Crimes against Humanity

Breaking the Silence: Rape as an International Crime

Citation:

Ellis, Mark. 2006. “Breaking the Silence: Rape as an International Crime.” Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law 38 (2): 225–47.

Author: Mark Ellis

Abstract:

The article focuses on the advancement of the crime of rape as an international crime through the ad hoc Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The concept of rape as an international crime has been defined as a crime of genocide, a crime against humanity, and a war crime. The legal development of rape came in 1949, when rape and assault were included in the Geneva Conventions. Furthermore, the International Criminal Court conduct a diverse out-reach campaign for victims of sexual violence.

Topics: Gender, Justice, Crimes against Humanity, International Tribunals & Special Courts, War Crimes, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Europe, Balkans Countries: Rwanda, Yugoslavia (former)

Year: 2006

Ending Sexual Violence in the Congo

Citation:

Breton-Le Goff, Gaelle. 2010. “Ending Sexual Violence in the Congo.” The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 34 (1): 13–40.

Author: Gaelle Bretton-Le Goff

Abstract:

Even today, feminist activists fighting against impunity for sexual crimes are at risk of death threats and sexual violence, including having their relatives raped, beaten, or forced to stay nude for hours in front of a group of armed soldiers. ... While the security situation was deteriorating due to the presence of two dozen armed groups in the region, the Security Council decided in 2004 to modify the mandate of MONUC to include the protection of civilians under imminent threat of physical violence and to investigate serious violations of human rights. ... Following the attacks on Goma and Rutshuru in North Kivu last year by Nkunda's CNDP rebels, HRW and other NGOs, as well as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, rapidly denounced sexual violence perpetrated by both: the rebels and the national army. ... In the Kivu and Ituri, police officers lack the necessary supplies to carry out their duties; they often complain of not having gasoline for their motorcycles, making it difficult to undertake investigations on the ground. ... At least five million people have been killed during the conflicts, and an unknown number of women, girls, boys, and men have been victims of sexual violence. (LEXISNEXIS)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Feminisms, Justice, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, Rights, Human Rights, Security, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Africa, Central Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Year: 2010

Impunity or Immunity: Wartime Male Rape and Sexual Torture as a Crime against Humanity

Citation:

Zawati, Hilmi M. 2007. “Impunity or Immunity: Wartime Male Rape and Sexual Torture as a Crime against Humanity.” Torture: Quarterly Journal on Rehabilitation of Torture Victims and Prevention of Torture 17 (1): 27–47.

Author: Hilmi M. Zawati

Abstract:

This paper seeks to analyze the phenomenon of wartime rape and sexual torture of Croatian and Iraqi men and to explore the avenues for its prosecution under international humanitarian and human rights law. Male rape, in time of war, is predominantly an assertion of power and aggression rather than an attempt on the part of the perpetrator to satisfy sexual desire. The effect of such a horrible attack is to damage the victim's psyche, rob him of his pride, and intimidate him. In Bosnia- Herzegovina, Croatia, and Iraq, therefore, male rape and sexual torture has been used as a weapon of war with dire consequences for the victim's mental, physical, and sexual health. Testimonies collected at the Medical Centre for Human Rights in Zagreb and reports received from Iraq make it clear that prisoners in these conflicts have been exposed to sexual humiliation, as well as to systematic and systemic sexual torture. This paper calls upon the international community to combat the culture of impunity in both dictator-ruled and democratic countries by bringing the crime of wartime rape into the international arena, and by removing all barriers to justice facing the victims. Moreover, it emphasizes the fact that wartime rape is the ultimate humiliation that can be inflicted on a human being, and it must be regarded as one of the most grievous crimes against humanity. The international community has to consider wartime rape a crime of war and a threat to peace and security. It is in this respect that civilian community associations can fulfill their duties by encouraging victims of male rape to break their silence and address their socio-medical needs, including reparations and rehabilitation.

Keywords: sexual torture, male rape, wartime rape, gender crimes, Croatia, Iraq

Annotation:

Quotes:

"Male rape in times of war is predominantly an assertion of power and aggression rather than an expression of satisfying the perpetrator’s sexual desire." (33)

"When war finally came to an end in the former Yugoslavia, the medical records of health care centres provided evidence of male rape and sexual torture of Croatian and Bosnian Muslim men including castration, genital beatings, and electroshock." (34)

"This paper provides three kinds of potential remedies available for addressing the needs of Croatian and Iraqi wartime male rape victims: legal remedies, remedies within the United Nations system, and psycho-social remedies within civil community associations." (34)

"We should combat the culture of impunity in both dictator-ruled and democratic countries by bringing the crime of wartime rape into the international arena, and by removing all barriers to justice facing the victims. Moreover, we should emphasize the fact that wartime rape is the ultimate humiliation that can be inflicted on a human being, and it must be regarded as one of the most grievous crimes against humanity. The international community has to consider wartime rape a crime of war and a threat to peace and security. It is in this respect that civilian community associations can fulfill their duties by encouraging victims of male rape to break their silence and address their socio-medical needs, including reparations and rehabilitation." (40)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Men, Gendered Power Relations, Health, Mental Health, Trauma, International Law, International Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Justice, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Security, Sexual Violence, Rape, SV against Men, Sexuality, Sexual Torture Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East, Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Iraq

Year: 2007

Note: Security Council Resolution 1820: An Imperfect but Necessary Resolution to Protect Civilians from Rape in War Zones

Citation:

Goldstoff, Melissa Goldenberg. 2010. “Note: Security Council Resolution 1820: An Imperfect but Necessary Resolution to Protect Civilians from Rape in War Zones.” Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender 16 (3): 491–517.

Author: Melissa Goldenberg Goldstoff

Abstract:

On June 19, 2008, the United Nations Security Council took an important step to further the protection of women during war by unanimously passing Security Council Resolution 1820 ("Resolution 1820" or "the Resolution") which calls for "immediate and complete cessation by all parties to armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence against civilians," including children, and states that "rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide."This Note argues that despite the overwhelming importance of Resolution 1820 in protecting women raped during wartime conflict, the Resolution is ineffective and potentially detrimental to women's rights because it suffers from inconsistencies and incompleteness.

Topics: Armed Conflict, International Law, International Criminal Law, Justice, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, Rights, Women's Rights, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1820, Sexual Violence, Rape

Year: 2010

The Special Court for Sierra Leone’s Consideration of Gender-based Violence: Contributing to Transitional Justice?

Citation:

Oosterveld, Valerie. 2009. “The Special Court for Sierra Leone’s Consideration of Gender-based Violence: Contributing to Transitional Justice?” Human Rights Review 10 (1): 73–98. doi: 10.1007/s12142-008-0098-7.

Author: Valeria Oosterveld

Abstract:

Serious gender-based crimes were committed against women and girls during Sierra Leone’s decade-long armed conflict. This article examines how the Special Court for Sierra Leone has approached these crimes in its first four judgments. The June 20, 2007 trial judgment in the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council case assists international criminal law’s limited understanding of the crime against humanity of forced marriage, but also collapses evidence of that crime into the war crime of outrages upon personal dignity. The February 22, 2008 appeals judgment attempts to correct this misstep. In contrast, the August 2, 2007 trial judgment in the Civil Defence Forces case is virtually silent on crimes committed against women and girls, although the May 28, 2008 appeals judgment attempts to partially redress this silence. This article concludes that the four judgments, considered together, raise the specter that the Special Court could potentially fail to make a significant progressive contribution to gender-sensitive transitional justice.

Topics: Gender, Women, Girls, Gender-Based Violence, International Law, International Criminal Law, Justice, Crimes against Humanity, International Tribunals & Special Courts, Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Sierra Leone

Year: 2009

The Trauma of Justice: Sexual Violence, Crimes Against Humanity and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Citation:

Campbell, Kirsten. 2004. “The Trauma of Justice: Sexual Violence, Crimes Against Humanity and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.” Social & Legal Studies 13 (3): 329–50.

Author: Kirsten Campbell

Abstract:

This article explores the relationship between the concepts of trauma and justice in the jurisprudence of crimes against humanity of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, focusing upon cases of sexual violence. It argues that the Tribunal’s jurisprudence conceives this crime as a traumatic violation of both the subject of rights and of universal humanity. The Tribunal’s models of international justice as procedure, punishment, recognition and therapy understand justice as the legal suturing of this trauma. In these models, the notion of ‘justice’ functions as phantasy in the psychoanalytic sense of an imaginary scene that veils its impossibility. However, figuring international justice as the resolution of the trauma of crimes against humanity reiterates the traumatic wrong in humanitarian law. Humanitarian law therefore requires a new model of international justice - a model that does not reiterate the past but which can institute the future.

Topics: Health, Trauma, International Law, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Justice, Crimes against Humanity, International Tribunals & Special Courts, Sexual Violence Regions: Europe, Balkans Countries: Yugoslavia (former)

Year: 2004

Women, War, and Words: The Gender Component in the Permanent International Criminal Court’s Definition of Crimes Against Humanity

Citation:

Moshan, B. S. 1998. “Women, War, and Words: The Gender Component in the Permanent International Criminal Court’s Definition of Crimes Against Humanity.” Fordham International Law Journal 22: 154–84.

Author: B. S. Moshan

Abstract:

This Comment addresses the intersection of gender issues and human rights law as illustrated by the formation of the permanent ICC. Specifically, it argues that the inclusion of gender- motivated crimes in the ICC's definition of crimes against humanity was necessary to emphasize women's wartime experiences and injuries, but that such inclusion is not enough to ensure gender justice as the ICC begins to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Part I of this Comment discusses the concept of gender-based crimes and illustrates these crimes through recent examples of gender-based violence. It also reviews the history of the ICC, focusing on the events leading up to the Rome Conference and the adoption of the ICC statute. Part II discusses the treatment of gender in the ICC statute. Part III argues that the inclusion of gender-based crimes in the definition of crimes against humanity in the ICC statute is a victory for women's rights, but that the Rome Statute fails to address some of the most essential concerns of women's rights advocates. This Comment concludes that the Rome Statute is ultimately only a partial victory for gender justice.

Topics: Gender, Gender-Based Violence, International Law, International Criminal Law, International Human Rights, Justice, Crimes against Humanity, International Tribunals & Special Courts, Rights, Women's Rights

Year: 1998

Gender Mainstreaming in International Institutions: Developments at the UN ad hoc Tribunals and the International Criminal Court

Citation:

Chappell, Louise. 2005. “Gender Mainstreaming in International Institutions: Developments at the UN ad hoc Tribunals and the International Criminal Court.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Honolulu, March 5.

Author: Louise Chappell

Abstract:

In recent years women's activists have worked hard to add a gender dimension to the workings of emerging international institutions including the UN ad hoc tribunals on the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and the International Criminal Court. Through their efforts they have made some significant advances in bringing to light the complex, diverse and unique aspects of women's lives previously ignored in international criminal and humanitarian law. Advances include: the recognition of sexual violence as a grave breach of international law relating to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide; the redefinition of the crime of rape and the acknowledgment of gender as a basis for persecution. Feminist pressure has also helped to encourage an acceptance of the representation of women and gender interests within the ICC. Although there is still much to be done, feminist activists have demonstrated that there is a place for 'women's interests' under international law and that by taking these interests into account can make a real difference to women's lives in times of conflict.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gender Mainstreaming, International Law, International Criminal Law, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), International Organizations, Justice, Crimes against Humanity, International Tribunals & Special Courts, War Crimes, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Europe, Balkans Countries: Rwanda, Yugoslavia (former)

Year: 2005

Rape and Constructions of Masculinity and Femininity

Citation:

Engels, Bettina. 2004. “Rape and Constructions of Masculinity and Femininity.” Politikon: The IAPSS Journal, no. 8, 59-70.

Author: Bettina Engels

Abstract:

With her paper Rape as a War Crime (Politikon 6/2003, p. 55-69), Andrea Theocharis has put an issue on the agenda, which has long been missing in Politikon’s discussions. [Engels is] grateful to Andrea for starting an important debate, which [Engels] would like to continue by giving some remarks to her contribution focusing on the gender constructionist dimension of rape in violent conflicts. Agreeing with Andrea, [Engels] will argue that rape and sexual violence are not only systematic and strategic weapons in violent conflicts but gendered crimes which cannot be analyzed appropriately without theorizing social and cultural constructions of masculinity and femininity. [Engels] will outline how gender-blind approaches fail to meet the issue of rape in violent conflicts. By mentioning some exemplary empirical figures, [Engels] will show that rape in violent conflicts is neither a new phenomena nor can it be considered a by-product of war. It must be emphasized that rape is not an act of sexuality but a crime against human physical and psychical integrity. [Engels] will discuss gender-sensitive approaches, which analyze rape in violent conflicts. Special attention will be paid to the view of rape as an act of male violence against women, which has also been outlined by Andrea. [Engels] will then focus on the construction of hegemonic masculinity and the widely ignored fact that also men are victims of rape and sexual torture in violent conflicts. [Engels] will conclude with emphasizing that constructions of femininity and masculinity are integral to violent conflicts in general and to rape and sexual violence in particular. If mainstream conflict analysis continues to ignore the dimensions of gender constructions, it will fail to meet its subject appropriately.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Femininity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Justice, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, Sexual Violence, Male Perpetrators, Rape, SV against Men

Year: 2004

Just War Theory, Crimes of War, and War Rape

Citation:

Scholz, Sally. 2006. “Just War Theory, Crimes of War, and War Rape.” International Journal of Applied Philosophy 20 (1): 143–57.

Author: Sally Scholz

Abstract:

Recent decades have witnessed rape and sexual violence used on such a massive scale and often in a widespread and systematic program that the international community has had to recognize that rape and sexual violence are not just war crimes but might be crimes against humanity or even genocide. I suggest that just war theory, while limited in its applicability to mass rape, might nevertheless offer some framework for making the determination of when sexual violence and rape constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide. In addition, just war theory can provide the normative justification individual soldiers need to resist orders and actions that demonstrate egregious moral breakdown as found in instances of mass rape and systematic use of sexual violence, and just war criteria demonstrate that the use of rape and sexual violence in war time can never be legitimated, especially in the case of prisoner interrogation.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Genocide, Justice, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, Sexual Violence, Rape

Year: 2006

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