Abstract

The word ‘justice’ is very closely related with the term ‘victim’. In the process of transitional justice (TJ) ¹ , much importance is given to the maintenance of victims’ rights in comparison to other traditional methods of providing justice. According to the 1985 UN Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, Article 1 en 2:

‘Victims’ means persons who, individually or collectively, have suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that are in violation of criminal laws operative within Member States, including those laws proscribing criminal abuse of power… . The term ‘victim’ also includes, where appropriate, the immediate family or dependents of the direct victim and persons who have suffered harm in intervening to assist victims in distress or to prevent victimization.