​YOUR ALLY

By Achille Campagna

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In search for a strong legal and philosophical framework for my work with Ukraine victims, as a lawyer, I felt the need to pursue my own path, and I came to the simple, straightforward conclusion that peace should be defined as the absence of victimization.

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There should be no victims, this is the plain, straightforward end-result the UN Charter has been crafted for, and the ultimate reason why, after two world wars, mankind has made a choice, that is to lay the foundation of a new global order based on peace.

 

The temptation to bend this simple conceptualization of peace towards a more structured doctrine is doomed to fail and deprive people of the clarity that we all need to actively participate and live within the legal system.

 

A debate can be staged on the philosophical soundness of the proposed interchangeability of the two legs of this idea, ‘peace’ the targeted concept, ‘absence of victimization’ its essence; nonetheless, such link appears solid, and it serves my purpose well.

 

I will hold, in my speeches, that peace is a legal obligation countries signed off upon, and I will explain that those duties are not fulfilled by long talk, but only by deeds, that is effective international institutions capable of using military force to stop aggressors and terrorists, and a strong

accountability mechanism. I will add, at that point, that victims cannot be neglected, because they are what the legal obligation that goes by the name ‘peace’ is meant to protect.

 

Be it the orphan children, the mothers mourning their sons, the tortured and raped victims in Ukraine, or in any other part of the world, within any international or non-international armed conflict, mass killings, repressions, be it any place and time, their voices must be heard.

 

The concept of victim constitutes a unifying factor in contrast with the diversity of ways to break peace, ranging from international armed conflicts, to armed repressions, to terroristic attacks, as innocents pay with their life and suffering for the unlawful use of military force, irrespective of the labels we apply.

 

Accountability as a deterrent is not enough, once we accept a definition of peace based on the absence of victimization: justice must be restored, and it must be pronounced before the victims.

Restoring justice for the victims in real terms means to let them participate in trials, and award real compensation, by this latter also meaning taking reasonable steps to ensure their satisfaction.

Economies burning trillions of dollars in the pursue of futilities are not finding the time and the resources to compensate the victims, while the legal system, instead of promoting their safeguard, poses obstacles. The stark conclusion is necessitated that the world is not even near doing enough for the victims.

 

It is not the systematic failure to fully compensate the victims that moves me - as the same terms apply to victims of ordinary crime - but the despicable failure to act, the ‘shortness in deeds’ that pushed me into pursuing my mission.

 

The gap must be filled, as not only the victims’ rights are deprived of an effective safeguard, but the deep sense of impunity and injustice insults them, making forgiveness and reconciliation impossible, conversely fueling hate for generations, up to the next war.

 

Apologies and help – though key to the process of reconciliation - are not capable of surrogating the restoration of justice and proper reparations, as their lack itself is insulting for the victims, especially considering that they do not realize that such failure is largely depending on wrong policies.

Restoring justice is a precondition for forgiveness. Nothing will bring their dear ones back to life, not certainly a conviction judgment against the perpetrators, though the absence thereof outrages them, producing more grief and potentially triggering another response, that is causing them to take rogue, violent action.

The cycle must be interrupted, as rage will spiral into another war, and peace will be violated once again, being such a link between victimization and forgiveness the ultimate confirmation that only by erasing victimization peace can thrive, that peace equals no victims.

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published on 22 October 2024