Building A Survivor-Centred Reparations Framework for Victims of Dominic Ongwen

Today, REDRESS, the Global Survivors Fund (GSF), Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies at Gulu University launched a briefing paper that examines the Reparations Order issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in favour of the victims of Dominic Ongwen, making recommendations on how to implement such an Order in a survivor-centred manner.  

Following the conviction of Ongwen, former commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), on 61 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, the ICC Chamber issued its Reparations Order on 28 February 2024, estimating a total amount of € 52,429,000 required to provide reparations awarded to approximately 49,772 direct and indirect victims.  

Reparations awarded to victims of Ongwen’s crimes include: 

• An individual symbolic (not compensatory) payment of € 750 to all victims, totalling approximately € 37,329,000. 
• Collective, community-based rehabilitation programmes, which might include education, vocational training, or access to healthcare, totalling approximately € 15 million. 
• Community, symbolic, and satisfaction measures, such as apologies, monuments, memorial prayers, and ceremonies, totalling € 100,000.

As the ICC Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) prepares a Draft Implementation Plan for presentation to the Court in September 2024, the focus shifts to how these reparations will be delivered to the victims of Ongwen’s crimes.  

Being the largest reparation order issued by the ICC ever, the Reparation Order in the Ongwen case presents significant challenges, making the implementation phase crucial.  The TFV and ICC organs involved must ensure that reparations are delivered adequately, balancing promptness with the substantial resources required to fully implement the Order, and the need to adopt a survivor-centred approach that ensures victims are properly involved in the process. 

“It is important that victims are adequately consulted and their voices heard throughout the design and implementation of these reparations”,

said REDRESS Legal Advisor, Renata Politi.

“This is not merely about implementing the Reparation Order but doing it so in a way that considers the centrality of victims, co-creating a process that acknowledges survivors’ suffering, supports their recovery, and gives them agency.”

As part of a coalition that submitted an amicus brief to the ICC in 2022, our briefing paper advocates for a reparations framework that is inclusive and prioritises the needs and perspectives of survivors, placing them at the centre of the process.  

The briefing paper also urges all actors involved – the Ugandan government, civil society, the ICC, and the broader international community – to collaborate effectively and support the TFV in the implementation phase, including to ensure that adequate funding and resources are available for victims to receive reparations in practice.  

Given the overwhelmingly large number of victims in the Ongwen’s case, the reparations process will ultimately test the ICC’s capability to deliver prompt, effective, and survivor-centred reparations. 

This will require building on best practices to deliver adequate information, sensitisation, educational and other outreach initiatives, and ensuring that survivors have adequate legal representation to enable their meaningful participation in the process. 

It also necessitates an approach that allows for reparations to be co-created with survivors rather than designed for them, fostering ownership and empowerment among those most affected by Ongwen’s crimes. It is also crucial to avoid raising survivors’ expectations, ensuring that the timing, scope, and limitations of the implementation plan are clearly communicated. 

As the ICC moves toward the implementation of this Order, the call for a survivor-centred approach resonates louder than ever. This is about delivering reparations in a way that facilitates healing, and recognises the dignity of those who have suffered unimaginable trauma.

Photo: Alamy/Zuma Press Inc.