Deborah Ruiz Verduzco

The Executive Director of the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Deborah Ruiz Verduzco is our guest on the show this month.

The Trust Fund for Victims at the ICC is a central part of the court’s mandate: the reparative justice pillar of the court, giving effect to victims’ right to redress. But the court faces multiple challenges: “The principle is that convicted persons will be paying for these reparations and the practice has been that in the five cases to date, none of the convicted persons have had the resources for this,” says Verduzco. This has meant that states that have signed up to the court, founded by the Rome Statute, are now, unexpectedly, being asked to contribute to the fund, says Verduzco, “States have established the court and believe that this (fund) is important but they never expected themselves to be paying for this. So now that they need to pay for this, we need to create policy and logics to access those resources. We, of course, need to also work with the private sector… but ultimately this is a matter of the rule of law and, ultimately, a matter for states.”

In July of this year, the Trust Fund for Victims issued its first urgent funding appeal of €5 million, to launch a reparation programme for victims of Dominic Ongwen, a former child soldier-turned-Ugandan rebel commander, sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes, including murder, rapes and forced pregnancy. ICC judges awarded 50,000 of his victims more than €52 million in reparations, an order rivalling the entire budget of the Office of the ICC Prosecutor in 2023 (€59,340,000). Ongwen, himself, has no money and cannot pay any of it. Deborah talks about the appeal and the substantial ICC order, “How much of that money have we received? At the moment the pledge has not been fulfilled. We are in the process of dialogue with states; they are interested, they want to understand – we are speaking of a new era of giving money for different purposes, so we are really at the beginning of that process. But I am confident, I am hopeful that this will be fulfilled,” she says.

But the fund doesn’t deal exclusively in cash. “We are not talking about, necessarily, always or if at all money. But we are looking at what the harm is and what measures can be taken to repair that harm, always in a symbolic manner,” Deborah outlines.

In this episode, we get great insight into the workings of the fund, a hugely multifaceted arm of the ICC. It’s a fund heavily criticised for failing to deliver on its mandate, criticisms Verduzco addresses.

Presented and produced by Evelyn McClafferty.

With thanks to our donors: Irish Aid.

Note: The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily represent those of IRLI or Irish Aid.