Ukraine: EU must dedicate a share of asset-backed loan to reparations for victims and survivors of human rights violations

As the war in Ukraine continues, victims and survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, enforced disappearance, torture, and other grave violations are waiting for justice. Reparations are their right under international law, and a lifeline to rebuild stability, hope and restore dignity. 

With a EUR 140 billion loan to Ukraine - backed by immobilised Russian sovereign assets - now on the table, the European Union must innovate by leveraging these assets and assign a portion of the funds for victims of gross human rights violations and serious violations of humanitarian law.  

Dedicating as little as 2% of this reparation loan – EUR 2.8 billion – to domestic reparations programmes would transform lives. This bold step would showcase European leadership and a commitment to the rule of law, enabling the E.U. and Ukraine to: 

• Deliver reparations to all victims in urgent need, including survivors of conflict-related sexual violence; 

• Provide recognition and redress to families of the disappeared; 

• Support rehabilitation and compensation for victims of torture and other grave violations. 

This is a historic opportunity for Europe to pioneer a justice model where the perpetrator’s resources are used to repair the harm caused to victims, and survivors are no longer left to pay the price of survival. By investing in reparations, Europe will rebuild Ukraine’s social cohesion, support its human capital, and lay the foundations for reconstruction, recovery and justice. 

 

This statement is supported by: 

• 29 December
• Accountability Unit
• All Survivors Project
• Association of relatives of political prisoners of Kremlin
• Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights
• Civilian Detainees, Ukraine
• Coalition for Genocide Response
• Dnistriansky Center of Law and Politics
• Dr Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
• Dr Ewelina U. Ochab, IBAHRI Senior Programme Lawyer
• Dr Felix Stein, Principal Investigator of the REPAIR research project, UoA
• Foundation Sunflowers
• Free to Live, Ukraine
• Global Rights Compliance
• Global Survivors Fund
• GOAL
• Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
• Human Rights Center ZMINA (Ukraine)
• Human Rights Platform, Ukraine
• Illia Chernohorenko, Ex-Director General for the Rule of Law Directorate, Ukraine
• InterJust
• International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute
• International Center for the Study, Prevention and Treatment of MultiGenerational Legacies of Trauma
• International Center for Transitional Justice
• Justice and Accountability for Ukraine (JAFUA)
• Legal Action Worldwide (LAW)
• Mama Jane Charity Foundation
• McCue Jury & Partners
• Montreal Institute for Global Security
• Mukwege Foundation
• Network of Ukrainian Men who Survived Captivity and Torture 'Alumni'
• New Lines Institute
• New York University’s PaCT (Peace and Conflict Transformation) Group
• Norwegian Helsinki Committee
• NUMO, SISTERS!
• Physicians for Human Rights
• Platform for Peace and Humanity
• REDRESS
• SEMA Ukraine
• State Capture Accountability Project
• Tetyana Nesterchuk, Barrister, Fountain Court Chambers
• The Reckoning Project
• Truth Hounds
• Ukraine Legal Network, Project of the Nuhanovic Foundation
• Ukrainian Legal Aid Foundation
• Ukrainian Women Lawyers Association "JurFem"
• Universal Rights Group
• Way of Freemen, Ukraine
• Women's Information Consultative Center (WICC)