Victims of International Crimes

/ Termine

Victims of International Crimes

Veranstalter
International Research and Documentation Center for War Crimes Trials (ICWC); Center for Conflict Studies (CCS)
Veranstaltungsort
Alte Universitaet, Lahntor 3, 35037 Marburg
Ort
Marburg
Land
Deutschland
Vom - Bis
06.10.2011 - 08.10.2011
Deadline
15.09.2011
Website
http://www.victimsofinternationalcrimes.org
Von
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Bonacker, Prof. Dr. Christoph Safferling

Recent years have seen a significant growth in the recognition of the importance of victims, victim protection and victim participation in the processing of massive human rights violations. Since the Nuremberg Trials, the major focus of coming to terms with the past has been on the criminal prosecution of the perpetrators. Criminal law, in the classical sense, is mainly directed towards the identification, prosecution and re-socialisation of the perpetrator and thereby runs the risk of losing sight of the victim. The early 1990s heralded in a new era, at the national policy level in a number of countries, which initiated a gradual process of integrating the victim into criminal proceedings, and this process continues today. At the ICC, victim participation is an obligatory element of criminal proceedings. A victim is not only a witness to a crime but can also play an active role in the proceedings, also with the further aim of being obtaining reparation. To this end, the ICC has established the Trust Fund for Victims.

International criminal law can no longer be considered in an isolated manner; rather it must prove itself in the social context of transition. In processes of transitional justice, the societal demands and expectations are much broader than the criminal prosecution of the major perpetrators. At the same time one should question how a society interacts with the victim and inquire as to the victim’s view of such processes of transition. The question remains unsolved, as to whether the special circumstances and expectations of victims are better addressed by non-penal means and approaches. Alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, tort litigation and truth commissions are yet to be as thoroughly tested in this regard. Just as important is the question of victim empowerment. The development of international networks for the representation of victims’ interests was not only demonstrated at the 1998 Diplomatic Conference in Rome for the establishment of the ICC, but can also be observed in the work of national and international NGOs in various conflict regions, such as Cambodia and Uganda.

This conference addresses both legal and social-political topics that frequently overlap. We have thus invited renowned international practitioners and academics to this end. Over the three days the conference covers the following seven topics:

- Victimisation in mass atrocities
- Victims in processes of transitional justice
- The role of civil society actors
- Legal and political definitions of the victim
- Victim protection in criminal procedure
- Victim participation in criminal prosecution
- Victims’ rights and peace

The purpose of this conference is to discuss the situation of victims of serious human rights violations and to further enhance their role in processes of social transition. The primary motivation for organising such a conference is to establish an interdisciplinary approach, which has been lacking in academic discourse to date.

We cannot hold a symposium on crimes against humanity in Germany without having an element in remembrance of the victims of the holocaust. To this end we want to combine the historic experiences in Germany with the question of developing a culture of remembrance.

Programm

Thursday, 6 October 2011

10.00-10.30: Welcome Addresses
Vice-President of the University
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany
Dean of the Law Faculty
Director of the ICWC
Director of the Centre for Conflict Studies

10.30-12.30: PANEL 1: Victimization in Macrocrimes
Chair: N.N.

- Victims of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity; Boris Barth, Jacobs University Bremen
- Victims of Civil War; Stefanie Bock, University of Göttingen
- Victims’ View on Transitional Justice; Holger-C. Rohne, Heidelberg
- Gender Issues in Victimization; Susanne Buckley-Zistel, University of Marburg

12.30-14.00 Lunch

14.00-16.00: PANEL 2: Victims in Transitional Justice Processes
Chair: Anika Oettler, Marburg

- Reparation Issues: Collective and Individual Aspects; Michael Bazyler, Chapman University, School of Law
- Victims at the ICC and the Nuremberg Trials; Sam Garkawe, Southern Cross University, School of Law
- A Victim-Centered Evaluation of Truth Commissions and Trials; Raquel Aldana, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law
- The ICC Trust Fund; Katharina Peschke, ICC Trust Fund

16.00-16.30: Coffees and Tees

16.30-18.30: PANEL 3: The Role of Civil Society Actors
Chair: Thorsten Bonacker, Marburg

- Victim Groups and Associations; Veit Straßner, University of Mainz
- Transnational Victim Advocacy; Heidy Rombouts, University of Minnesota
- Civil Society's Victim Advocacy at the ICC; Marlies Glasius, University of Amsterdam
- Politics of Victimhood; Marcel Baumann, University of Freiburg

Friday, 7 October 2011

08.30-10.30: PANEL 4: Definition of Victims: Individual and Collective Aspects
Chair: Christoph Safferling, Marburg

- Defining Victims in the ICC Statute, Michael Kelly, Creighton University, School of Law
- The Individualising Discourse of Law: Victims in Truth Commissions and Trials; Michael Humphrey, University of New South Wales
- A highly Contested Terrain: Discourses on Victims of Sexual Violence during WWII; Regina Mühlhäuser, Hamburg Institute for Social Research
- They Were All Victims: The Selective Treatment of the Consequences of National Socialism; Brigitte Bailer, Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance

10.30-11.00: Coffees and Tees

11.00-13.00: PANEL 5: Protection of Victims in Criminal Trials
Chair: Frank Höpfel, Wien

- Protection of Victims; Michelle Jarvis, ICTY Prosecutor
- Victims as Witnesses – Views from the Defence; Natalie von Wistinghausen, Berlin
- Truth and Victim Protection; Wolfgang Schomburg, Berlin
- Upholding „Fairness“: Human Rights and Witness Protection; Mark Drumbl, Washington and Lee University, School of Law

13.00-15.00: Lunch Break

15.00-17.00: PANEL 6: Participation of Victims in Criminal Trials
Chair: N.N.

- Civil Party Participation at the ECCC; Silke Studzinsky, ECCC
- Victims’ Participation at the ICC; Klaus Rackwitz, ICC, OTP
- Victims in National Trials; Cornelius Nestler, University of Cologne
- Participation of Victims at the ICC; Fiona McKay, ICC, VPRS

Saturday, 8 October 2010

9.00-9.15 Welcome Addresses
Major, City of Marburg
Minister of Justice of Hesse

9.15-10.00 Keynote Speech
Theo van Boven, Maastricht University

10.00-10.30: Coffees and Tees

10.30-12.30 Victims’ Rights and Peace
Chair: Alexandra Kemmerer, Berlin

Roundtable discussion
- Judge Hans-Peter Kaul, ICC
- Marieke Wierda, ICTJ
- Raquel Aldana, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law
- Günter Saathoff, EVZ

12.30-13.00 Endnote

13.00-14.00 Lunch

For Interested Participants: Guided City Tour of Marburg

Kontakt

Professur für Strafrecht, Strafprozessrecht, Internationales Strafrecht und Völkerrecht

Universitätsstraße 6, 35032 Marburg
+49 / (0)6421) / 28-23120
+49 / (0)6421) / 28-21728

victimco@staff.uni-marburg.de

http://www.victimsofinternationalcrimes.org