In 1993 the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established to prosecute the crimes committed during the Yugoslav conflict. Due to the widespread occurrence of rape and its disastrous consequences, it was of high importance that concern was shown by the international community to ensure that prosecutions for gender crimes would take place at the ICTY. This paper examines the possibilities to prosecute wartime rape under the ICTY Statute and highlights those procedural rules which are significant in case of trials dealing with victims and witnesses of wartime sexual violence. It aims at finding out about the achievements made by the Yugoslav Tribunal in prosecuting wartime rape under international criminal law. To comprehend which understanding of wartime rape underlies the creation of the ICTY Statute and its procedural rules, chapter 2 of this paper focuses on the development of the status of rape in international humanitarian law and international criminal law. Based on ICTY case law and the reasoning of experts, chapter 3 illustrates the opportunities to prosecute rape under the four categories of crimes enumerated under the ICTY Statute. Finally, chapter 4 identifies those procedural provisions which aid in safeguarding the rights of victims and witnesses of sexual violence crimes. Within this section, the importance of those procedural rules and their potential to reshape the perception of rape in public international law as well as domestic law will be furthermore highlighted.

Of the ICTY.

Drawing on extensive interview material gathered amongst victims, witnesses, judges and NGOs, this book investigates the prosecution of rape and sexual violence in war crimes tribunals, with special attention to The International Court for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and World Court in Sarajevo. It examines the testimonies of victims and witnesses and their reasons for testifying, their attitudes towards perpetrators, the consequences of testifying, their recommendations for other witnesses and conceptions of justice. In addition, it explores the attitudes of judges, prosecutors, psychologists and those in charge of protecting and offering services. Adopting a feminist approach, ’Gender, Shame and Sexual Violence’ challenges the assumption that the deterrent effect of making rape trials more visible would reduce the occurrence of sexual violence in conflict situations, contending instead that the manner in which cases are handled both increases the victims’ sense of shame and serves to propagate a representation of women's bodies that may actually serve to increase the use of sexual violence during war. A compelling analysis of the prosecution of rape as a war crime, this volume offers extensive new empirical material that will be of interest to scholars of sociology, gender studies, criminology, politics, international relations and law.

The 1996 report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Rwanda stated that during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda rape was the rule and its absence the exception. Indeed, rape and other forms of sexual violence as constituting genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes, directed in particular against women, have taken place on a massive scale since time immemorial and are still rampant.

Wartime rape has been virulent in wars of sovereignty, territory, conquest, religion, ideology and liberation, yet attention to this crime has been sporadic throughout history. Rape remains ‘unspeakable’, particularly within law. Moreover, rape has not featured prominently in post-conflict collective memory. And even when rape is ‘remembered’, it is often the subject of political controversy and heated debate. In this book, Henry asks some critical questions about the relationship between mass rape, politics and law. In what ways does law contribute to the collective memory of wartime rape? How do ‘counter-memories’ of victims compete with the denialism of wartime rape? The text specifically analyses the historical silencing of rape throughout international legal history and the potential of law to restore these silenced histories, it also examines the violence of law and the obstacles to individual and collective redemption. Tracing the prosecution of rape crimes within contemporary courts, Henry seeks to argue that politics underscores the way rape is dealt with by the international community in the aftermath of armed conflict. Providing a comprehensive overview of the politics of wartime rape and the politics of prosecuting such crimes within international humanitarian law, this text will be of great interest to scholars of gender and security, war crimes and law and society.

In Wartime Sexual Violence at the International Level: A Legal Perspective Dr. Caterina Arrabal Ward discusses the understanding of wartime sexual violence by the international tribunals and argues that wartime sexual violence often takes place without the explicit purpose to destroy a community or population and is not necessarily a strategic choice. This research suggests that a more focused approach based on a much clearer definition of these crimes would help to remedy deficiencies at the different stages of international justice in relation to these crimes.

Although sexual violence directed at both females and males is a reality in many on-going conflicts throughout the world today, accountability for the perpetrators of such violence remains the exception rather than the rule. While awareness of the problem is growing, more effective approaches are urgently needed for the investigation and prosecution of conflict-related sexual violence crimes. Upon its establishment in 1993, the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) began the challenging task of prosecuting the perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence crimes, alongside the many other atrocities committed during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. This book documents the experiences, achievements, challenges, and fundamental insights of the OTP in prosecuting conflict-related sexual violence crimes at the ICTY over the past two decades. It draws on an extensive dossier of OTP documentation, court filings, trial exhibits, testimony, ICTY judgements, and other materials, as well as interviews with current and former OTP staff members. The authors provide a unique analytical perspective on the obstacles faced in prioritizing, investigating, and prosecuting conflict-related sexual violence crimes. While ICTY has made great strides in developing international criminal law in this area, this volume exposes the pressing need for determined and increasingly sophisticated strategies in order to overcome the ongoing obstacles in prosecuting conflict-related sexual violence crimes. The book presents concrete recommendations to inform future work being done at the national and international levels, including that of the International Criminal Court, international investigation commissions, and countries developing transitional justice processes. It provides an essential resource for investigators and criminal lawyers, human rights fact-finders, policy makers, rule of law experts, and academics.