A pension for injured victims of the Troubles: reparations or reifying victim hierarchy?

Abstract

Reparations have been often-used victim-centred measures to redress both private harm and gross violations of human rights. However, with the increasing occurrence of internal armed conflict and political violence, identities of victims and perpetrators in protracted conflicts can become blurred for some individuals. In countries like Peru and Northern Ireland that have suffered protracted violence, victimhood has been contested around which individuals are seen as innocent and deserving in order to exclude any members of non-state armed groups from claiming reparations. This article explores the issue of a proposed Bill on a pension for injured victims of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. It identifies that there is no consistent state practice or human rights jurisprudence in this area, but instead offers a more complex approach through four models that can grapple with the seeming diametrically opposed victimhood and responsibility, by including victimised perpetrators in reparations programmes such as that proposed for a pension for seriously injured victims in Northern Ireland.