Constructing ‘Victim-Centred Peace’: The Contribution of the International Criminal Court’s Reparations to Victims in the Al-Mahdi Case in Timbuktu

Abstract The International Criminal Court (ICC) established, under Article 75, its reparation regime to provide remedies for the harms suffered by victims of crimes falling within the Court’s jurisdiction. Reparations were granted to victims in Timbuktu as a means of addressing the harms caused by Al-Mahdi’s destruction of the protected mausoleums in 2012 when jihadist groups occupied Timbuktu. This article examines how ICC reparations contribute to victims’ lives in Timbuktu by introducing the concept of ‘victim-centred peace’. ‘Victims-centred peace’ is assessed through three dimensions: the delivery of justice, the material restoration of the causes of the harms suffered by victims, and victims’ own expression regarding their satisfaction with the reparation. The article employed a doctrinal methodology to investigate the contributions of these reparations, analysing relevant provisions of the Rome Statutes, legal scholarship, transcripts, and ICC reparations orders.