scholarly journals Rape in War: Prosecuting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Boko Haram for Sexual Violence Against Women

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Sverdlov
Keyword(s):  
Rome Statute ◽  
Genocide Convention ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
War Criminals ◽  
Legal Precedent ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
Domestic Servitude ◽  
Charge Part ◽  
Do So

Cornell International Law Journal: Vol. 50 : No. 2 , Article 6."Women's lives and their bodies have been the unacknowledged casualties of war for far too long." In just the last three decades, militants-on almost every continent-have raped hundreds of thousands of women. Nevertheless, international legal bodies have brought few rapists to justice. Since 2000, international tribunals have convicted only five men and women in Rwanda, twenty-three men in the former Yugoslavia, and one person from the Congo for using rape as a weapon of war. As such, rape remains the least-condemned war crime; thousands of unpunished rapists continue to walk free, and in some cases, on the same streets as their victims.The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the smaller affiliates such as Boko Haram are the most recent and unpunished perpetrators who use rape as a weapon of war. Since invading northern parts of Iraq in 2014, ISIL forced at least six thousand Yazidi women into sexual slavery, three thousand of whom remain enslaved. Likewise, Boko Haram has abducted about five hundred women in Nigeria and forced at least some of them into marriages and slave-like domestic servitude. But no ISIL or Boko Haram militants have been prosecuted for using rape to commit genocide, a crime against humanity, or a war crime.It is important not to leave justice wanting and these women unrecognized. To that end, international organizations must ensure legal prosecution of both ISIL and Boko Haram under either the Genocide Convention or the non-genocidal crimes of the Rome Statute. This Note will explore legal precedent on prosecuting rape as a weapon of war and recommend whether it is feasible to prosecute ISIL or Boko Haram under Articles VI and VII of the Rome Statute. To do so, this Note will rely on the precedents established during the prosecutions of Rwandan and Yugoslavian war criminals. Part II will provide a brief overview of ISIL, the Yazidis, and Boko Haram's histories. Part III will provide facts on the Rwandan Hutu treatment of female Tutsis and the Bosnian Serb treatment of Bosnian Muslim women during their respective genocides and the legal precedent from the tribunals that dealt with both events. Part IV will evaluate the known facts regarding ISIL and Boko Haram under legal precedent and conclude that ISIL leaders can be prosecuted for genocidal rape, but Boko Haram leaders must be prosecuted under different crimes in the Rome Statute. Part V provides suggestions for which militants to charge. Part VI is the conclusion.

scholarly journals The North African “Extremistan” of the Islamic State Caliphate

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-13
Author(s):  
Adrian Cosmin Basarabă ◽  
Maria-Mihaela Nistor
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Real Estate ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
North African ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Ongoing Process ◽  
The North ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
Cellular Matrices

Abstract This article aims at presenting ISIS expansion in North Africa in the first quarter of 2016, with its subsequent implication in the wider framework of Jihadist proliferation worldwide. It can be argued that, while losing real estate in the Middle East, ISIS has started a permanent search for extra-cellular matrices or an ongoing process of de- and reterritorialization. The allegiance and support pledged by other African-based terrorist groups or organizations such as Boko Haram, al-I’tisam of the Koran and Sunnah in Sudan, al-Huda Battalion in Maghreb of Islam, The Soldiers of the Caliphate, al-Ghurabaa, Djamaat Houmat ad-Da’wa as-Salafiya and al-Ansar Battalion in Algeria, Islamic Youth Shura Council, Islamic State Libya (Darnah), in Libya, Jamaat Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, Jund al-Khilafah and Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem in Egypt, Okba Ibn Nafaa Battalion, Mujahideen of Tunisia of Kairouan and Jund al-Khilafah in Tunisia and al-Shabaab Jubba Region Cell Bashir Abu Numan in Somalia is an alarming hypothesis of Jihadism reaching “the threshold of inevitability”- syntagm existent in the network theories of David Singh Grewal- turning a whole region, continent of even world into what Nassim Nicholas Taleb would call Extremistan.

scholarly journals An Evaluation of Impacts of Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria: A Case Study of Abuja Metropolis

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Audu Bako Susan ◽  
Chijioke, N. Joy ◽  
Uwakwe Stanley Ikechukwu
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Intelligence Gathering ◽  
Best Management ◽  
Food Shortages ◽  
Grass Root ◽  
And Migration

The deep and far-reaching fear, chaos and uncertainties related to the Boko Haram insurgency make an empirical study of its impacts significant. Boko Haram insurgency has not only resulted in many deaths but has adversely affected agricultural production in Nigeria and distorted local economy. The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) said Boko Haram has killed more people than any other terrorist group in the world, including the Islamic State. Boko Haram is also responsible for deaths and deprivation in an indirect way of starve-killing. Their operations have caused food shortages, created food insecurity in Nigeria resulting in many farmers either being killed, displaced or their livelihoods destroyed. Infrastructural facilities on the other hand, as well as businesses have not been spared of the devastating impacts of the Boko Haram insurgency. This study strategically examined the effectiveness of security agencies management of Boko Haram insurgencies, identified its impact and examined the best management mechanisms for the insurgency, within the contextual preview of Abuja metropolis. The study adopted a quantitative research design of purposive sampling approach and discovered from the research that attacks on the metropolis resulted in urban dislocation and migration. It therefore recommends increased security partnership, improved welfare for security agencies, training of security agencies in intelligence gathering and management, encourage and strengthen grass root community policing.

Sexual Slavery and Members of a Terrorist Group – What is the Future of the 'Boko Haram' Trial at the International Criminal Court?

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-253
Author(s):  
Michala Chadimova
Keyword(s):  
Human Trafficking ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Sexual Slavery ◽  
Preliminary Examination ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Principle Of Complementarity

Crimes committed by the members of Boko Haram in Nigeria are not only the subject of national trials but also of preliminary examination at the International Criminal Court (ICC). This article focuses on the sexual slavery perpetrated by Boko Haram, describes how the crimes are viewed within the national Nigerian criminal process and addresses the possibility of prosecution of the crimes at the ICC.<br/> This article analyses the legal terminology used to describe the crimes connected to Boko Haram – enslavement, sexual slavery, human trafficking and terrorism – and their interaction. While providing an overview of the ICC's current preliminary examination into the situation in Nigeria, this article discusses how the principle of complementarity is potentially holding the OTP back from the formal investigation.<br/> Furthermore, an overview of cases at the ICC that have involved charges of sexual slavery or enslavement will be provided. By analysing the Court's findings in relation to elements of sexual slavery, this article provides an insightful view into the Court's rhetoric on this crime. Similarly, this article discusses modes of liability that have been employed in the Katanga/Chui and Ntaganda cases and provides a learning opportunity for future cases of sexual slavery as both a crime against humanity (Article 7(1)(g) of the Rome Statute) and a war crime (Article 8(2)(e)(vi) of the Rome Statute; 8(2)(b)(xxii) of the Rome Statute).

Jihadist Insurgencies in the Sahel

2021 ◽  
pp. 568-586
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Lake Chad ◽  
Communal Violence ◽  
Governance Model ◽  
Lake Chad Basin ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Sahel Region ◽  
Local Levels

Over the last decade, jihadist violence has expanded and intensified throughout the Sahel region. Jihadi groups, including Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), Katiba Macina, and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), have established strongholds in many places in the central Sahel, as well as in and around the Lake Chad Basin. As they strengthen their presence, Sahelian jihadists have introduced new changes in local social relations and practices, experimented with new forms of governance, and attempted to insert themselves into the local political economy. Yet, as they gain ground and conquer new spaces, their governance model has also shown its limits: their presence has increasingly fueled deadly communal violence, and infighting among jihadi groups has become recurrent and deadly. This chapter analyses the factors and dynamics behind this surge of jihadi violence in the Sahel. It attempts to situate the global jihadi discourse within the spectrum of Islamic ideologies and discourses and elaborates on the dynamics, both at the state and local levels, that have favored the emergence of jihadi groups.

Arrival of the Caliphate’s Soldiers in West Africa

2018 ◽  
pp. 411-414
Author(s):  
Wilāyat Gharb Ifriqiyā
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Public Image ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Major Focus ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Joint Task ◽  
Joint Task Force

(2 JUNE 2015) [Trans.: Abdulbasit Kassim] Available at: http://jihadology.net/2015/06/02/new-video-message-from-the-islamic-state-arrivals-of-the-soldiers-of-the-caliphate-in-west-africa-wilayat-gharb-ifriqiyyah/ A mark of the post-allegiance to ISIS period for Boko Haram is the lowered profile of Shekau, who ceases to be the major focus of its public image. In this video, the two speakers alluded to the escalation of the conflict between Boko Haram and the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) comprising soldiers from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Benin. While mentioning the tensions and the context of distrust between Nigeria and her neighbors, the first speaker referred to the comment of the Chadian president, when he said that the fight against Boko Haram is being hampered by poor co-ordination between Chad and Nigeria. He also gave further information of the activities within the caliphate as well as detailed information concerning the soldiers killed in various clashes. This video should be understood within the context of Boko Haram’s display of resilience against the operations of the MNJTF...

Boko Haram and Islamic State

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia Comolli
Keyword(s):  
West African ◽  
Al Qaeda ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
The Future ◽  
Territorial Control

This chapter briefly charts the emerge of the violent Islamist group Boko Haram in Nigeria before detailing its international connections and interactions with Al-Qaeda and, more significantly, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). It goes on to discuss the group’s successful attempts at territorial control in the north east and its leader’s ambition to establish an Islamic state. The text explains how the Nigerians converged with ISIS, pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and rebranded Boko Haram as Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP). This is complemented by an analysis of the practical manifestations of this allegiance, the remaining differences between ISWAP and ISIL/ISIS, and the possibly opportunistic reasons that may have motivated this move and that, in the future, could make the Nigerian outfit look elsewhere for more productive partnerships.

THE CREATION OF PUBLIC SPACES BY WOMEN IN THE EARLY MEIJI PERIOD AND THE TŌKYŌ FUJIN KYŌFŪKAI

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mara Patessio
Keyword(s):  
Public Spaces ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Woman's Christian Temperance Union ◽  
The Past ◽  
Meiji Period ◽  
Private Lives ◽  
Japanese Male ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
Do So

Other than a few remarkable exceptions, and because of their lack of social, educational, and political rights, women of the early Meiji period (1868–1890) have often been regarded as powerless actors in the formation and expansion of the bourgeoning Japanese public sphere. Following the research that feminist scholars have developed over the past twenty years on the redefinition of Jürgen Habermas' concepts of “public” and “private” in relation to Western women's lives, I would like to demonstrate how, even when lacking the possibility of changing their lives, some groups of Japanese women during the 1880s were nevertheless able to gather together, bring forth demands in public settings, and make public topics of discussion that had hither to been considered unworthy of public debate and pertaining only to the private lives of Japanese male citizens. In order to do so, I will take into consideration some of the activities organized by the women belonging to the Tōkyō Fujin Kyōfūkai, the Japanese branch of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.).

scholarly journals MANAGING TERRORISM IN AFRICA

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-6
Author(s):  
Luca Bussotti
Keyword(s):  
Islamic State ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Islamic Terrorism

Despite the different interpretations on the origins and a possible way to manage the Islamic terrorism in Africa, a thing is clear: this phenomenon gained importance in the last few years. Data of ACLED show that in 2015 Africa registered 381 attacks, which resulted in 1.394 fatalities; five years later the number increased to 7.108 attacks and 12.519 fatalities (Mroszczyk & Abrahms, 2021). It is not difficult to deduce that Islamic terrorism was not managed appropriately by the African States. It is the case of countries as Nigeria with Boko Haram, Somalia with Al-Shabaab, Mozambique with Ansar-al-Sunna, with links with the Central African Province of the Islamic State.

scholarly journals The Rapes Committed against the Yazidi Women: a Genocide?

2020 ◽  
pp. 50-71
Author(s):  
Paula Castellano San José
Keyword(s):  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Current Definition ◽  
Actus Reus ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of

Rape has been used as a tool of war throughout the history of mankind. With the establishment of the International Criminal Court, rape was included in the Rome Statute, being internationally recognized as a war crime, a crime against humanity and a means to commit genocide. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, in its war to establish the caliphate, has carried out a campaign of sexual violence against women of religious minorities such as the Yazidi. This article examines the evolution of the definition of rape in International Criminal Law and applies the current definition to the crimes committed by ISIS against the Yazidi. The study assesses the elements of the actus reus of genocide and considers that the actions carried out by the Islamic State towards the Yazidi could qualify as a genocide by means of rape.

scholarly journals Boko Haram’s Claim to an Islamic Caliphate: Is it Creditable?

ICR Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 386-399
Author(s):  
AbdulGafar Olawale Fahm
Keyword(s):  
Islamic State ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Historical Approach ◽  
Young Girls ◽  
The World

As Boko Haram tries to establish a new caliphate, while imposing Shariah law and persecuting and kidnapping young girls, it is timely to enquire into both the workings of the early caliphate and the role an Islamic state should play in the world. The aim of this paper is both to counter Boko Harams approach to the caliphate and examine the administration of Umar bin Abdul Aziz (715-717CE). The article is qualitative, permitting a descriptive and historical approach. This study examines Umar bin Abdul Aziz as a devoted Muslim who set new standards for what a Muslim ruler should be like. This study suggests that, despite Muslim dreams of a return of the caliphate, this concept means different things to different people. While Boko Haram violently struggles for power, Islam encourages sovereignty based on honour and gained through better actions and faith.

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