Restorative Justice for Victims of Terrorism – Policy Implications

Source: (2008) Report of the fifth conference of the European Forum for Restorative Justice, Building restorative justice in Europe: cooperation between the public, policy makers, practitioners and researchers, Verona.

In this workshop, the possible role of restorative justice for victims of terrorism was discussed. A short outline of restorative justice principles and values for a framework of restorative justice at the micro-, meso- and macro-level was presented. Against the background of restorative justice processes in cases of other forms of serious violent crime, like victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing, circles and victim impact panels, the relevance of these practices in the context of terrorism is analysed. Comparable
situations with terrorism (such as hate crime and large-scale conflicts) are highlighted, and the specific dimension of terrorism is addressed. Finally, two special types of terrorism (that is suicide and religious terrorism) are discussed in order to learn from these approaches for the applicability of restorative justice in cases of terrorism. The main focus is placed on primary and secondary victims of terrorism. Further, additional focus is put on the impact of mass terrorist victimisation on vicarious victims. Examples of restorative justice practices at the micro-, meso- and macro-level are presented, on the basis of which a conceptual framework for restorative justice practices for victims of terrorism in the EU shall be developed with the input of the workshop participants. (excerpt)