Supranational Criminal Prosecution of Sexual Violence: The ICC and the Practice of the ICTY and the ICTR

The 1996 report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Rwanda stated that during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda rape was the rule and its absence the exception. Indeed, rape and other forms of sexual violence as constituting genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes, directed in particular against women, have taken place on a massive scale since time immemorial and are still rampant. This study assesses the supranational criminal prosecution of sexual violence, notably whether supranational criminal law and procedure are adequate from the perspective of victims of sexual violence. In addition, the legal consequences of the supranational criminal law system (sentencing and reparation) are examined with the situation of victims of sexual violence in mind. The adequacy of supranational criminal prosecution of sexual violence is primarily examined from the point of view of the ICC, the benchmark for supranational criminal prosecutions, with clear reference to the ICTY and ICTR practice in the filed of sexual violence prosecutions. the study concludes with some recommendations for a more comprehensive framework of supranational criminal prosecution of sexual violence.De Brouwer, A. M. is the author of 'Supranational Criminal Prosecution of Sexual Violence: The ICC and the Practice of the ICTY and the ICTR', published 2005 under ISBN 9789050955331 and ISBN 9050955339.