Sexual Crimes in Conflict Database

A collection of relevant literature and case law

Showing all 3 results.

  • Jurisprudence judicial mechanism

    Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina (War Crimes Chamber) - Momcilo Gruban (“Mejakic et al.”)

    Year
    2009
    Issues
    Modes of Liability Sentencing and Reparations
    Country
    Bosnia Herzegovina
    Keywords
    Mitigating Circumstances Rape Sexual Abuse Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE)

    Reference link
    http://www.internationalcrimesdatabase.org/Case/1063
    Type of mechanism
    Domestic court
    Name of mechanism
    Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina (War Crimes Chamber)
    Name of accused
    Momcilo Gruban
    Charges
    Gruban was indicted on 14 July 2006 (indictment confirmed) for charges of crimes against humanity, including sexual violence. (Article 172(g) of the Criminal Code of BiH), under Articles 29 (accomplice) and 180(1) and (2) (individual and command responsibility) of CC BiH. Gruban participated in abuses and persecutions committed during the period from 30 April to the end of 1992 against the non-Serbs in the territory of the Prijedor municipality; about 7000 non-Serb civilians were subjected to capturing, taking to and arbitrary confinement at the Omarska and Keraterm camps, as part of the plan of permanent removal of the non-Serbs.
    Trial chamber verdict
    On 30 May 2008, the Trial Panel found Gruban guilty of crimes against humanity, including sexual violence (rape and other forms of sexual abuse), under Article 180(1) and (2), for: “rape and other forms of sexual abuse of detainees directly or personally committed by persons outside of the shift that was under Momcilo Gruban’s command but in furtherance of the described system of ill-treatment and persecution at the camp in which he participated, including witness K027 who was sexually assaulted by the shift Commander Mlado Radic and on another occasion in July 1992 by Nedeljko Grabovac, witness K019, who was raped on numerous occasions by camp guards and witness K040 who was sexually abused twice by camp guard Lugar.” All related to events in the Omarska camp.
    sentencing
    Gruban was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment which was reduced to 7 years on appeal.
    Appeals chamber verdict
    On 16 February 2009, Gruban’s conviction was upheld on appeal. However, the mode of liability was changed from Article 180(1) and (2) to liability on the grounds of JCE. Gruban’s sentence was, however, reduced as the Appellate Panel found that the Trial Panel had not properly taken into consideration the mitigating factors in his case, namely that Gruban had in several instances helped detained people in order to at least alleviate their suffering. Gruban’s sentence was therefore reduced to 7 years’ imprisonment.
    Status
    2715
    Case number
    X-KRZ-06/200

  • 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 non-judicial mechanisms

    South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission

    Country
    South Africa
    Keywords
    Rape Threat of Rape Sexual Abuse Humiliating and Degrading Treatment

    Research focus
    Inequality and Discrimination against Women during Armed Conflict
    Type of mechanism
    Truth Commission
    Name of mechanism
    South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission
    Status
    2715
    Findings
    There, the TRC concludes that the state was responsible for the severe ill treatment of women in custody through harassment and the deliberate withholding of medical attention, food, and water. Women were abused by the security forces in ways that specifically exploited their vulnerabilities as women, such as rape or threats of rape and other forms of sexual abuse, threats against family and children, removal of children from their care, false stories about illness or death of family members and children, and humiliation and abuse surrounding biological functions such as menstruation and childbirth.
    Recommendations
    Among their recommendations and proposals of reconciliation, the TRC stressed the importance of being sensitive to the needs of groups that have been particularly disadvantaged in the past, notably women and children. The recommendations of the final report related to specific areas in the public and private sectors that the TRC believed could assist in the consolidation of democracy, the building of a culture of human rights, and the reconciliation process. The TRC recommended, for example, that government should pay more attention to the transformation of education, the provision of shelter, access to clean water and health services, and the creation of job opportunities. It will be impossible to create a meaningful human rights culture, the TRC argued, without high priority to economic justice. Moreover, the TRC urged that human rights curricula be introduced in formal education, specialized education, and the training of law enforcement personnel. Issues such as racism, gender discrimination, conflict resolution, and the rights of children should be included in such curricula. Concerning the administration of justice, the TRC recommended training in human rights principles and issues, including gender-specific abuse and appropriate responses. It also urged that imbalances in the racial and gender composition of judges on the high court be urgently addressed and that a fast-track judicial training program be introduced for black and female advocates, attorneys, and academics who aspired to judicial appointment. The TRC also suggested that the media intensify programs of affirmative action and empowerment of women to ensure better gender balance.
    Date of report / release
    2098-10-28

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