Conflicting interpretations of ‘sexual violence’ in the International Criminal Court

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (81) ◽  
pp. 273-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary Grey
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court

scholarly journals The International Criminal Court and Sexual Violence: Between Aspirations and Reality

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 878-893
Author(s):  
Tanja Altunjan
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Sexual Crimes ◽  
Track Record

AbstractThe adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was widely lauded as a success with regard to the recognition and potential prosecution of conflict-related sexual violence. More than twenty years later, however, many observers are disillusioned with the ICC’s dire track record concerning the implementation of its progressive legal framework. In many cases, the Court and particularly its Prosecutor have been criticized for failing to adequately address and prioritize sexual violence, culminating in only a single final conviction since 2002. Nevertheless, the ICC’s emerging practice shows progress with regard to the conceptual understanding of conflict-related sexual violence and the realization of the Statute’s full potential in ensuring accountability for sexual crimes. Taking into account the evolving jurisprudence, the Article explores the persisting challenges and the perceived gap between aspirations and reality regarding the prosecution of sexual violence at the ICC.

Better Late than Never: Reparations for Sexual Violence in the Ntaganda case before the International Criminal Court

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-47
Author(s):  
Sunneva Gilmore
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Child Soldiers ◽  
Trial Chamber ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Medical Background ◽  
Modest Contribution ◽  
First Time

The Prosecutor v Bosco Ntaganda case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) represents the long awaited first reparation order for sexual violence at the court. This will hopefully see the implementation of reparations for the war crimes and crimes against humanity of rape and sexual slavery among civilians and former child soldiers, after previous cases such as against Jean-Pierre Bembe and Laurent Gbagbo were acquitted of rape. This article drawing from the author's role as a reparation expert in the case, is a reflection on the challenges of designing and providing reparations at the ICC against convicted individuals, as well as amidst insecurity and the COVID-19 infectious disease pandemic. It begins by discussing how the Ntaganda reparation order expanded reparation principles for the first time since the Lubanga case, in particular for crimes of a sexual nature. This is followed by an outline of some of the harms as a result of sexual violence from the perspective of an expert with a medical background. The analysis then turns to the appropriate reparations in this case and the details contained within the chamber's reparation order. Final conclusions consider how the procedural and substantive elements of reparations in this case will be instructive to future cases that address sexual violence. Ultimately, key insights are offered on the modest contribution an appointed reparation expert can do in assisting a trial chamber in the reparation process.

Reparation to Victims of Sexual Violence: Possibilities at the International Criminal Court and at the Trust Fund for Victims and Their Families

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNE-MARIE DE BROUWER
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Trust Fund ◽  
Female Survivors

In this contribution the reparation possibilities for victims of sexual violence at the Inter-national Criminal Court and at the Trust Fund for Victims and their families are explored. This is done by explaining first of all why victims of sexual violence – and especially women – are in urgent need of reparation during and after conflict, with a special focus on the situation of female survivors of sexual violence in Rwanda. The reparation possibilities for victims of sexual violence at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda are subsequently discussed, followed by a similar discussion with regard to the ICC. Questions such as the nature of the best forms of reparation for victims of sexual violence and at what point they are made are also dealt with. Although the ICC reparations regime offers in theory a good means of providing restorative justice to victims of sexual violence, it is important that the special concerns and needs of such victims are not easily overlooked by the Court and that swift action is taken by the Trust Fund for Victims and their families to address their plight.

Using the International Criminal Court to Denounce Disappearances: Crimes against Humanity in Coahuila, Mexico

2021 ◽  
pp. 242-250
Author(s):  
Michael W. Chamberlin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Federation ◽  
The State ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Civilian Population

In 2017, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), supported by 100 other organisations, submitted a communication to the ICC detailing crimes committed against the civilian population from 2009-16 in the State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico, including murder, illegal imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture, and sexual violence. This chapter explains the procedural and substantive basis of their complaint as a model for others who may seek the ICC’s involvement in the investigation and prosecution a pattern of enforced disappearances.

The International Criminal Court and the Shortcomings of Domestic Legislation: Introductory Note

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-166
Author(s):  
CARSTEN STAHN
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Trust Fund ◽  
Introductory Note ◽  
Domestic Legislation ◽  
European Arrest Warrant ◽  
General Article

In this issue the section on the International Criminal Court (ICC) contains two articles with a special focus on problems related to implementing legislation and co-operation with the Court (Zsuzsanna Deen-Racsmány's ‘Lessons of the European Arrest Warrant for Domestic Implementation of the Obligation to Surrender Nationals to the International Criminal Court’ and Héctor Olásolo's ‘The Lack of Attention to the Distinction between Situations and Cases in National Laws on Co-operation with the International Criminal Court with Particular Reference to the Spanish Case’) as well as a general article by Anne-Marie de Brouwer, ‘Reparation to Victims of Sexual Violence: Possibilities at the International Criminal Court and at the Trust Fund for Victims and Their Families’.

Sexual Violence and the Relevance of the Doctrine of Superior Responsibility in the Light of the Katanga Judgment at the International Criminal Court

2015 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linnea Kortfält
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Superior Responsibility

In this article, I set out to investigate the interplay between sexual violence and various linking theories in international criminal law. I will demonstrate some of the possibilities and shortcomings of various modes of liability available to the International Criminal Court with regard to cases involving sexual violence. In so doing it is necessary to thoroughly explain and discuss the potential reasoning of the Court in these matters. Since the case against Germain Katanga presents a perfect illustration of the distinction in application and analysis of the modes of liability with regard to sexual violence as opposed to other crimes, the reasoning provided in said judgment will be used as a springboard for such an analysis. Therefore the background to the case against Katanga will firstly be presented and the modes of liability as used in this particular case will subsequently be scrutinised. Considering the fact that Katanga was acquitted of sexual violence, this investigation will mostly demonstrate the deficiencies of these modes of liability and in the vacuum left after such an analysis, I will show the potential benefits of utilising the doctrine of superior responsibility in cases involving sexual violence. In my opinion, though fraught with complexities, this doctrine presents the perfect avenue to prosecute the higher echelons of organisations, i.e., the persons that international criminal courts and tribunals are intent on convicting, for sexual violence in particular. Thus, the aim of this article is to highlight the potential benefits of utilising broad charging strategies and more particularly, the importance of including the doctrine of superior responsibility, in sexual violence cases.

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