ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with some basic definitions and categories for the study of victim reparations, followed by a brief historical account of victim reparations in the international human rights arena. It discusses some substantive issues that arise in the implementation of victim reparations programs. In the context of transitional justice, there is a widespread consensus over the desirability and importance of victim reparations, as an effective way to address the needs of victims as well as a means to reconciliation and peace. Symbolic reparations include various forms of recognition and acknowledgement for the suffering of victims, such as commemorations, rituals in homage to the victims, changing the names of streets in honour of victims, places of memory, and apologies in the name of the nation, either as public acts or through private letters. Many truth commissions may recommend the need for reparations as an integral part of a transitional justice process.
