Fourth Annual Symposium on Pop Culture and International Law: “Equivalent Exchange” – Reparations for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law in Fullmetal Alchemist

[Dr Ilaria Infante is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in International Law at the Department of Law, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”]

Introduction

Fullmetal Alchemist (original title Hagane no Renkinjutsushi) is a popular manga series by Japanese mangaka (the Japanese word for manga artist) Hiromu Arawaka, published in Japan between 2001 and 2010 and translated in several languages. It was also adapted in two anime series, the second of which, called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, follows the manga plot faithfully.

The storyline is set in the fictional country of Amestris (which loosely resembles an early 20^th century European country setting), where alchemy reigns supreme. It follows the story of two young alchemists (the brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric) who committed the ultimate taboo of human transmutation by using alchemy to try to resurrect their mother. As a result, they lost some of their limbs due to the rule of Equivalent Exchange which states that “to obtain something, something of equal value must be given”. Thus, they embark on a journey to find the mythical Philosopher’s Stone in order to restore their bodies. On the way they clash with the main antagonists of the series, a group of immortal beings created by alchemy and known as the Homunculi, who want to create a Philosopher’s Stone by sacrificing the whole nation.

Because of the evil scheme of the Homunculi, Amestris is a military dictatorship, where the Head of State is the Commander-in-Chief of the Military (strikingly called Führer-President in the official English translation), and has been at war with its neighbouring countries since its creation.

The Ishvalan War of Extermination as a Potential Genocide

During one of these conflicts, Amestris likely annexed the Ishval nation, which became a region in the southeastern area of the country, on the border with a vast desert area that separated Amestris from the Xing Empire. The Ishval region was populated exclusively by Ishvalans, an ethno-religious group distinguished from the Amestrians by specific physical traits (like white/silver hair and red eyes) and religious beliefs (in particular the complete rejection of alchemy, considered by the Ishvalans as blasphemy). The tension between the two populations remained high, until the Homunculi orchestrated the beginning of uprisings and riots as one of them, disguised as an Amestrian soldier, deliberately killed an Ishavalan child, leading to an all-out war between the Amestrian Military and the Ishvalan rebels. This conflict lasted for seven years, until President King Bradley (one of the Homunculi himself) issued Executive Order 3066 which sent the so-called State Alchemists (alchemists who obtain a specific certification and become members of the Military) on the front lines as human weapons with the order to kill every Ishvalan left.

This marked the beginning of the so-called Ishvalan War of Extermination, which resulted in a massive bloodshed of civilians and the fleeing of the surviving Ishvalans in ghettos scattered across the nation and the bordering desert.

From an international law point of view, there could be grounds to maintain that in the context of the Ishvalan conflict, at least since the issuing of the Executive Order, a genocide occurred. It may be true, in fact, that in situations of war the commission of acts of violence against a particular group could make the distinction between genocide and other international crimes more difficult. However, in the case at hand, when the decree ordered the extermination of all Ishvalans, the Amestrian Military committed a genocide against the Ishvalan people, as all the requirements under Article II of the Genocide Convention were fulfilled.

First of all, the Ishvalans could easily be considered as a protected group within the meaning of Article II, both as an ethnic group and a religious group because, as clarified by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in the Akayesu case, an ethnic group is one “whose members share a common […] culture” and a religious group is “one whose members share the same religion, denomination or mode of worship”. Secondly, the actions of the State Alchemists fall within the prohibited acts listed in the Convention, in particular under letter a) of Article II that relates to the killing of members of a protected group. In fact, the Alchemists were ordered to kill as many Ishvalans as possible because, unbeknown to them, human lives were an essential element for the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone. Finally, regarding the mental element required by the crime of genocide, that is the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected group, as such, it must be noted that is still debated whether the genocidal acts should also fall within a broader genocidal plan or policy of the State. On this point, the case-law of the ad hoc Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda stated that the existence of plan or policy is not a legal ingredient of the crime of genocide but that, if such a plan were to exist, it could be an important factor in proving the existence of the genocidal intent. Therefore, the issuing of President Bradley’s Executive Order demanding the complete annihilation of all Ishvalans seems to facilitate proof of the crime of genocide.

Reparations for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law

Whether we consider the Ishvalan conflict as a genocide or just a civil war, nevertheless it gives us the chance to discuss the topic of reparations for victims.

One of the subplots of Fullmetal Alchemist, in fact, is centred around Roy Mustang, a young Colonel of the Amestrian Military, who participated in the Ishaval massacre as a State Alchemist and was considered a war hero due to the deadly power of his Flame Alchemy, capable of killing thousands of civilians with just a snap of his fingers. When Mustang, who had naively thought that alchemy was for the good of the people, was forced to come to terms with the horrors of war and the atrocities he was ordered to commit, he vowed to himself to do everything in his power to rise through the ranks and become the next Führer, in order to reduce the powers of the Military and make Amestris a democracy. He does so even if he is well aware that once the State were no longer a military dictatorship he would likely be tried for the crimes committed in Ishval, because, as noted by Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye (Mustang’s personal adjutant who also fought in the war as a sniper), “[t]hose who were praised as heroes during wartime will be seen as murderers when there’s peace”.

While at the end of the manga, when Bradley and the rest of the Homunculi are defeated, Mustang is not Führer yet, he is nonetheless personally supervising the reparation and reconstruction of Ishval, in light of the new government’s process of reconciliation. In particular, the new policy provides for the reinstating of Ishval as a Holy Land and for the return in the region of all its people that were dispersed in the ghettos. It also includes the planting and harvesting of many crops in order to help rebuild and revitalize the Ishvalan economy, as well as the construction of a new railway system across the desert connecting Amestris and Xing, with Ishval becoming an important centre for commerce along the route.

This policy of restoration could be considered under international law as an example of good practice of reparations for victims of human rights law and humanitarian law violations, as it takes into consideration the victim’s real needs of returning to their original land and having the means to live there again in peace and prosperity.

Over the years, in fact, as has been noted, individuals have increasingly become direct holders of specific rights and prerogatives under international law, instead of mere beneficiaries vis-à-vis the State, especially thanks to the contribution of human rights law. Therefore, they are to be considered the true titulaires of the right to receive reparations for the violations suffered.

For this reason, in 2005 the General Assembly adopted the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparations for the Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law [BPGR]. These Principles, also known as the Van Boven/Bassiouni Principles, from the names of the two Special Rapporteurs who drafted them, are not legally binding. However, as stated in paragraph 7 of the Preamble, they “identify mechanisms, modalities, procedures and methods for the implementation of existing legal obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law” regarding reparations. Thus, in the words of one of their drafters, the BPGR “are meant to serve as a tool, a guiding instrument for states in devising and implementing victim-oriented policies and programmes”. At the same time, they may also serve as a support to the victims themselves when filing claims for remedy and reparation before both domestic and international courts who, in turn, should take them into account when issuing their decisions.

As noted, the last paragraph of the Preamble captures the essence of the BPGR as it clarifies that the international community, when affirming its solidarity with those who have suffered violations of international law, adopts a victim-oriented perspective. The most important aspect of the BPGR, in fact, is that they have been “systematized according to the needs and rights of the victims”.

The best suited programmes of reparations, therefore, should include not only material restitution and compensation, but also measures of rehabilitation and satisfaction, as well as guarantees of non-repetition, that would better address the victims’ psychological needs, in particular their needs to share their experiences and to see justice carried out.

As Roth-Arriaza maintains, reparations should serve the dual function of, on the one hand, compensating for losses suffered and, on the other hand, reintegrating the marginalised back into society in order to allow them to contribute to the rebuilding of the country. In this perspective, although monetary compensation can certainly help, measures of rehabilitation and satisfaction might prove to be more suitable.

Rehabilitation measures, like psychological care or social services, for example, have “the ability to address the mental and physical harm caused to victims, or community harm, as well as to enable victims to reconstruct their lives, get new life opportunities, fulfil their rights to justice and truth, and contribute to non-recurrence”. On the other hand, satisfaction measures, like public apologies and commemorations, may help heal, as Danieli wrote, “that rupture that victimization creates between the survivors and their society”.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this work aimed to broadly discuss the topic of reparations for victims of gross violations of human rights and serious violations of humanitarian law, using as example Fullmetal Alchemist’s subplot on the Ishval restoration. While, at the end of the manga, the transition towards democracy is far from complete and there are still no judicial trials on the horizon, the process of reparation can be considered as an example of a good practice which takes into consideration the victims’ real needs (in that case the return to their original land with the restoration of their cult and the contribution to the reconstruction of their society). Indeed, wanting to apply alchemy’s law of Equivalent Exchange, it is only by giving victims what they really need, that a society, where there have been large-scale abuses against all or part of its population, may hope to achieve, in exchange, justice and reconciliation.