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A practical guide to the Istanbul Protocol – for lawyers
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation is an important component
of reparation and it is a right specifically
recognised in international human rights
instruments.168 The UN Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime
and Abuse of Power stipulates that: “victims
should receive the necessary material, medical, psychological and social assistance and
support.” The Special Rapporteur on the
right to reparation has noted that reparation
should include medical and psychological care and other services as well as legal
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These services may
and social services.
be provided “in kind” or the costs may form
part of a monetary award. It is important to
distinguish between indemnity paid as way
of compensation (for material and/or moral
damage) and money provided for rehabilitation purposes.
Satisfaction and guarantees of
non-repetition
Satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition refer to the range of measures that may
contribute to the broader and longer-term restorative aims of reparation. A central component is the role of public acknowledgement of the violation, the victims’ right to
know the truth and to hold the perpetrators
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accountable. The Basic Principles on Reparation list measures like: cessation of continuing violations; judicial sanctions against
persons responsible for the violations; an
apology, including public acknowledgement
of the facts and acceptance of responsibility;
commemorations and tributes to the victims
and implementing preventative measures,
such as ensuring effective civilian control of
military and security forces, protecting human rights defenders and persons in the legal, media and other related professions.
2. EFFECTIVE PROCEDURAL
REMEDIES
At the same time, international human rights
law requires States to provide effective procedural remedies under domestic law to
guarantee adequate reparations to victims
of human rights violations. In other words,
the right to reparation for torture and other
human rights violations includes both, the
right to substantive reparations/remedies
(like compensation) and the right to effective procedural remedies to obtain them (i.e.
access to civil, administrative and criminal
avenues). This principle is incorporated in
every international human rights instrument.171
In fact, the right to a remedy for a violation
of a human right protected under any of the
international instruments is itself a right expressly guaranteed by the same and, in case
of fundamental human rights, it has been
recognised as non-derogable.172 For example,
procedural safeguards against torture and
other forms of ill-treatment, like the right of
access to a lawyer while in detention, are not
subject to limitations or derogation. Accordingly, there is an independent and continuing obligation to provide effective domestic
remedies to protect human rights: during
peace or war, and when declaring a state of
emergency. Human rights instruments guarantee both, the procedural right to an effective access to a fair hearing (through judicial
and/or non-judicial remedies)173 and the substantive right to reparations (such as restitu174
tion, compensation and rehabilitation).
A remedy must be effective in practice as well
as in law, particularly in the sense that its exercise must not be unjustifiably hindered by
acts or omissions by national authorities. 175
The nature of the procedural remedies (judicial, administrative or other) should be
in accordance with the substantive rights
violated and the effectiveness of the remedy in granting appropriate relief for such
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