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Rape in the Ntaganda Case Rape in the Ntaganda Case The development of the definition of rape up to and including the latest ICC Ntaganda Case Britt van den Broek SNR: 2013165 ANR: 673514 Bachelor Thesis Supervisor: mr. S.R.B. Walther Second reader: mr. dr. A.K. Bosma Liberal Arts & Sciences Major Law in an International Context June 2020 1 Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Chapter 2: The background information on the Ntaganda case ................................................... 7 1.1 The long history of violence within the Democratic Republic of the Congo .................................. 7 1.2 The Ongoing Conflict and its Excessive Sexual Violence .............................................................. 10 2.1 Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo .......................................................... 11 2.2 Explanations for the Excessive Sexual Violence in the DRC? ....................................................... 12 3.1 The International Criminal Court ................................................................................................. 14 3.2 Ntaganda’s role in the DRC conflict ............................................................................................. 16 3.3 The significance of the Ntaganda case ........................................................................................ 18 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 3: War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity ................................................................. 20 3.1 The elements of crimes ................................................................................................................ 20 3.2 War Crimes .................................................................................................................................. 21 3.3 Crimes against humanity ............................................................................................................. 23 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................... 24 Chapter 4: The Development of the Definition of Rape as a War Crime and as a Crime against Humanity before the Ntaganda Case ................................................................................ 26 4.1 The International Criminal Tribunals and their Definition of Rape.............................................. 27 4.2 Rape before the ICTR ................................................................................................................... 28 4.2 Rape before the ICTY ................................................................................................................... 29 4.3 The Kunarac Case ........................................................................................................................ 30 4.4 Contradictory Definitions? ........................................................................................................... 31 4.5 The International Criminal Court and its Definition of Rape ....................................................... 32 4.6 Rape under the ICC Statute ......................................................................................................... 32 4.7 Rape in the Bemba Case .............................................................................................................. 33 4.8 Rape in the Katanga Case ............................................................................................................ 36 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................... 38 Chapter 5: Redefinition of Rape in the Ntaganda Case? ............................................................. 40 5.1 Rape and Child Soldiers ............................................................................................................... 40 5.2 Rape in the Ntaganda Case ......................................................................................................... 42 5.3 Ntaganda Compared with Previous Cases .................................................................................. 45 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................... 49 References .......................................................................................................................................... 55 2 Introduction In the 1990’s, global outcry was sparked by the devastating stories of sexual violence against tens of thousands of women in the conflicts in Bosnia and Rwanda.1 As stated by Sidebotham, chilling accounts of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) continue to be reported till this day.2 There’s a recognized increase in rates of sexual violence against women and girls during times of conflict.3 Whereas the specific cause of CRSV may be uncertain, the devastating impact that sexual violence has on the victims is not.4 The attack(s) on their bodies often have consequences both for physical as well as for the psychological wellbeing of the victim.5 CRSV is not a contemporary phenomenon that did not appear until the 1990’s. As emphasized by Wachala “rape and war have gone hand in hand since, and according to Brownmiller, the days of Helen and Troy”.6 This illustrates that CRSV is a phenomenon of all times. Despite the long-time prevalence of war time rape, however, little attention has been attributed to this crime in the past. Reliable documentary evidence of wartime rape cannot be found until World War I. Nevertheless, little to no attention was paid to the conflict related sexual violence in the aftermath of the war. As a result, according to Wachala, the perpetrators went unpunished.7 A similar story can be told with regard to the CRSV committed during the Second World War. Very few charges of rape and sexual offences were brought before the Tokyo Tribunal, even though the International Military Tribunal of the Far East (IMTFE) recognized in its indictment that gender-specific offences had occurred during the war. The persistent inaction concerning CRSV in the aftermath of both the first and the second World War indicates that rape and other acts of sexual violence were broadly considered to be an accepted ‘norm’ in times of armed conflict.8 Over time, however, the perception on wartime rape has altered, as it became gradually acknowledged that both rape and sexual violence in times of armed conflict are not merely caused by undisciplined troops or the existence of a particular armed conflict.9 The international community slowly came to accept that rape was (also) used as a weapon of war. By 2012, the UN itself even held that ‘rape can be classified as a weapon of war’.10 This altered perception also brought about changes in the (international) legal field. In contrast with the first and second World War, the field of international criminal law currently has multiple tools at its disposal which can be used to hold perpetrators of crimes of sexual 1 Emma Sidebotham, Joanne Moffatt, Kevin Jones, Sexual Violence in Conflict: A Global Epidemic, The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, (2016). p.247 2 Emma Sidebotham, Joanne Moffatt, Kevin Jones, Sexual Violence in Conflict: A Global Epidemic, The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, (2016). p.247 3 Emma Sidebotham, Joanne Moffatt, Kevin Jones, Sexual Violence in Conflict: A Global Epidemic, The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, (2016). p.247 4 Emma Sidebotham, Joanne Moffatt, Kevin Jones, Sexual Violence in Conflict: A Global Epidemic, The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, (2016). p.247 5 Emma Sidebotham, Joanne Moffatt, Kevin Jones, Sexual Violence in Conflict: A Global Epidemic, The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, (2016). p.249 6 Kas Wachala, The Tools to Combat the War on Women’s Bodies: Rape and Sexual Violence against Women in Armed Conflict, The International Journal of Human Rights, (2012). p.533 7 Kas Wachala, The Tools to Combat the War on Women’s Bodies: Rape and Sexual Violence against Women in Armed Conflict, The International Journal of Human Rights, (2012). p.533 8 Kas Wachala, The Tools to Combat the War on Women’s Bodies: Rape and Sexual Violence against Women in Armed Conflict, The International Journal of Human Rights, (2012). p.534 9 Kas Wachala, The Tools to Combat the War on Women’s Bodies: Rape and Sexual Violence against Women in Armed Conflict, The International Journal of Human Rights, (2012). p.534 10 Kas Wachala, The Tools to Combat the War on Women’s Bodies: Rape and Sexual Violence against Women in Armed Conflict, The International Journal of Human Rights, (2012). p.535 3 and/or gender-based violence accountable for their crimes.11 The International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia have contributed to the change in perception of wartime rape. Moreover, they managed to put an end to the complete impunity of the perpetrates of wartime rape.12 Nevertheless, conflict-related sexual violence persists till this day. A 2015 report of the UN indicated 19 countries in which CSRV posed a ‘significant degree of concern’.13 The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the countries listed in that report.14
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