Trust Fund for Victims mourns passing of Simone Veil

With deep regret, the Board of Directors, management and staff of the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) at the International Criminal Court note the passing of Madame Simone Veil on Friday 30 June2017.

Madame Veil was the first ever Chair of the TFV Board of Directors. She is mourned as an indefatigable, impatient and uncompromising voice for the sake of victims of the most serious crimes.

On behalf of the current TFV Board of Directors, Chair Motoo Noguchi stated, "Madame Veil has been an inspiration for many generations of advocates for the oppressed and the disenfranchised.  Her personal experience as a survivor of the Holocaust, her moral fortitude and her pioneering professional accomplishments made her election to the first TFV Board of Directors, as well as her appointment as its first Chair, a most compelling expression of the Rome Statute's unprecedented ambition to recognise the suffering of victims and in particular, of the right of victims to overcome their harm and to regain their dignity and hope. In further building and promoting the Trust Fund for Victims as a global beacon of reparative justice for victims, we, the current members of the Board, are ever more strongly mindful of her legacy."

As the first Chair of the TFV Board of Directors, Madame Veil completed two mandates from 2004-2009. During this period, she initiated the first drafting of the TFV Regulations, adopted by the States Parties in 2005. She oversaw the start of projects in norther Uganda and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, providing assistance in the form of psychological and physical rehabilitation and material support to victims of crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court, without necessarily being a party to proceedings before the Court.

As Madame Veil noted at the occasion of 10th anniversary of the Rome Statute, "That was a quite remarkable step forward in terms of consideration of the needs of victims, which cannot be met alone by the Court's judgments against those responsible for the most serious crimes." In this regard, she recalled "the fundamental, innovative role played by the Trust Fund. It is an integral part of the Rome Statute, its fate is intrinsically linked with that of the Court, and yet its mission is a very particular one."

To date , over 450,000 victims have benefited from the activities of the Trust Fund, which is currently expanding its assistance programmes to more ICC situation countries and is starting the implementation of the Court's first reparations orders.

Faithful to Madame Veil's tireless advocacy for the most vulnerable, in particular women and girls, in 2008 the Trust Fund launched its first fundraising campaign, geared to the particular benefit of victim survivors of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV); a very successful campaign that endures to this date and continues to generate significant voluntary contributions earmarked for SGBV victim survivors.

May she rest in peace.