Sexual Crimes in Conflict Database

A collection of relevant literature and case law

Showing 1 to 10 of 22 results.

  • Jurisprudence judicial mechanism

    Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Ivan Hrkac

    Issues
    Sexual Violence against Men
    Country
    Bosnia Herzegovina
    Keywords
    Accused at large Sexual Violence, Torture Prisoners of War Rape/Sexual Violence in Detention Forced Sexual Intercourse

    Reference link
    http://www.internationalcrimesdatabase.org/Case/989/Hrka%C4%8D/
    Type of mechanism
    Domestic court
    Name of mechanism
    Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Preliminary Hearing Judge)
    Name of accused
    Ivan Hrkac
    Charges
    The Indictment (of 27 December 2007) alleges that, from May 1993 to July 1993, as a member of the HVO Convicts Battalion, Hrkac inflicted severe physical and mental pain on prisoners of war, members of the Army of RBiH. According to the Indictment, Hrkac treated the detained Bosniak civilians in an inhumane manner, tortured them and forced them to sexual intercourse. Hrkac is charged in the indictment with the following crimes: - War Crimes against Civilians pursuant to Article 173(1) of the Criminal Code of BiH (CC BiH) in conjunction with the following items: c) Killings, intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon a person (torture), inhuman treatment, and e) Unlawful bringing in concentration camps and other illegal arrests and detention. - War Crimes against Prisoners of War pursuant to Article 175(1) of the CC BiH in conjunction with the following item: a) depriving other persons of their life (murders), intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon persons (tortures), inhuman treatment. All in conjunction with Article 29 (Accomplices) and Article 180(1) of the CC BiH (individual criminal responsibility).Although it is not entirely clear under which charges the sexual violence is brought, this is likely under torture and/or inhuman treatment as war crimes.The indictment was confirmed on 9 January 2008.
    Status
    2778
    Case number
    S1 1 K 002907 07 KRO (X-KR-06/170)

  • Jurisprudence judicial mechanism

    Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina (War Crimes Chamber) - Predrag Kujundzic

    Year
    2011
    Issues
    Sexual Violence against Children
    Country
    Bosnia Herzegovina
    Keywords
    Sexual Slavery Sexual Threats Rape, Physical and Mental Harm Sexual Violence, Persecution Sexual Abuse Rape/Sexual Violence in Detention Rape, Mistreatment

    Reference link
    http://www.internationalcrimesdatabase.org/Case/1042
    Type of mechanism
    Domestic court
    Name of mechanism
    Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina (War Crimes Chamber)
    Name of accused
    Predrag Kujundzic
    Charges
    Kujundzic was charged on 3 January 2008 (indictment confirmed) with persecution as a crime against humanity, including sexual violence (Article 172(1)(h) read with subparagraph (g) of the Criminal Code of BiH), under Article 180(1) and (2) (individual and command criminal responsibility) of the Criminal Code of BiH, during the period from spring 1992 until autumn 1993, directed against the non-Serb population of the Doboj municipality for coercing sexual slavery and rape of the non-Serb civilian population.
    Trial chamber verdict
    On 30 October 2009, the Trial Panel delivered the first-instance verdict by which Kujundzic was found guilty of persecution as a crime against humanity, including sexual violence under individual criminal responsibility. The Trial Panel held that on an unidentified day in June 1992, armed and accompanied by 4-5 members of his unit, Kujundzic came to the house of a certain woman and then raped her daughter who was underage at that time, and at the same time he incited one soldier to rape her mother. On the same day, at the same place, after he raped the minor female person, he told her that as of that day she would comply with all that he requested from her, or otherwise he would kill her mother and her younger sister. Thus during the period from June to December 1992, he forced her into sexual slavery, because by the use of force and threats he established the exclusive right to dispose of her, the control over her movement, the mental control and the control of her sexuality, by way of requesting her to do all that he ordered her. Using that position, he forced her once to read a statement at the Radio Doboj in which it was stated that Muslims were guilty of the war, that Muslims had killed her brother, and that she was inviting them to convert to Christianity. He ordered her to wear a chain with a cross pendant around her neck and to wear the Serb army camouflage uniform and a red beret on her head; he changed her Muslim name into a Serb name without any consent of hers or her parents, he acquired for her the identification documents in the Serb name, and requested her to always introduce herself by her Serb name. On 28 January 2011, the Court dispatched a second-instance verdict and found Kujundzic guilty of persecution as a crime against humanity, including sexual violence under individual criminal responsibility.
    sentencing
    Kujundzic was sentenced to 22 years’ imprisonment for the first instance verdict. He was also sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment for the second instance charges (for some other charges, he was found not guilty and therefore the sentence was lowered).
    Status
    2715
    Case number
    X-KRŽ-07/442

  • Jurisprudence judicial mechanism

    Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina (War Crimes Chamber) - Radovan Stankovic

    Year
    2007
    Issues
    Sexual Violence against Children Sentencing and Reparations
    Country
    Bosnia Herzegovina
    Keywords
    Detention Centers Rape/Sexual Violence in Detention Torture Forced to watch Rape Incitement

    Reference link
    http://www.internationalcrimesdatabase.org/Case/3259
    Type of mechanism
    Domestic court
    Name of mechanism
    Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina (War Crimes Chamber)
    Name of accused
    Radovan Stankovic
    Charges
    Stankovic was charged (on 3 March 2003 as amended on 8 December 2003) with crimes against humanity, including rape (Articles 172(1)(c), (e), (f) and (g) of the Criminal Code of BiH) for having set up a detention centre for (often under aged) women, having incited other soldiers to rape detainees, and having coerced several detainees into forced labor and sexual intercourse.
    Trial chamber verdict
    On 14 November 2006, the Court of BiH found Stankovic guilty for crimes against humanity, including enslavement, imprisonment, torture and rape for: (i) Establishing a detention centre (“Karaman’s House”), detaining at least nine female persons and inciting soldiers to rape them; (ii) Compelling detainees to forced labor, inside and outside of the detention center; (iii) Repeatedly raping a detainee, compelling her to forced labor at several locations and having her witness him raping her under aged sister; (iv) Raping a detainee at another detention centre. Stankovic was sentenced to sixteen years’ imprisonment.
    sentencing
    The Appellate Panel increased the sentence from 16 to 20 years' imprisonment. Shortly afterwards, Stankovic escaped from jail. He was recaptured in January 2012. he was then sentenced to another two Year' imprisonment for using force while escaping.
    Appeals chamber verdict
    The prosecution appealed against the sentence of 16 years’ imprisonment and the acquittal of one of the charges (forcibly taking a female patient from a hospital in Foca and raping her). Stankovic himself basically contested all the Court’s findings, most notably stating that the witness statements were false and fabricated. On 28 March 2007, the Appellate Panel left intact the entire verdict, though it raised the sentence to 20 years’ imprisonment.
    Status
    2715
    Case number
    X-KRZ-05/70

  • Jurisprudence judicial mechanism

    ECCC - Kaing Guek Eav (“Duch”)

    Year
    2012
    Issues
    Definitions/Elements of Sexual Violence Crimes
    Country
    Cambodia
    Keywords
    Penetration Reparation Vagina Rape/Sexual Violence in Detention Rape with Foreign Objects Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE) Kunarac

    Reference link
    https://www.eccc.gov.kh/en/case/topic/90
    Type of mechanism
    Hybrid court
    Name of mechanism
    Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)
    Name of accused
    Kaing Guek Eav
    Charges
    Kaing was indicted on 8 August 2008 and the indictment was confirmed and partially amended on 5 December 2008 for crimes against humanity, including torture (which incorporated one instance of rape) and grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions (Articles 5, 6 and 29 (new) (JCE through ‘committing’) of the ECCC Law) committed in Phnom Penh and within the territory of Cambodia between 17 April 1975 and 6 January 1979. Kaing held a central leadership role at the Security Center S-21, which he abused by training, ordering, and supervising staff in the systematic torture and execution of prisoners deemed to be enemies of the Democratic Kampuchea regime.
    Trial chamber verdict
    On 26 July 2010, the Trial Chamber convicted Kaing for crimes against humanity, including torture (which included one instance of rape) and grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions under the JCE. The rape as torture conviction related to the incident where an S-21 staff member inserted a stick into the vagina of a detainee during an interrogation.
    sentencing
    Kaing was sentenced to 35 years’ imprisonment by the Trial Chamber. However, the Supreme Court quashed this decision and instead sentenced him to life imprisonment.
    Appeals chamber verdict
    On 6 July 6 2010, the Supreme Court confirmed and partly amended the conviction (the conviction for rape as torture as a crime against humanity remained standing). The Supreme Court stated the Trial Chamber had erred in law by attaching insufficient weight to the gravity of Kaing’s crimes as well as the aggravating circumstances in this case, and that that too much weight had been attached to the mitigating circumstances. Note that the Co-Prosecutors had requested that the Supreme Court Chamber cumulatively convict Kaing for both rape and torture as crimes against humanity. However, given the lack of support for the existence of rape as a distinct crime against humanity during the ECCC’s temporal jurisdiction, the Supreme Court Chamber found that the Trial Chamber erred in concluding that the incident that occurred at S-21 constituted rape as a crime against humanity. Accordingly, this part of the Co-Prosecutors’ appeal failed automatically. Rape was still charged and convicted as torture as a crime against humanity.
    Status
    2715
    Case number
    Case 001
    Reparations / awards
    The Trial Chamber admitted 64 applicants as Civil Parties and awarded them reparations, which included inclusion of the names and their deceased family members in the judgment and the compilation and publication of all statements of apology and acknowledgement of responsibility made by Duch on the ECCC website.

  • Jurisprudence judicial mechanism

    ECHR - Aydin v. Turkey

    Year
    1997
    Issues
    Sentencing and Reparations Evidentiary Rules Regarding Sexual Violence Prosecutions
    Country
    Turkey
    Keywords
    Forced Nudity Medical Forensic Exam/Rape Kit Vulnerability Psychological Impact Rape/Sexual Violence in Detention Right to an Effective Remedy

    Reference link
    http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=002-6215#{%22itemid%22:[%22002-6215%22]}
    Type of mechanism
    Regional court
    Name of mechanism
    European Court of Human Rights
    Name of accused
    Aydin v. Turkey
    sentencing
    In view of the extremely serious violation of the Convention and the consequent enduring psychological harm suffered by the applicant on account of the rape the Court awarded the applicant £25,000.
    Status
    2715
    Case number
    23178/94

  • Jurisprudence judicial mechanism

    ICC - Iraq/UK

    Issues
    Sexual Violence against Men
    Country
    Iraq, United Kingdom
    Keywords
    Forced Masturbation Genitalia Rape/Sexual Violence in Detention Preliminary Investigation

    Reference link
    https://www.icc-cpi.int/iraq
    Type of mechanism
    International Criminal Tribunal/Court
    Name of mechanism
    International Criminal Court
    Status
    2778

  • Jurisprudence judicial mechanism

    ICTY - Anto Furundžija (“Lašva Valley”)

    Year
    2000
    Issues
    Definitions/Elements of Sexual Violence Crimes Achievements and Challenges of Sexual Violence Prosecution Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War
    Country
    Former Yugoslavia
    Keywords
    Akayesu Penetration Coercion Forced Nudity Rape/Sexual Violence in Detention Aiding and Abetting Co-perpetration

    Reference link
    http://www.icty.org/cases/party/684/4
    Type of mechanism
    International Criminal Tribunal/Court
    Name of mechanism
    International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
    Name of accused
    Anto Furundžija
    Charges
    - Torture as a violation of the laws or customs of war as a war crime under Article 7(1) (co-perpetration) - Outrages upon personal dignity (including rape) as a violation of the laws or customs of war under Article 7(1) (aiding and abetting) for interrogating Witness A, who was naked, while Accused B rubbed his knife on Witness A’s inner thighs and threatened to cut out her private parts if she did not tell the truth in answer to the interrogation by Furundžija. Accused B then repeatedly raped Witness A in front of an audience of soldiers.
    Trial chamber verdict
    Furundžija was found guilty by the Trial Chamber on 10 December 1998 of: - Torture as a violation of the laws or customs of war as a war crime - Outrages upon personal dignity (including rape) as a violation of the laws or customs of war. Although Furundžija did not rape Witness A himself, the Trial Chamber found that his presence and continued interrogation of Witness A aided and abetted the crimes committed by Accused B.
    Appeals chamber verdict
    The Appeals Chamber on 21 July 2000 affirmed the convictions made by the Trial Chamber.
    Status
    2715
    Case number
    IT-95-17/1

  • Jurisprudence judicial mechanism

    ICTY - Biljana Plavsic (“Bosnia and Herzegovina”)

    Year
    2003
    Issues
    Female Perpetrators of Sexual Violence
    Country
    Former Yugoslavia
    Keywords
    Rape/Sexual Violence in Detention Sexual Violence as Genocide

    Reference link
    http://www.icty.org/cases/party/758/4
    Type of mechanism
    International Criminal Tribunal/Court
    Name of mechanism
    International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
    Name of accused
    Biljana Plavsic
    Charges
    - Persecution as a crime against humanity under Article 7(1) (JCE) of Bosnian Muslims, Bosnian Croats and other non-Serbs through various acts, including rapes and sexual violence. - Causing serious bodily or mental harm as genocide and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction as genocide and complicity in genocide under Articles 7(1) (JCE) and 7(3) for subjecting Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat detainees at various detention facilities to sexual violence.
    Trial chamber verdict
    Plavsic entered a guilty plea on 2 October 2002 and was found guilty by the Trial Chamber of: - Persecution as a crime against humanity . As Plavsic entered a guilty plea to persecution as a crime against humanity only, the other sexual violence charges were withdrawn. Plavsic was therefore found not guilty by the Trial Chamber of: - Causing serious bodily or mental harm as genocide and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction as genocide and complicity in genocide.
    sentencing
    Plavsic received a sentence of 11 years’ imprisonment on 27 February 2003.
    Status
    2715
    Case number
    IT-00-39 & 40/1

  • Jurisprudence judicial mechanism

    ICTY - Dragan Nikolic (“Susica Camp”)

    Year
    2005
    Issues
    Definitions/Elements of Sexual Violence Crimes
    Country
    Former Yugoslavia
    Keywords
    Camp Rape/Sexual Violence in Detention Detention Centers Terrorism Aiding and Abetting

    Reference link
    http://www.icty.org/cases/party/754/4
    Type of mechanism
    International Criminal Tribunal/Court
    Name of mechanism
    International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
    Name of accused
    Dragan Nikolic
    Charges
    Persecution as a crime against humanity under Article 7(1) (committing) for the persecution of Muslim and non-Serb detainees at the Sušica camp by participating in sexual violence directed at women at the Sušica camp and by subjecting detainees to an atmosphere of terror, which included sexual violence.- Rape as a crime against humanity under Article 7(1) (aiding and abetting) for facilitating the removal of female detainees from the hangar, which he knew was for purposes of rapes committed by camp guards, special forces, local soldiers and other men and by encouraging these rapes.
    Trial chamber verdict
    Nikolic entered a guilty plea to all charges in the indictment on 4 September 2003. Nikolic was found guilty by the Trial Chamber of: - Persecution as a crime against humanity - Rape as a crime against humanity
    sentencing
    Nikolic was sentenced by the Trial Chamber to 20 years’ imprisonment on 4 February 2005.
    Status
    2715
    Case number
    IT-94-2

  • Jurisprudence judicial mechanism

    ICTY - Dusko Sikirica (Sikirica et al. "Keraterm Camp")

    Year
    2001
    Issues
    Evidentiary Rules Regarding Sexual Violence Prosecutions
    Country
    Former Yugoslavia
    Keywords
    Camp Rape/Sexual Violence in Detention Aiding and Abetting Instigating Command Responsibility

    Reference link
    http://www.icty.org/cases/party/775/4
    Type of mechanism
    International Criminal Tribunal/Court
    Name of mechanism
    International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
    Name of accused
    Dusko Sikirica
    Charges
    - Persecution as a crime against humanity under Article 7(3) (command responsibility) for sexual assault of Bosnian Muslims, Bosnian Croats and other non-Serbs detained at the Keraterm camp.- Inhumane acts as crimes against humanity and outrages upon personal dignity as a violation of the laws or customs of war as war crimes under Articles 7(1) (instigating, committing or aiding and abetting) and 7(3) (command responsibility) for sexual assault of Bosnian Muslims, Bosnian Croats and other non-Serbs detained at the Keraterm camp.- Causing serious bodily or mental harm as genocide and complicity in genocide under Articles 7(1) and 7(3) for subjecting Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat detainees at Keraterm camp to rapes and sexual assault.
    Trial chamber verdict
    Sikirica entered a guilty plea on 19 September 2001 and was found guilty by the Trial Chamber of: - Persecution as a crime against humanity As Sikirica entered a guilty plea to persecution as a crime against humanity only, the other sexual violence charges were withdrawn. Sikirica was therefore found not guilty by the Trial Chamber of: - Inhumane acts as crimes against humanity and outrages upon personal dignity as a violation of the laws or customs of war as war crimes - Causing serious bodily or mental harm as genocide and complicity in genocide
    sentencing
    Sikirica was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment by the Trial Chamber on 13 November 2001.
    Status
    2715
    Case number
    IT-95-8

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