Ideas of “reconciliation” and “transitional justice” have rapidly diffused around the world in the past two decades, intended to help post-authoritarian or post-conflict societies deal with the legacy of gross human rights violations. Much of the debate to date has focused on the status and treatment of the offenders, and in particular whether they should be prosecuted for their actions or accorded some form of amnesty or forgiveness in the name of national healing and reconciliation. However, there are equally important developments regarding the status and treatment of the victims, and in particular whether they should receive some form of reparations.

Indeed, reparations for victims of gross human rights violations are becoming an increasingly common feature of transitional processes. We can see this trend in the recommendations of various truth commissions and in the emerging jurisprudence of national and international human rights adjudication bodies, and it has recently been endorsed by the UN in its UN 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 (2005).