"Whereas victims of ordinary crimes such as theft, robbery, assault or murder find it easier to obtain redress, victims of the most serious violatons such as war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity receive less attention insofar as their redress is concerned. Apart from some exceptional cases where victims of serious human rights abuses had their right to redress vindicated, there has not been an effective and comprehensive way of redressing victims of gross human rights violations. In Africa for instance, victims' redress in post-Apartheid South Africa and post-genocide Rwanda have been problematic. Thus, it is meaningful investigating how effectively the victims' right to reparation can be implemented in case of gross and systematic human rights violations. Preliminary to the above interrogation are questions such as: what are gross and systematic human rights violations? What are international standards regarding redress for the victims of such abuses? The case studies of Sierra Leone and the DRC will be closely analysed as an empirical foundation for these questions. ... This study consists of five chapters. Chapter one draws the context in which the study emerges. It provides the foundation and the structure of the dissertation. Chapter two outlines the legal framework that is relevant for answering the questions raised by this study. It explores international human rights standards regarding reparation of vicitms of gross and systematic violations. Chapter three analyses the implementation of victims' reparation in the context of Sierra Leone. It confronts Sierra Leonean responses to war victims with international standards on victims' reparation. Chapter four analyses victims' situation in the post-conflict Democratic Republic of Congo and draws lessons from the Sierra Leonean experience. Chapter five sums up findings of the study." -- Introduction. / Prepared under the supervision of Professor Alejandro Lorite Escorihuela at the Department of Law, American University in Cairo, Egypt / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Les sessions extraordinaires constituent une des innovations majeures de la réforme de 2006 qui a institué le Conseil des droits de l’homme, en tant qu’organe subsidiaire de l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies. Alors même que le Conseil tient trois sessions régulières chaque année, les sessions extraordinaires permettent aux Etats de réagir face à une situation de crise en organisant un débat, permettant d’évaluer et de qualifier les violations commises et mettant en place des mécanismes d’enquête et de suivi. L’analyse systématique des vingt-six sessions extraordinaires organisées depuis près de douze ans éclaire ainsi non seulement les rapports de force entre les acteurs en présence mais aussi une dynamique nouvelle du droit international public, intégrant le droit international humanitaire et le droit international pénal dans le champ de compétence du Conseil des droits de l’homme. / Special sessions are one of the major innovations of the reform that established the Human Rights Council in 2006 as a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly. While the Council holds three regular sessions each year, a special session allows States to respond to an urgent situation by organizing a debate, to assess and qualify violations and also to establish investigative mechanisms. The systematic analysis of the twenty-six special sessions held in nearly a period of twelve years illuminates, not only the balance of power between the actors involved, but also a new dynamic of international law, integrating international humanitarian law and international criminal law into the field of competence of the Human Rights Council.