Reparations, future, and difficult deaths: reflections on the implementation of reparations for victims in the Katanga case

We examine how the International Criminal Court‑ordered reparations engaged with the ‘difficult deaths’ of the 2003 Bogoro massacre in eastern DR Congo. Drawing on qualitative material from the independent evaluation of the Prosecutor v Germain Katanga case, we analyse survivors’ experiences of recognition, reparation valuation, and grief. The Court’s design combined symbolic cash with in‑kind measures, navigating compensatory and expressive logics. Budgetary constraints and security considerations reshaped awards, collapsing hierarchies of harm so that property losses sometimes outweighed bereavement, and anonymity limited public memorialisation. Survivors often redirected benefits toward basic needs amid ongoing insecurity, while mourning remained materially and ritually constrained. Victims valued formal acknowledgement and opportunities to be heard yet reported exclusion and the persistence of insecurity that precluded closure. Reparations are best seen as a platform rather than an endpoint: a partial commitment that acknowledges loss and supports life in the aftermath.

Falisse, J.-B., Koroma, S., Nyembo, G., & Baba, A. (2026). Reparations, future, and difficult deaths: reflections on the implementation of reparations for victims ordered by the International Criminal Court in the Katanga case. Death Studies. (accepted, forthcoming)