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victims obtain reparations. The right to justice entails obligations for the State: to investigate
violations, to prosecute the perpetrators and, if their guilt is established, to punish them.
Lastly, international human rights treaties should include a “universal jurisdiction” clause
requiring every State party either to try or to extradite perpetrators of violations. The
necessary political will is still essential, of course, to enforce such clauses. For example,
humanitarian provisions in the 1949 Geneva Conventions or the United Nations Convention
against Torture have scarcely ever been applied.
Restrictions justified by the desire to combat impunity may be applied to certain rules of law
in order to support efforts to counter impunity. The aim is to prevent the rules concerned
from being used to benefit impunity, thus obstructing the course of justice. The main
restrictions are as follows.
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No Prescription for offences;
No Amnesty for offences;
No Right to asylum for perpetrators;
Extradition of all perpetrators;
Trial in absentia;
Due obedience is no defence;
Legislation on repentance should not avoid either amnesty or prescription;
Military courts should not be used;
The principle of the irremovability of judges.
The right to reparation entails both individual measures and general, collective measures. On
an individual basis, victims - including relatives and dependants - must have an effective
remedy. The procedures applicable must be publicized as widely as possible. The right to
reparation should cover all injuries suffered by victims, and this right embraces three kinds of
action:
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Restitution (seeking to restore victims to their previous state);
Compensation (for physical or mental injury, including lost opportunities,
physical damage, defamation and legal aid costs);
Rehabilitation (medical care, including psychological and psychiatric
treatment).
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The right to non-recurrence are also crucial according to the Sub-Commission, and three
measures need to be taken in order to avoid victims having to endure new violations affecting
their dignity:
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Disbandment of parastatal armed groups;
Repeal of all emergency laws, abolition of emergency courts and
recognition of the inviolability and non-derogability of habeas corpus;
• Removal from office of senior officials implicated in serious violations.