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Abstract:
A sustained reflection upon remedial obligations and possibilities is particularly necessary at this juncture in the development of international law, where important mechanisms with reparative functions have recently sprung up around the world: the International Criminal Court, the African Court of Human Rights, and several national schemes, as a result of proliferating transitional justice initiatives. This Article argues for a remedial model that emphasizes the restorative measures of satisfaction and rehabilitation, as well as general assurances of non-repetition. The work first examines the case law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the only international human rights body with binding powers that has consistently ordered equitable remedies in conjunction with compensation. The Article next considers the strengths and limitations of the Inter-American Tribunal's unique reparative approach, which has been neglected in the literature despite significant evolution in recent years. The following section attempts to refine the Court's normative model by proposing a "participative" methodology, consisting in procedural reforms, to calibrate remedies more precisely to a victim's situation and necessities. Finally, the work discusses how the Court's victim-conscious balance of non-monetary orders and economic compensation, which has revamped standards for redress in international law, should be incorporated to a greater extent into the remedial approaches of other international courts and domestic institutions.

human rights, remedies, reparations, transitional justice, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, international law, restorative justice, victim's rights, Inter-American System, Latin America

Abstract:
On June 15, 2005, the Inter-American Court issued its judgment in Moiwana Village v. Suriname, which held Suriname responsible for numerous human rights violations and ordered several remedial measures. In a separate opinion, one of the Tribunal's veteran judges, Ant¿nio Can¿ado-Trindade, wrote that the case "raises issues of great transcendence." Certainly, the decision illustrates several of the Court's latest jurisprudential developments, and navigates a few rising socio-political tides in South and Central America. This brief essay seeks to demonstrate how the Moiwana case: a) presents factual situations that are increasingly common before the Court; b) continues to develop key legal constructions in response to such facts; c) foreshadows a significant evolution with respect to elements of the Tribunal's more "traditional" jurisprudence; and d) reflects, nevertheless, a prevailing caution regarding other aspects of legal analysis.

Human rights, international law, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, indigenous rights, tribal rights, cultural rights, forced displacement, Inter-American system of human rights protection