A/HRC/42/45 Reparation for victims in vulnerable situations 108. Reparation programmes should acknowledge that not all victims are in the same situation. They do not experience the same harm and do not face the same consequences. While domestic reparation programmes are unable to provide reparation according to the harm suffered by each victim, they can take measures to respond adequately to those most in need, such as children, including children born out of rape, victims of sexual violence, internally displaced persons, refugees, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community. 109. Some States have set up urgent reparation programmes for victims most in need. 105 In East Timor, for example, the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation implemented an interim reparation programme distributing approximately $200 to about 700 victims.106 In Nepal, the Interim Relief and Rehabilitation Programme was established to provide a prompt response for victims prior to the setting up of a domestic reparation programme. The Interim Relief and Rehabilitation Programme included one-time cash payments, medical treatment or scholarship payments.107 However, Nepal did not set up a domestic reparation programme, and victims of torture and sexual violence were excluded from the Interim Relief and Rehabilitation Programme. 110. States can also address the needs of the most vulnerable victims through collective reparation. An illustration of this is the community reparation approach in Morocco, where it was considered essential to rehabilitate the economic and social development of the 11 most deprived, excluded and marginalized regions in the country, in which victims had suffered serious human rights violations and political violence. Collective reparation took the form of memorialization, income-generating activities, and accessibility to basic social services, among others. Civil society organizations could bid to propose a collective reparation project and be responsible for its implementation. 108 The Special Rapporteur welcomes this approach but reminds States that collective reparation cannot be a substitute for individual reparation. 111. Refugees and migrants are often found in especially vulnerable situations after conflict or repression. Notwithstanding, domestic reparation programmes have failed to include them as beneficiaries of reparation or to provide them with special measures to ensure that they are able to access reparation benefits. The German compensation programme for forced labour is an important example, as it represents a successful experience which provided compensation to forced labour victims, many of whom had been refugees. Chile put in place a series of incentives to get refugees to return to Chile, but they were not conceived of as reparation.109 Argentina responded, albeit late, to the situation of refugees. The Supreme Court of Justice in the Vaca Narvaja case in Argentina considered that reparation given under Law 24.043 to those illegally detained also applied to exiles, as their situation also constituted an infringement on their right to personal liberty. 110 As a result of that judgment, government resolution 670/2016 expressly recognized the application of that law to those in exile. However, none of these experiences can offer tools to respond to the unprecedented number of internally displaced persons needing reparation in different countries of the world. 112. Internally displaced persons are also victims in urgent need of attention. The Syrian Arab Republic has about 6.2 million registered internally displaced persons and Colombia 105 106 107 108 109 110 18 Guidance note of the Secretary-General, “Reparations for conflict-related sexual violence” (United Nations, June 2014), point 7. Ruben Carranza, “The right to reparations in situations of poverty” (International Center for Transitional Justice briefing, September 2009), p. 1. International Organization for Migration and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Report on mapping exercise and preliminary gap analysis of the interim relief and rehabilitation programme” (December 2010), p. iii. See www.ier.ma/article.php3?id_article=1496. Law 19.074 of 28 August 1991 and Law 19.128 of 7 February 1992. See www.refworld.org/pdfid/4721ffa72.pdf, p. 5.

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