Closing the Implementation Gap, Ensuring Survivors Access Reparation
By Alejandro Rodriguez, Legal Officer
International law guarantees the right to reparation for victims of serious human rights violations. Reparation arises from the obligation of the wrongdoing party to redress the harm caused to victims and seeks to address the consequences of serious human rights violations. Reparation is not limited to compensation, it may encompass broader measures such as rehabilitation, access to healthcare, social services, legal assistance, and support in reclaiming lost loved ones and property.
While reparation is crucial for addressing the harm suffered by victims and restoring their dignity and well-being, there remains a significant gap between the reparation measures ordered by international and regional human rights mechanisms and their effective implementation. Strengthening States’ compliance with these decisions is crucial to ensuring that victims receive meaningful redress.
When domestic avenues fail to provide effective remedies, victims turn to international mechanisms, such as regional systems and UN treaty bodies, in search of justice, provided procedural and substantive requirements are met. Those mechanisms will assess the State’s compliance with human rights, and if a violation is found, they can order reparation to the victims. However, usually States also fail to implement those decisions.
Delays or shortcomings in implementation can deepen the harm they have suffered, leading to frustration and disillusionment. Bridging this gap is essential to restoring trust in both the State and human rights institutions, while reinforcing the transormative impact of reparation measures.
Practitioners, alongside survivors, community leaders, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders, play a crucial role in closing this gap. Collaborative strategies to promote the implementation of decisions can help address the structural barriers preventing survivors from accessing reparation. These include governments’ lack of political will, weak domestic institutional frameworks, and limited enforcement mechanisms.
At REDRESS, we propose key steps to develop an implementation strategy that can be applied across different contexts. These include:
- Consultation with survivors: Practitioners must prioritise addressing the most urgent needs of survivors while ensuring their integrity and safety. Survivors should also have agency in the reparation process, which includes the ability to decide their level of involvement in the implementation strategy.
- Strengthening or creating coalitions: Engaging diverse actors to promote the implementation of decisions enhances both the effectiveness and legitimacy of the strategy. Bringing together organisations, survivors, community leaders, and other stakeholders fosters collaboration, pooling experiences and expertise to drive progress.
- Designing the strategy: In partnership with the coalition, including survivors, practitioners can develop a comprehensive strategy that integrates advocacy, communications, legal action, and survivor-led initiatives. This process should clearly define responsibilities, timelines, and risk assessments to ensure a structured and effective approach.
As part of our commitment to strengthening a community of practice focused on the implementation of reparation, we have developed a Practice Note on Claiming and Implementing Reparation for Survivors of Torture. This resource offers practical guidance, case studies, and insights on building reparation claims before human rights mechanisms, designing effective implementation strategies, and navigating key procedural aspects of international human rights bodies. We hope this tool will contribute to filling the gap and making the right to reparation a reality.
Photo by: Gwenn Dubourthoumieu/ IRIN