Constructing ‘Victim-Centred Peace’: The Contribution of the International Criminal Court’s Reparations to Victims in the Al-Mahdi Case in Timbuktu
March 23rd, 2026
The article “Constructing ‘Victim-Centred Peace’: The Contribution of the International Criminal Court’s Reparations to Victims in the Al-Mahdi Case in Timbuktu” by Moussa Theodore Zidouemba, published in International Criminal Law Review, examines the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) reparations in improving the lives of victims of international crimes.
Under Article 75 of the Rome Statute, the ICC established a reparations regime to provide remedies for the harms suffered by victims of crimes within the Court’s jurisdiction. In the case of Timbuktu, reparations were granted in response to the destruction of protected mausoleums by Al-Mahdi in 2012, during the city’s occupation by jihadist groups. Zidouemba introduces the concept of “victim-centred peace”, analyzing the contribution of reparations across three main dimensions: the delivery of justice, the material restoration of the causes of the harms suffered by victims, and the victims’ own expression regarding their satisfaction with the reparative measures.
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