JOINT STATEMENT
As the war in Ukraine continues, victims and survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, enforced disappearance, torture, and other grave violations are waiting for justice. Reparations are their right under international law, and a lifeline to rebuild stability, hope and restore dignity.
With a EUR 140 billion loan to Ukraine – backed by immobilised Russian sovereign assets – now on the table, the European Union must innovate by leveraging these assets and assign a portion of the funds for victims of gross human rights violations and serious violations of humanitarian law.
Dedicating as little as 2% of this reparation loan – EUR 2.8 billion – to domestic reparations programmes would transform lives. This bold step would showcase European leadership and a commitment to the rule of law, enabling the E.U. and Ukraine to:
- Deliver reparations to all victims in urgent need, including survivors of conflict-related sexual violence;
- Provide recognition and redress to families of the disappeared;
- Support rehabilitation and compensation for victims of torture and other grave violations.
This is a historic opportunity for Europe to pioneer a justice model where the perpetrator’s resources are used to repair the harm caused to victims, and survivors are no longer left to pay the price of survival. By investing in reparations, Europe will rebuild Ukraine’s social cohesion, support its human capital, and lay the foundations for reconstruction, recovery and justice.
Signatories
29 December, Ukraine
Accountability Unit
All Survivors Project
Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin
Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights
Civilian Detainees, Ukraine
Coalition for Genocide Response
Dnistrianskyi Center for Law and Politics
Dr Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation
Dr Ewelina U. Ochab, IBAHRI Senior Programme Lawyer
Dr Felix Stein, Principal Investigator of the REPAIR research project
Foundation Sunflowers
Free to Live, Ukraine
Global Rights Compliance
Global Survivors Fund
GOAL
Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
Human Rights Center ZMINA, Ukraine
Human Rights Platform, Ukraine
Illia Chernohorenko, Ex Director-General for the Rule of Law Directorate, Ukraine
InterJust
International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute
International Center for the Study, Prevention and Treatment of MultiGenerational
Legacies of Trauma (ICMGLT)
International Center for Transitional Justice
Justice and Accountability for Ukraine (JAFUA)
Legal Action Worldwide (LAW)
Mama Jane Charity Foundation
McCue Jury & Partners
Montreal Institute for Global Security
Network of Ukrainian Men who Survived Captivity and Torture ‘Alumni’
New Lines Institute
Norwegian Helsinki Committee
NUMO, SISTERS!
New York University’s PaCT (Peace and Conflict Transformation) Group
Physicians for Human Rights
Platform for Peace and Humanity
REDRESS
SEMA Ukraine
State Capture Accountability Project
Tetyana Nesterchuk, Barrister, Fountain Court Chambers
The Reckoning Project
Truth Hounds
Ukraine Legal Network, Project of the Nuhanovic Foundation
Ukrainian Legal Aid Foundation
Ukrainian Women Lawyers Association “JurFem”
Universal Rights Group
Way of Freemen, Ukraine
Women’s Information Consultative Center (WICC)
