During the conference in Qatar, ILI Chairwoman raised the issue of compensation for victims of the war

Those who cause harm must pay. We co-organised the international discussion “Victims’ Compensation and Justice – Tackling Impunity” together with outstanding speakers – thank you for your contributions and the substantive exchange. This was about one of the hardest post-war and human-rights accountability questions: how to ensure perpetrators pay, and victims receive real, enforceable compensation.

The event took place during UNCAC CoSP11 – a key global anti-corruption forum held every two years, bringing together over 100 countries, including governments, international organizations, and civil society.

Alongside the Institute of Legislative Ideas, the panel discussion on compensation for victims of war was co-organized by Transparency International, the Global Survivors Fund, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Office, the Cleen Foundation, the French Ministry of Justice and the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office, as well as the African Center for Governance, Asset Recovery, and Sustainable Development.

During the discussion, ILI Chairwoman Tetiana Khutor presented our analysis “The Compensatory Function of Sanctions: Mechanisms for Providing Restitution to Victims”. The key point is practical: sanctions should not function only as restrictions – they can and should operate as a financial mechanism for restitution. Drawing on concrete examples from the United States, Canada, and the EU, we demonstrated what already works and what is needed to scale these approaches from isolated practices to a global standard.

Our core logic is straightforward and principled: if an individual or a company facilitates the circumvention of sanctions related to armed aggression, the financial consequences of that violation should be directed toward compensating the harm caused by that aggression.

For ILI, this is part of systematic work to ensure justice has a financial dimension and impunity carries a real price. This is the approach we bring to the international conversation on victims’ compensation.

Link to ILI’s analysis – here.

This media content is produced by NGO “Institute of Legislative Ideas” with the support of the Askold and Dir Fund as part of the Strong Civil Society of Ukraine – a Driver towards Reforms and Democracy project, implemented by ISAR Ednannia, funded by Norway and Sweden. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of NGO “Institute of Legislative Ideas” and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Government of Norway, the Government of Sweden and ISAR Ednannia.