Redress for Sexual Violence Before the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh: Lessons from History, and Hopes for the Future
Criminal Law Forum (2010) 21:331–359 Ó Springer 2010 DOI 10.1007/s10609-010-9120-2 BINA D’COSTA* and SARA HOSSAIN** REDRESS FOR SEXUAL VIOLENCE BEFORE THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMES TRIBUNAL IN BANGLADESH: LESSONS FROM HISTORY, AND HOPES FOR THE FUTURE I INTRODUCTION The recent establishment of a special tribunal with jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Bangladesh has followed persistent activism from civil society demanding accountability for the crimes of violence com- mitted during the liberation war of 1971. Constituted under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1974, as amended in 2009,1 and envisaging the prosecution of among others, ‘international crimes’, * Research Fellow, Centre for International Governance and Justice, Regulatory Institutions Network, College of the Asia-Pacific, The Australian National Univer- sity, Canberra. ** Barrister, Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Partner, Dr Kamal Hossain and Associates (www.khossain.com). She earlier ran the South Asia Programme at Interights, the International Center for legal protection of human rights. She regularly writes and lectures on human rights and public interest law, and on women’s human rights. Her recent publications include ’Honour’ Crimes Paradigms and Violence against Women, co edited with Lynn Welchman, Zed Press, London 2005. This article is dedicated to two women and their contributions to justice for women survivors of crimes against humanity, first, to Rhonda Copelon, who so brilliantly developed human rights law to encompass women’s experiences of violence in conflict situations globally, and second, to Firdausi Priyabhashini, whose courage and con- viction have helped to transform the understanding of women’s experiences of sexual violence in the Bangladesh war of liberation, and to keep alive the demand for accountability.
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