Injuring Family Relations through Gross Violations of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law

Abstract

Drawing a line between victims and non-victims in the context of gross violations of international humanitarian and international human rights law is not an easy task. On the one hand, mass atrocities lead to widespread victimisation of individuals, groups and communities who suffer from various types of harm and damage incurred in the process of their commission. On the other hand, clearly not every person affected by an ongoing conflict and mass criminality should be considered an injured party. This article addresses such conceptual dilemmas by casting light on the function of family relations as grounds of indirect victimhood. To this end, it identifies two theoretical models of victimhood and showcases how they have been put into practice by international and hybrid courts and tribunals in their respective reparative and punitive regimes.