Victims of International Crimes: An Interdisciplinary Discourse

Description

In international law victims' issues have gained more and more attention over the last decades. In particular in transitional justice processes the victim is being given high priority. It is to be seen in this context that the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court foresees a rather excessive victim participation concept in criminal prosecution. In this volume issue is taken at first with the definition of victims, and secondly with the role of the victim as a witness and as a participant. Several chapters address this matter with a view to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and the Trial against Demjanjuk in Germany. In a third part the interests of the victims outside the criminal trial are being discussed. In the final part the role of civil society actors are being tackled. This volume thus gives an overview of the role of victims in transitional justice processes from an interdisciplinary angle, combining academic research and practical experience. Front Matter....Pages i-xxv Introduction....Pages 1-14 Victim-Oriented Perspectives: Rights and Realities....Pages 17-27 On Victims and Non-Victims: Observations from Rwanda....Pages 29-43 The Status of Victims Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court....Pages 47-66 The Individualising and Universalising Discourse of Law: Victims in Truth Commissions and Trials....Pages 67-89 Redressing Sexual Violence in Transitional Justice and the Labelling of Women as “Victims”....Pages 91-100 Everyone Wanted to be Victim: How Victims of Persecution Disappear Within a Victimised Nation....Pages 101-117 Transcending Victimhood: Child Soldiers and Restorative Justice....Pages 119-145 The Protection of Victims in War Crimes Trials....Pages 149-163 Victims as Witnesses: Views from the Defence....Pages 165-173 Participation Rights of Victims as Civil Parties and the Challenges of Their Implementation Before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia....Pages 175-188 The ICC’s Practice on Victim Participation....Pages 189-221 Victims’ Rights and Peace....Pages 223-229 Front Matter....Pages 231-231 Victims, Excombatants and the Communities: Irreconcilable Demands or a Dangerous Convergence?....Pages 233-251 Victims of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity....Pages 253-262 Victims of Civil War....Pages 263-277 Valorising Victims’ Ambivalences in Contemporary Trends in Transitional Justice....Pages 279-296 A Reflection on Transitional Justice in Guatemala 15 Years After the Peace Agreements....Pages 297-316 The Role and Mandates of the ICC Trust Fund for Victims....Pages 317-327 Front Matter....Pages 329-329 From Victimhood to Political Protagonism: Victim Groups and Associations in the Process of Dealing with a Violent Past....Pages 331-344 Front Matter....Pages 329-329 The Role of Cambodian Civil Society in the Victim Participation Scheme of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia....Pages 345-372 Critical Memory Studies and the Politics of Victimhood: Reassessing the Role of Victimhood Nationalism in Northern Ireland and South Africa....Pages 373-393 Back Matter....Pages 395-399