ICTY: Reparations "symbolic", "collective [nature of the harm]"

The ECCC Internal Rules appear to quote the approach -- and the very language -- of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on reparations. An official of the ICTY speaking to a group of dignitaries in Sarajevo in 2001 had the following to say concerning the Tribunal's stance on the issue of individual reparations --


"Second limitation on the activity of the International Tribunal: reparations for harm suffered by the victims. I feel that the truth and reconciliation commission has a fundamental role to play in respect of reparations for harm suffered by the victims which, as I have already said, is not a priority for the International Tribunal. Upon collecting the statements of many victims – who must represent different ethnic, political or religious origins – which would then be placed into a database, the commission should be in a position to propose to the political authorities forms of symbolic reparations which take into account the collective nature of the harm caused by the war. Among various possibilities, I have in mind setting up educational programmes, creating memorial museums or film archives which could, for example, be used to prepare multimedia materials. A compensation fund should also be made available to the commission so that it may address the most urgent needs of the populations affected by the conflict."

Full text of the article is available at http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/p591-e.htm