government is under an obligation to carry out an investigation and to judge and sanction those found to be responsible. Satisfaction also includes public commemorations or memory projects that pay tribute to the victims (i.e. naming a street or a school after the victim, or building a monument).
Guarantees of non repetition. It may concern:
- the disclosure of the full truth concerning the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared person as well as about the perpetrators of the crime and their judgment and punishment represent a guarantee of non repetition.
- codification of enforced disappearance as an autonomous offence in the criminal code.
The 2007 Convention and Reparation
The Convention obliges States to ensure reparation and prompt and adequate compensation as well as the right to form organizations and associations trying to address the enforced disappearances.