30th Anniversary Event: Victims’ Rights at a Crossroads

To mark REDRESS’ 30th Anniversary, REDRESS hosted today an interactive discussion and reception at Leiden University to reflect on the rights of victims of international crimes, including the many obstacles that impede their realisation.

Over the last three decades, REDRESS has played a significant role in ensuring the rights of victims of international crimes, including during the adoption of the Rome Statute of the ICC, which affirmed groundbreaking rights for victims, including their right to receive reparations, to participate in proceedings and to be legally represented.

The discussion was moderated by renowned activist and former Dutch development minister Lilianne Ploumen, a REDRESS’ Patron. A panel of multidisciplinary experts with expertise and lived experience on the rights of victims of international crimes in legal proceedings, reflected, among other aspects, on the main achievements when it comes to victims’ rights in the last 30 years and the reasons why those achievements and the current legal framework are insufficient to deliver victims’ rights in practice.

During the event, REDRESS also launched its new Advisory Panel, chaired by Leiden Professor Helen Duffy, which will bring together academic experts and practitioners who contribute to REDRESS’ work.

With this event, REDRESS sought to honour the plight of victims by learning from the past, discuss new strategic directions, and renew the commitment to those affected by torture and other international crimes.

Among the speakers were Mohammed Hassan, Founder and Executive Director of the Darfur Network for Human Rights; Helen Duffy, Professor of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights at the Grotius Centre of Leiden University, and REDRESS’ Board member; Fiona McKay, Legal Consultant and former Chief of the ICC Victims Participation and Reparations Section; Habib Nassar, Director of Policy and Research at Impunity Watch, and Deborah Ruiz Verduzco, Executive Director of the Trust Fund for Victims.