What is Reparations

Reparations in the context of human rights and humanitarian interventions, is granted to victims of conflict who have suffered harm to alleviate their situation which has arisen consequent to the harm suffered as a result of conflict. it’s accepted that some of these violations are irreparable and nothing granted by way of reparations can restore the status quo ante of the victim.

Reparations is one of the measures recognized within the broader context of Transitional Justice. Transitional Justice is defined by the United Nations as -

“the full range of processes and mechanisms associated with a society’s attempt to come to terms with a legacy of large-scale past abuses, in order to ensure accountability, serve justice and achieve reconciliation.”

There are four basic tenets that are recognized in the transitional justice regime: (a) the State obligation to investigate and prosecute alleged perpetrators of gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law, including sexual violence, and to punish those found guilty; (b) the right to know the truth about past abuses and the fate of disappeared persons; (c) the right to reparations for victims of gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law; and (d) the State obligation to prevent, through different measures, the reoccurrence of such atrocities in the future.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 60/147 on 16 December 2005 on “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.”

The Reparations regime introduced in Sri Lanka by the 2018 Act, improves on past schemes and enhances its scope of interventions and importantly recognizes that the ultimate objective of the grant of reparations is to achieve national unity and reconciliation and ensure the non recurrence of violence.