The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in collaboration with Impunity Watch, CORDIALLY INVITES YOU TO AN ONLINE EVENT THE CATALYTIC 15th Anniversary POWER OF 16 December REPARATIONS 2020

Marking the 15th Anniversary of the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law

Wednesday, 16 December | 2:30pm to 4:30pm, Geneva, CET PARTICIPATION via zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89401620877

OPENING REMARKS WELCOMING REMARKS Mrs. Michelle Bachelet, UN High Mr. Fabrizio Hochschild, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General Commissioner for Human Rights for the Commemoration of the United Nations’ 75th Anniversary

KEYNOTE ADDRESS "Towards the future of reparations: Prof. Theo van Boven, former Director of UN Division of Human Rights a historical, forward-looking perspective" and one of the founding fathers and drafters of the Basic Principles

Mrs. Emma Molina Theissen, Guatemala, Human Rights Advocate PANEL DISCUSSION Mrs. Fatna El Bouih, Moroccan Observatory of Prisons “Voices of victims and survivors”, Mrs. Isabelhina de Jesus Pinto, Timor-Leste, Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR) moderated by Mrs. Marlies Stappers, Mr. Ram Bhandari, International Network of Victims and Survivors of Serious Executive Director, Impunity Watch Human Rights Abuses

CONTRIBUTIONS BY MEMBERS OF CLOSING REMARKS

TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE MECHANISMS Mrs. Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide Mr. Mirak Raheem, Commissioner, Office of Missing Persons, Sri Lanka Mrs. Sihem Bensedrin, Former Chair, Truth and MODERATOR Dignity Commission, Tunisia Mrs. Peggy Hicks, Director, OHCHR The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in collaboration with Impunity Watch, CORDIALLY INVITES YOU TO AN ONLINE EVENT THE CATALYTIC 15th Anniversary POWER OF 16 December REPARATIONS 2020

Marking the 15th Anniversary of the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law

On 16 December 2005, the General Assembly adopted the ‘Basic victims and how their right to remedy and reparation can become a Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and reality. The initiative seeks to make the significant impact that Reparation’, marking a milestone in the lengthy process towards the reparations can have on the life of victims and entire societies visible framing and affirmation of victim-oriented policies and practices in and understandable, highlighting its transformative potential and how the fight against impunity for serious violations. This event reparations – together with truth-seeking, criminal justice and the celebrates the 15th anniversary of this achievement but also seeks broad spectrum of measures to prevent recurrence – are key on the to highlight the glaring gap that persists between the normative path towards stability, rule of law, development and sustaining framework and the implementation of the right to reparation. peace. It will encourage States, as duty holders, to learn from Practice continues to show that victims of serious violations are victims’ experiences and recommit to the fulfilment of their rights. frequently left with nothing. This not only bluntly contradicts the often emphasized victim-centered approach of accountability and The series of events will highlight, jointly with a broad array of civil transitional justice; it also undermines long-term endeavours society and victims’ organizations, different aspects of the catalytic towards reconciliation, sustaining peace and the prevention of power of reparations, sharing experiences, offering reflection and recurrence. identifying lessons learned. The contributions will be captured and made available online. Over the next 12 months, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights will organize a series of events to place the focus on The launch event will feature contributions from:

OPENING REMARKS Michelle Bachelet UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet assumed her functions as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in September 2018. Ms. Bachelet was elected President of Chile for two terms (2006-2010 and 2014-2018). She was the first female president of Chile. She also served as Health Minister (2000- 2002), as well as Chile’s and Latin America’s first female Defense Minister (2002-2004). In 2011-2013, she was the first Executive Director of UN Women, leading the UN’s work for the rights of women and girls. Michelle Bachelet has a Medical Degree in Surgery, with a specialization in Pediatrics and Public Health. She also studied military strategy at Chile's National Academy of Strategy and Policy and at the Inter-American Defense College in the United States.

WELCOMING REMARKS Fabrizio Hochschild Special Adviser of the UN Secreary-General on the Preparations for the Commemoration of the UN’s 75th Anniversary In his current role, Mr. Hochschild is coordinating the preparation for the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations in 2020 and related celebrations, through a system-wide process of consultations and reflections on the role of the United Nations in advancing international co- operation and in supporting Member States’ ability to respond to emerging challenges and frontier issues. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Hochschild served as Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (2017-2019). Previously, Mr. Hochschild served as Deputy Special Representative for the UN peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic (MINUSCA) in 2016, UN Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Colombia from 2013 to 2016, as Director of the Field Personnel Division for the United Nations from 2010 to 2012, and as Chief of Field Operations and Technical Cooperation in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Geneva from 2005 to 2009. He started his career in 1988 with UNHCR and served in various field settings, including Sudan, Jerusalem, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Geneva, New York, Timor-Leste, Serbia and the United Republic of Tanzania. A graduate of the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, he has published studies and articles on leadership, on the protection of civilians, on transitional justice and reconciliation among other topics.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS Prof. Theo van Boven, Honorary Professor of at the International & European Law Department From 2001 to 2004, Theo van Boven was UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. Earlier he served as Director of the then UN Division of Human Rights (today the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) and was a member of the UN Sub-Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and of the Committee on the Elimination of Racism and Discrimination. He was also the first Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. He was the Head of the delegation to the UN Diplomatic Conference for the Establishment of an International Criminal Court. He was President of the Netherlands Association of International Law; Member of the International Commission of Jurists; and a member of the Board of the International Movement against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism. As director of the UN Division of Human Rights, van Boven argued that concern for human rights should not be a marginal activity within the UN system, but should become the core element of development strategies on all levels. He was also a strong advocate for an equal and consistent approach vis-à-vis the human rights situation in countries across all continents. As Special Rapporteur on the Right to Reparation to Victims of Gross Violations of Human Rights, he was instrumental in the development of the ‘Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law’, often referred to as the ‘van Boven Principles’.

PANEL DISCUSSION Emma Molina Theissen, Guatemalan survivor and human rights advocate Ms. Molina Theissen is a Guatemalan human rights advocate. In 1981, at the age of 21, she was arrested by members of the military and subsequently detained at a military base where she was tortured and abused. She eventually managed to escape but, in retaliation, her brother was taken by military officials a little later – something she was unaware of at the time. His fate and whereabouts remain unknown unknown to this day. In May 2018, a Guatemalan High-Risk Court convicted four high level military officials. The court unanimously found the four officials guilty of crimes against humanity and aggravated sexual assault against Ms. Molina Theissen and three of them guilty of the enforced disappearance of her brother, Marco Antonio Molina Theissen, sentencing them to 33 to 58 years in prison. Ms. Molina Theissen and her family have been fighting for justice for her and her brother for over 30 years. The judgement is considered a landmark decision in Guatemala and Latin America more broadly. Currently, Ms. Molina Theissen and her family (Emma Theissen, Lucrecia and Eugenia Molina) are actively working to learn the truth and find the mortal remains of Marco Antonio and give him a dignified burial.

PANEL DISCUSSION Fatna El Bouih Founding Member, Moroccan Observatory of Prisons Feminist activist and former political prisoner, Fatna El Bouih is a pioneer of women's rights in Morocco. In May 1982, after 5 years in several prisons, she began to work as a middle school's Arabic teacher. With many former political prisoners, she emerged as one of the leaders of Morocco’s civil society. She wrote a book about her experience and has published numerous articles about the torture of women. With her husband Youssef Madad, she also published "Atlassiates", a book about women in the Atlas Mountains who suffered from the repression during the years of lead due to the political arrest of family members. As co-founder of the first counseling centers for women victims of domestic violence and the initiator of l’Association d’aide aux femmes en detresse (an organization assisting women in distress), her efforts and dedication are focused on achieving gender equality. As a founding member of the Moroccan Observatory of Prisons, created in November 1999, and the Forum for Truth and Justice (a civil society pre- cursor to the official Equity and Reconciliation Commission of Morocco), she continues to fight to defend the human rights and dignity of people in prisons and shed light on cases of enforced disappearance and torture.

THE CATALYTIC POWER OF REPARATIONS | 15th Anniversary – 16 December 2020

PANEL DISCUSSION Isabelinha de Jesus Pinto Survivor and human rights advocate, Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR), Timor-Leste Isabelinha de Jesus Pinto was abducted from her family in Timor-Leste by an Indonesian soldier, when she was 5 years old, in 1979. She lived with her abductor's family for many years, enduring abuse and exploitation. However, from a young age she found the resolve to get an education and never to forget her Timorese family. After finishing high school, she left this situation, finding work in a factory while continuing her education. In 2009, her Timorese family found her, reuniting her with her family for the first time after 30 years. Since 2014, Isabelinha has been working with AJAR (Asia Justice and Rights) as part of a Working Group searching for other 'stolen children' in Indonesia, and reuniting them with their families. She has been instrumental in finding more than 160 survivors, bringing 80 of them for a reunion visit to Timor-Leste between 2015-2019.

PANEL DISCUSSION Ram Kumar Bhandari Co-founder, International Network of Victims and Survivors of Serious Human Rights Abuses (INOVAS) Ram Kumar Bhandari has been a leader in the struggle to secure justice for victims and survivors in Nepal. He has over 15 years of experience working with marginalised communities (in particular families of the disappeared, victims and survivors of conflict, ex-combatant youth, ethnic minorities, rural youth and women groups). His activism began when his own father disappeared in 2001. In the years since, he has pioneered many new techniques of grassroots mobilisation, campaigning and networking. Ram helped to launch the community radio station, the network of families of the disappeared (NEFAD), the Committee for Social Justice, the Conflict Victims Common Platform and Alliance for Transitional Justice in South Asia. He has also submitted petitions to the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, and the Nepali Supreme Court. Ram is a co-founder of the International Network of Victims and Survivors of Serious Human Rights Abuses (INOVAS).

PANEL DISCUSSION Marlies Stappers, Executive Director, Impunity Watch Marlies Stappers is the founder and Executive Director of Impunity Watch. As director, she has been deeply involved in research and policy work related to the fields of human rights, transitional justice, impunity reduction, and strengthening the role of civil society; and particularly victims and affected communities in countries such as Guatemala and Honduras, Burundi, the Great Lakes region, the Western Balkans and Cambodia. She is also the initiator of the Dutch Guatemala Platform against Impunity, today the International Platform against Impunity in Central America, of which she coordinates the Dutch branch. The International Platform is a group of dedicated NGOs from The Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland, who, together with partner organisations in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua coordinate the international advocacy and lobbying to promote effective measures to combat impunity in Central America. Between 1995 and 2001, she worked in Guatemala as a researcher for the Guatemalan Historical Truth Commission and as an observer of the Peace Accords for the United Nations Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA). Her educational background is in Latin America Studies.

MEMBERS OF TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE MECHANISMS Mirak Raheem Commissioner, Office of Missing Persons, Sri Lanka Mirak Raheem is a researcher and activist working on issues of human rights, reconciliation, land, and displacement. Currently he is a commissioner with the Office on Missing Persons- an independent state institution tasked with addressing the issue of the missing and disappeared in Sri Lanka. Prior to that he served as a member of the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms (CTF) in 2016 and as a consultant to develop the ‘National Policy on Durable Solutions for Conflict Affected Displacement’. He has worked with numerous local civil society organisations in a number of capacities, both as a staff member and on the board. He obtained his Undergraduate Degree in International Relations and History from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences, and a Master’s Degree in Peace Studies from Notre Dame University, USA.

MEMBERS OF TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE MECHANISMS Sihem Ben Sedrine Former Chair, Truth and Dignity Commission, Tunisia Former Chair of the Tunisian Truth and Dignity Commission (2014-2018), Sihem Ben Sedrine has worked for more than two decades as a journalist and activist to expose human rights violations in Tunisia and defend freedom of expression. She co-founded the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia; the Observatory for Freedom of the Press, Publishing, and Creation; and Kalima, an independent news website and radio station.

THE CATALYTIC POWER OF REPARATIONS | 15th Anniversary – 16 December 2020

CLOSING REMARKS Alice Wairimu Nderitu Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide Alice Wairimu Nderitu of Kenya is the Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide. She is a recognized voice in the field of peacebuilding and violence prevention, having led as mediator and senior adviser in reconciliation processes among communities in Kenya, as well as in other African settings. She served as Commissioner of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission in Kenya, as well as Founding Member and co-Chair of the Uwiano Platform for Peace, a prevention agency linking early warning to early response. She is also the founder of Community Voices for Peace and Pluralism, a network of African women professionals preventing, transforming and solving violent, ethnic, racial and religious conflicts worldwide. Ms. Nderitu’s national experience includes her tenure as Director of the Education for Social Justice programme at Fahamu, and as Head of the Human Rights Education and Capacity-Building Programme for the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and its predecessor, the Standing Committee on Human Rights. She is a member of the Kenya National Committee on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and All Forms of Discrimination, as well as the African Union Network of African Women in Conflict Prevention and Mediation (Fem-Wise), and the Women Waging Peace Network. Ms. Nderitu holds a master’s degree in armed conflict and peace studies and a Bachelor of Arts, Literature and Philosophy from the University of Nairobi. She is a Transitional Justice Fellow at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation in South Africa. Widely published, she is the recipient of awards recognizing her commitment to peaceful conflict resolution throughout Africa and her innovative approach to mediation.

MODERATOR Peggy Lynn Hicks Since January 2016, Peggy Hicks has served as director of the Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division at the

Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. From 2005 to 2015, she was global advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, where she was responsible for coordinating Human Rights Watch's advocacy team and providing direction to its advocacy worldwide. Ms. Hicks previously served as director of the Office of Returns and Communities in the UN mission in Kosovo and as Deputy High Representative for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has also worked as the Director of Programs for the International Human Rights Law Group (now Global Rights), clinical professor of human rights and refugee law at the University of Minnesota Law School, and as an expert consultant for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Ms. Hicks is a graduate of Columbia Law School and the University of Michigan.

15th Anniversary of the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law

THE CATALYTIC POWER OF REPARATIONS | 15th Anniversary – 16 December 2020