Sexual Crimes in Conflict Database
A collection of relevant literature and case law
Showing all 7 results.
-
Literature
Ahram, Ariel I. - Sexual Violence, Competitive State Building, and Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
- Year
- 2018
- Issues
- Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War Role of Non-state Actors in Perpetrating Violence
- Country
- Iraq, Syria
- Keywords
- ISIS Civil War State Building Forced Marriage Sexual Violence Rape
- Reference link
- http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17502977.2018.1541577
- Full reference
- Ariel I. Ahram, “Sexual Violence, Competitive State Building, and Islamic State in Iraq and Syria”, in Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 2018, pp. 1-17.
- Type of literature
- Journal Article
- Research focus
- Causality, Functionality and Logic of Conflict-related Sexual Violence
- Author
- Ahram, Ariel I.
-
Literature
Amnesty International – The Condemned
- Year
- 2018
- Issues
- Socio-cultural Context of Sexual Violence Victims of Sexual Violence
- Country
- Iraq
- Keywords
- ISIS Internally Displaced Persons Gender-Based Violence, Armed Conflict
- Reference link
- http://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1481962018ENGLISH.PDF
- Full reference
- Amnesty International, The Condemned-Women and Children, Isolated, Trapped and Exploited in Iraq, Amnesty International, London, 2018.
- Type of literature
- Grey Literature
- Research focus
- Inequality and Discrimination against Women during Armed Conflict, Women and the Armed Conflict, Investigation, Prosecution and Prevention of Conflict related Sexual Violence
-
Literature
Bailey, Christopher M. - Women in the Crosshairs: Expanding the Responsibility to Protect to Halt Extreme Gender-Based Violence
- Year
- 2018
- Issues
- Procedural Rules Advancing Sexual Violence Prosecutions Role of Non-state Actors in Perpetrating Violence Achievements and Challenges of Sexual Violence Prosecution Victims of Sexual Violence
- Reference link
- http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/airfor78&div=6&id=&page=
- Full reference
- Christopher M. Bailey, “Women in the Crosshairs: Expanding the Responsibility to Protect to Halt Extreme Gender-Based Violence”, in The Air Force Law Review, 2018, vol. 78, pp. 75-99.
- Type of literature
- Journal Article
- Research focus
- Investigation, Prosecution and Prevention of Conflict related Sexual Violence, Obstacles to Establish Accountability for Sexual Violence Crimes, Women and the Armed Conflict
-
Literature
Davis, Lisa - Reimagining Justice for Gender-Based Crimes at the Margins: New Legal Strategies for Prosecuting ISIS Crimes Against Women and LGBTIQ Persons
- Year
- 2018
- Issues
- Socio-cultural Context of Sexual Violence Role of Non-state Actors in Perpetrating Violence
- Country
- Syria, Iraq
- Keywords
- ISIS Rome Statute Sexual Violence LGBTQI Gender Gender-Based Crimes Women Rape
- Reference link
- http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1478&context=wmjowl
- Full reference
- Lisa Davis, “Reimagining Justice for Gender-Based Crimes at the Margins: New Legal Strategies for Prosecuting ISIS Crimes Against Women and LGBTIQ Persons”, in William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law, 2018, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 513-558.
- Type of literature
- Journal Article
- Research focus
- Causality, Functionality and Logic of Conflict-related Sexual Violence, Inequality and Discrimination against Women during Armed Conflict, Women and the Armed Conflict
-
Literature
Human Rights Watch - Flawed Justice
- Year
- 2017
- Issues
- Achievements and Challenges of Sexual Violence Prosecution
- Country
- Iraq
- Keywords
- Terrorism Counterterrorism ISIS Rape Sexual Violence
- Reference link
- http://www.hrw.org/report/2017/12/05/flawed-justice/accountability-isis-crimes-iraq#
- Full reference
- Human Rights Watch, “Flawed Justice-Accountability for ISIS Crimes in Iraq”, available at www.hrw.org/report/2017/12/05/flawed-justice/accountability-isis-crimes-iraq, last accessed at 07 March 2019.
- Type of literature
- Grey Literature
- Research focus
- Investigation, Prosecution and Prevention of Conflict related Sexual Violence, Gaps in the Jurisprudence and Legislation on Conflict-related Sexual Violence crimes, Obstacles to Establish Accountability for Sexual Violence Crimes
- Author
- Human Rights Watch
-
Literature
Ahram, Ariel I. - Sexual Violence and the Making of ISIS
- Year
- 2015
- Issues
- Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War
- Country
- Syria, Iraq
- Keywords
- ISIS Masculinity Sexual Enslavement Hierarchy Right of Ownership
- Reference link
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00396338.2015.1047251
- Full reference
- Ahram, Ariel I., "Sexual Violence and the Making of ISIS", in Survival, 2015, vol. 57, no.3, pp. 57-78.
- Type of literature
- Journal Article
- Research focus
- Causality, Functionality and Logic of Conflict-related Sexual Violence
- Author
- Ahram, Ariel I.
-
Jurisprudence non-judicial mechanisms
International Commission of Inquiry on Syrian Arab Republic
- Issues
- Definitions/Elements of Sexual Violence Crimes
- Country
- Syrian Arab Republic
- Keywords
- Forced Oral Sex Detention Centers Cigarette Burns Electroshock ISIS
- Reference link
- www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/IICISyria/Pages/IndependentInternationalCommission.aspx
- Type of mechanism
- Commission of Inquiry
- Name of mechanism
- International Commission of Inquiry on Syrian Arab Republic
- Status
- 2778
- Findings
- In its first report on 23 November 2011, the COI held that “several methods of torture, including sexual torture, were used by the military and the security forces in detention facilities across the country. Torture victims had scars and bore other visible marks. Detainees were also subjected to psychological torture, including sexual threats against them and their families and by being forced to worship President Al Assad instead of their god.” And: “several testimonies reported the practice of sexual torture used on male detainees. Men were routinely made to undress and remain naked. Several former detainees testified reported beatings of genitals, forced oral sex, electroshocks and cigarette burns to the anus in detention facilities. Several of the detainees were repeatedly threatened that they would be raped in front of their family and that their wives and daughters would also be raped. Testimonies were received from several men who stated they had been anally raped with batons and that they had witnessed the rape of boys. One man stated that he witnessed a 15-year-old boy being raped in front of his father. One 20-year-old university student told the commission that he was subjected to sexual violence in detention, adding that “if my father had been present and seen me, I would have had to commit suicide”. Another man confided while crying, “I don’t feel like a man any more”. Several women testified that they were threatened and insulted during house raids by the military and security forces. Women felt dishonored by the removal of their head scarves and the handling of their underwear during raids of their homes, which often occurred at night. Defectors from the military and the security forces indicated that they had been present in places of detention where women were sexually assaulted; the commission, however, received limited evidence to that effect. This may be due in part to the stigma that victims would endure if they came forward.” “Numerous testimonies indicated that boys were subjected to sexual torture in places of detention in front of adult men.” On the basis of the information and evidence collected, the commission has reached conclusions with regard to a number of serious violations of international human rights law. The major conclusions are summarized below. As for the sexual violence, the COI held: “Information received demonstrates patterns of continuous and widespread use of torture across the Syrian Arab Republic where protests have taken place. The pervasive nature, recurrence and reported readiness of Syrian authorities to use torture as a tool to instill fear indicate that State officials have condoned its practice. Information from military and security forces defectors indicates that they received orders to torture. The commission is particularly disturbed over the extensive reports of sexual violence, principally against men and boys, in places of detention. The commission concludes that the extensive practices of torture indicate a State sanctioned policy of repression, which manifestly violates the State’s obligations under article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture, and article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition, rape or other forms of sexual violence as crimes against humanity was also found to have occurred. In a preliminary report of 26 June 2012 again many instances of sexual violence are included. The COI held: “The CoI recognises the difficulties in collecting evidence in cases of sexual violence in the Syrian Arab Republic due to cultural, social and religious beliefs related to marriage and sexuality. This includes a victim’s understandable reluctance to disclose information due to the trauma, shame and stigma linked to sexual assault. Regarding one incident, the CoI was informed that the rape victim had subsequently been killed by her brother-in-law to “preserve the honor of the family”. The silence surrounding rape and other forms of sexual violence appears to have existed prior to the conflict as well. Nevertheless, interviews collected by the CoI indicate that crimes of sexual violence - against men, women and children - have continued to take place in the Syrian Arab Republic during the reporting period. The CoI conducted 23 interviews relating to allegations of sexual violence in this period, including with one victim. Information collected thus far indicates that rape and other forms of sexual violence occurred in two distinct circumstances. The first is during the searches of houses as Government forces entered towns and villages; the second, during interrogations in detention. Following the Government forces “move into the Baba Amr neighbourhood of Homs in February 2012, and the commencement of house searches, the CoI received multiple reports of rape and sexual assaults taking place. In one incident, an interviewee stated that 40-50 men stormed into the family house, destroying and stealing property as the search took place. In his testimony, he described being forced to watch as his wife and two of his daughters were raped by three of the men involved. Afterwards, he stated, he, too, was raped while his family was made to watch. In a separate incident, a soldier with the Syrian army described seeing three of his colleagues sexually assault a 15-year-old girl during a house search in Zabadani in February 2012. According to the interviewee, he attempted to prevent the assault but he was threatened and beaten by the other soldiers, so he fled. The CoI also received corroborated reports of women being forced at gunpoint to walk naked in the streets of the Karm alZeytoun neighbourhood of Homs, again in February 2012. The CoI heard from an eye-witness a report on the gang-rape of a female activist during an interrogation at the military security building in Dara’a in late May 2012. The victim was reportedly found unconscious in the streets of Dara’a two days later. The eyewitness also reported being a victim of a sexual assault during the same interrogation. The CoI has received multiple, uncorroborated reports of incidences of rape and sexual assault of men and women while detained. The fear of rape and sexual assault has restricted the freedom of movement of women and young girls and has adversely affected the right to education of female students. One girl told the CoI that, since 24 April 2012, female students in Latakia governate were not attending school due to fear of such assaults. It was also apparent to the CoI that many of the women interviewed who had sought refuge in neighbouring countries had done so because they feared sexual assault. The CoI also notes the lack of medical or psychological services available to victims who suffer sexual violence.” Rape can constitute torture and the definition of rape based on the ICC EoC is cited. The list is endless. In its 10th report which was published on 13 August 2015, the COI concluded with regard to sexual violence that: (1) Government forced have committed crimes against humanity, including rape; (2) government forces have committed gross violations of human rights and war crimes, including rape and sexual violence; (3) ISIS has committed rape, sexual slavery and sexual violence amounting to crimes against humanity; (4) ISIS has committed rape and sexual violence as war crimes. The COI recommended with regard to sexual violence as follows: (1) that all parties prohibit and prevent absolutely torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including sexual violence.
- Date of report / release
- 1915-08-13
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