Author: -

Abstract: »Wartime sexual violence (WSV) has been a characteristic of violent conflict throughout recorded history, yet has failed to illicit the same international attention and condemnation as other war crimes. WSV has also been a particularly pervasive method of destruction during genocide, in which women make up the majority of victims and are targeted for both their gender and group membership. However, sexual violence is not enumerated as a crime of genocide in the 1948 Genocide Convention. Despite its absence from the formal genocide convention, legal institutions have still attempted to hold perpetrators responsible for sexual violence during genocide. This paper examines jurisprudence within the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the first international criminal tribunal to prosecute and convict an individual for rape as an act of genocide. Through analysis of key case law within the tribunal, this paper argues that by conceptualizing rape using a coercion-based definition, the ICTR was able to provide both the legal basis and further a normative understanding of sexual violence as a crime of genocide. Such developments, this paper argues, contribute to a more nuanced picture of sexual violence during conflict and provide the foundations for future jurisprudence, most notably the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s prosecution of former Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir.« (Source: Peace and Conflict Studies)

Contents:

	Literature Review (p. 2)
		Wartime Sexual Violence, Genocide, and International law (p. 2)
		Consent v. Coercion Debate (p. 5)
	Historical Background: The Rwandan Genocide and its Aftermath (p. 6)
	Analysis (p. 7)
		Prosecutor v. Akayesu: The Creation of Precedent (p. 7)
		Prosecutor v. Musema: Demonstrating the Strength of Akayesu (p. 10)
		Prosecutor v. Laurent Semanza: Departure from Coercion (p. 11)
		Prosecutor v. Gacumbitsi: Reconciling the Departure from Coercion (p. 13)
		Legacy of the ICTR (p. 15)
	Conclusion (p. 17)
	References (p. 19)

Wikipedia: History of Africa: History of Rwanda | Court: International courts and tribunals / International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Jean-Paul Akayesu | Genocide: Rwandan genocide / Rape during the Rwandan genocide | Sex and the law: Rape / Genocidal rape