States must lead on ensuring victims' rights

Using lessons from five African countries, this ICC ASP side event will argue that states must ensure victims' rights in international justice cases.

Date: 2015-11-21

Time: 08:30 to 10:30

Venue: Antarctica , World Forum Building , The Hague

Attendance at this side event requires prior accreditation from the Secretariat of the ICC Assembly of States Parties.

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and its partners REDRESS, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice (KPTJ) are hosting a side event at the 14th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Victims’ rights in the Rome Statute system are celebrated as innovative, but if these rights are to be realised, states must take the lead. Ensuring access to justice for victims at the national level is key.

Through their experiences of working with victim groups and states in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Uganda, Kenya and Central African Republic, speakers will show how victims’ rights to participate in legal proceedings and to receive reparations are an integral part of complementarity.

The event will also showcase a detailed study of domestic practice of victim participation in criminal law proceedings published by the ISS and REDRESS. The report analyses victims’ rights to engage in criminal proceedings and the extent to which a range of domestic jurisdictions allow victims to play an active role.

Chair: Allan Ngari, Researcher, ISS

Speakers: 

• Yacoumba Doumbia, Président du conseil d'administration du MIDH
• Chris Onyong, Uganda Victims Fund
• Esther Waweru, Programme Manager, Political Pluralism and Diversity Programme, Kenya Human Rights Commission
• Gaelle Carayon, ICC Legal Officer, REDRESS