The Concepts Of ‘Injured Party’ And ‘Victim’ Of Gross Human Rights Violations In The Jurisprudence Of The Inter-American Court Of Human Rights: A Commentary On Their Implications For Reparations

Abstract

This chapter describes an analysis of the scope of article 63.1 of the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR), as it establishes the regulating principles applicable to reparations under this treaty, and indicates that an 'injured party' is entitled to reparations. It draws attention to the intrinsic relationship that exists between concepts such as 'victim' and 'injured party' and the use of presumptions juris tantum . It has been noted that while the Court lacked an enlarged concept of victim, the Court used presumptions to consider as injured parties some members of the next of kin of a direct victim of gross human rights violations. The chapter also indicates that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) uses the concept of 'potentially identifiable' or 'unknown victim' to refer to those persons whose identity was not established before the Court due to circumstances beyond its control. Keywords: American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR); human rights violations; injured party; Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR); victim