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“No peace without justice” is a chant that filled the streets of the United States last year following the murder George Floyd by police in May 2020. This same chant has animated protest movements and social and political upheaval in many countries around the world. We at ICTJ know from our experience that these calls for justice are for something far more encompassing than criminal accountability alone.

The reparations policy for victims of Peru’s internal armed conflict, which lasted from 1980 to 2000, includes the internally displaced population among its beneficiaries under the Official Register of Victims. However, displaced persons are given lower priority than the other categories of victims also included in the program, such as those who were killed or who suffered disappearance, torture, or other types of attacks on the right to physical well-being and life.

Although the conflict in Turkey remains ongoing and a political solution to the “Kurdish question” has not been reached, in recent years, the Turkish government has developed a series of laws and policies regarding the situation of displaced Kurds. The most significant of these policies has undoubtedly been the adoption of a compensation law for the displaced in 2004. As one of the few countries actually compensating the displaced for their economic losses, Turkey has often been pointed to as an exemplary case by the international community.

This paper focuses on the issue of reparations in Darfur. It particularly emphasizes victims' right to reparation for the harm done to them, and aims to ensure that this right is recognized and upheld in any peace process. Drawing on experiences from other regions, it reviews and addresses some of the key challenges to creating an effective victim reparations program once peace is achieved and security is restored.

The establishment of the International Criminal Court's Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) , in combination with its reparations function, is unprecedented in international law. It affirms the importance of victims in international justice efforts. However, the creation of a Trust Fund closely associated with a Court also raises both practical and conceptual challenges. These challenges are easier to meet if the TFV, rather than the Court, plays the leading role in designing an overall approach to reparations programs.

The conviction of Thomas Lubanga is a milestone for the international criminal justice system established by the Rome Statute, and may make an important contribution to the development and definition of the right to reparations in international human rights law. ICTJ has produced a briefing note examining the practical and legal issues surrounding the ICC's decision in regards to reparations in the Lubanga case, as well as what lessons the ICC can learn from the broader experiences of the transitional justice field.

The conviction of Thomas Lubanga is a milestone for the international criminal justice system and may make an important contribution to the development and definition of the right to reparations in international human rights law. Accompanying a submission filed with the ICC in advance of its reparations proceedings, ICTJ has produced a briefing note examining what lessons the court can learn from the broader transitional justice field.

The design and implementation of reparations for victims in the aftermath of large-scale and serious human rights violations is an area rife with challenges.