The right to reparations in the context of transitional justice : lessons for Burundi from South Africa, Chile, Peru and Colombia

Abstract

I believe that the most important components of transitional justice must be the rights of victims, which include the right to the truth, the right to acknowledgment, the right to reparations and the obligation to take steps to ensure that violation will not occur again. In many societies, transition from war to peace or from dictatorship to democracy has been dominated by a debate on how best past massive human rights violations can be addressed without undermining a fragile and transitional peace. Therefore, political considerations have entirely shaped legal solutions adopted to bring about transitions with less regard to accountability and appropriate remedy for victims of human rights abuses and violations.