UN Basic Principles on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation 2005 (van Boven/Bassiouni Principles)

Summary

UNGA resolution establishing standards for victims' rights to remedy and reparation for gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law. Recognises five forms of reparation: restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction (including truth), and guarantees of non-repetition. Widely applied by treaty bodies and courts.

Relevance to the diaspora

Tamil diaspora organisations use the van Boven/Bassiouni Principles to frame their reparations claims to Sri Lanka including: compensation for civilian deaths, restitution of occupied lands in the North and East, rehabilitation for survivors, truth-telling mechanisms, and guarantees of non-recurrence.

Key provisions

• Principle 11 — forms of reparation: restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, non-repetition
• Principle 19 — satisfaction includes truth-telling, memorialisation
• Principle 22 — guarantees of non-repetition include constitutional and legal reform
• Principle 24 — equal and effective access to justice for victims

Primary source

Related entries

• → Report of the UN Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka 2011 (UN)
• → UN Human Rights Council Resolution 46/1 (2021) — Sri Lanka Accountability (UN)
• → Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 1998 (ICC)
• → International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 2006 (UN)