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THE LONG ROAD Accountability for Sexual Violence in Conflict and Post-Conflict Settings

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THE LONG ROAD Accountability for Sexual Violence in Conflict and Post-Conflict Settings 2015 THE LONG ROAD Accountability for Sexual Violence in Conflict and Post-Conflict Settings KENYA LIBERIA SIERRA LEONE UGANDA is report summarizes a four-country study conducted by the Sexual Violence Program at the Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. It was written by Kim uy Seelinger and Julie Freccero. e Human Rights Center conducts research on war crimes and other serious violations of international hu- manitarian law and human rights. Using evidence-based methods and innovative technologies, the Center supports eorts to hold perpetrators accountable and to protect vulnerable populations. e Center also trains students and advocates to document human rights violations and to turn this information into eec- tive action. e Sexual Violence Program at the Human Rights Center works to support survivors of conict-related sexual violence by providing policymakers and practitioners with evidence-based recommendations on how to improve accountability and protection mechanisms. is study identies key challenges and strate- gies related to reporting, investigating, and prosecuting sexual violence in Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Uganda and provides insights into their potential to investigate and prosecute sexual violence as an interna- tional crime. Fieldwork for the study took place from to . is study was made possible by grants from Humanity United, the Open Society Foundation’s International Women’s Program, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. e information provided and views expressed in this summary report do not necessarily reect the views of these funding agencies. Separate research, focused on accountability for sexual violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and funded by the Open Society Foundation’s International Women’s Program and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, will be released in . For both reports and more information about the Human Rights Center, please visit http://hrc.berkeley.edu. THE LONG ROAD Accountability for Sexual Violence in Conflict and Post-Conflict Settings KENYA LIBERIA SIERRA LEONE UGANDA 2015 CONTENTS ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS / vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / 1 INTRODUCTION / 9 The Study / 9 Objectives / 10 Methods / 10 Limitations / 11 This Report / 12 DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK / 13 THE CASE STUDY COUNTRIES / 17 Kenya / 20 Liberia / 21 Sierra Leone / 22 Uganda / 23 Relevant Laws in Case Study Countries / 24 Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Legislation / 24 International Crimes Legislation / 26 REPORTING / 27 Reporting During Conflict Periods / 27 Reporting Today / 29 Social Factors / 29 Structural Factors / 34 Confidence in the Police / 37 INVESTIGATION / 39 Role of the Health Sector / 39 Responding During Conflict Periods / 39 Late Reporting / 40 Resource Limitations / 40 Capacity and Competence / 40 Reluctance to Gather Evidence / 42 Role of the Police / 42 Responding During Conflict Periods / 42 Resource Limitations / 43 Capacity and Competence / 44 Geographic Barriers / 46 Coordination and “Chain of Custody” / 46 Documentary Evidence / 46 Physical Evidence / 48 PROSECUTION / 51 Prosecuting Sexual Violence Committed during Conflict Periods / 51 State-Led Eorts / 51 Civil Society Eorts / 53 Prosecuting Sexual Violence Committed Today / 55 Insucient Proof / 55 Prosecutorial and Judicial Expertise / 57 Victim and Witness Support / 60 CONSIDERATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMES OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE / 63 RECOMMENDATIONS / 67 ENDNOTES / 73 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS / 79 APPENDICES / 80 Crimes of Sexual Violence under the Rome Statute / 80 List of Informants / 84 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS CBO community-based organization CFPU Child and Family Protection Unit (Uganda) CLOs case liaison ocers DCI Directorate of Criminal Investigations (Kenya) DPP Directorate of Public Prosecution (Kenya, Uganda) DV domestic violence FAWE Forum for African Women Educationalists Sierra Leone FGM/C female genital mutilation /cutting FSU Family Support Units (Sierra Leone) GBV gender-based violence HRC Human Rights Center ICC International Criminal Court IDPs internally displaced persons IJM International Justice Mission INGO international non-governmental organization LC Local Council (Uganda) LNP Liberia National Police Force LRA Lord’s Resistance Army (Uganda) LURD Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy MSF Médecins Sans Frontières NGO non-governmental organization NPFL National Patriotic Front of Liberia OSC one-stop center PEP post-exposure prophylaxis (for HIV) PRC post-rape care RUF Revolutionary United Front (Sierra Leone) SGBV sexual and gender-based violence SGBV CU Sexual and Gender-based Violence Crimes Unit (Liberia) SOA Sexual Oences Act (Kenya, Sierra Leone) SOPs standard operating procedures TRCs Truth and Reconciliation Commissions vii UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNMIL United Nations Mission in Liberia UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UPDF Uganda Peoples’ Defense Forces VSOs Victim Support Ocers (Liberia Sexual and Gender-based Violence Crimes Unit) WACPS Women and Children’s Protection Section (Liberia National Police) WHO World Health Organization viii The Long Road EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Tens of thousands of men and women were raped or sexually tortured during the war in Bosnia between and .1 During the -day genocide in Rwanda in , thousands of women were raped or had their breasts or genitals mutilated.2 From –, Khmer Rouge cadres in Cambodia raped women and girls despite strict regulations against extramarital sexual relations and an entire generation of men and women were subjected to forced marriage.3 Acts of sexual violence committed during periods of armed conict or political unrest are, rst and foremost, crimes against the individual survivor. As such, they may be investigated and prosecuted locally under domestic penal or gender-violence laws that criminalize oences against the person. However, where these acts are committed specically because, or as part, of an armed conict or larger attack on a civilian population or plan to destroy a particular group of people, they may also constitute an international crime. Since the s, international courts have made progress in prosecuting military commanders and ci- vilian ocials for their roles in perpetrating sexual violence as a war crime, as a crime against humanity, and as an act of genocide. However, these international tribunals oen operate at signicant geographic and historical distance from the events in question. Not surprisingly, they have faced serious challenges in collecting evidence, access to witnesses, and establishing defendants’ responsibility for acts they may not have personally committed. ey may also have jurisdictional or practical constraints that limit the scope of events they can target. For a host of reasons, accountability for international crimes of sexual violence depends largely on the response of national authorities. To address international crimes of sexual violence, domestic investigators and prosecutors must rst be able to prove an underlying act of rape under the Rome Statue, for example, before they can be expected to establish the additional contextual elements that would make that act of rape a war crime, crime against humanity, or act of genocide. erefore, in order to appreciate the potential of local actors to provide accountability for international crimes of sexual violence, it is critical to rst understand their day-to-day challenges in investigating and prosecuting sexual violence and the strategies used to overcome these challenges. To this end, researchers at the Human Rights Center (HRC) at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, conducted a four-country study in Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Uganda to identify key accountability barriers and strategies for reporting, investigating, and prosecuting cases of sexual violence. In addition to conducting desk research on the nature of sexual violence and accountability mechanisms in these countries, HRC researchers conducted a total of semi-structured interviews with representatives of governments, UN agencies, and civil society organizations in Kenya (N=), Liberia (N=), Sierra Leone 1 (N=), and Uganda (N=). Researchers coded and analyzed the interviews to identify key themes related to the reporting, investigation, and prosecution of cases of sexual violence. The Study To improve understanding of domestic-level accountability for sexual violence, the HRC conducted a four-country study from to , focusing on Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Uganda. e purpose of the study was to identify and describe major barriers and approaches to basic legal accountability for sexual violence in these four countries. Researchers’ specic objectives were to . identify challenges and strategies related to reporting of sexual violence; . identify challenges and strategies related to investigation of sexual violence; . identify challenges and strategies related to prosecution of sexual violence; and to . gather relevant lessons learned during recent periods of armed conict or political violence. Findings Researchers’ interviews resulted in the following ndings on the reporting, investigation, and prosecution of sexual violence crimes. Reporting Crimes of Sexual Violence Informants indicated that stigma associated with sexual violence, pressure from community and family members to settle cases informally, and preferences for community-based resolution prevent many survi- vors from reporting these acts to the police and the formal legal system. Some conict-related
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