The status of the victim in international humanitarian law

Abstract

Abstract: It is no secret to us that national laws have proven their inability to provide victims of armed conflicts with the necessary protection, especially in developing countries. This is due to the fact that awareness of their rights was not at the level it is now, because the victim was often absent from participating in the trials held against perpetrators of international crimes during armed conflicts. In contrast, international justice also did not give the necessary amount of attention to the victim, unlike the accused. At the international level, the United Nations Declaration containing the basic principles for the provision of justice constituted a basic reference in highlighting a specific definition of the victim. In addition to all this, the Statute of the International Criminal Court of 1998 came to grant some rights to the victim, such as the right to participate in the proceedings, thus establishing a basic pillar for the legal status of the victim.