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Our Life and Times by Kevin A. Barry and Mary Holmes
April 2001
Bosnia rape verdict
The International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia convicted
three Bosnian Serbs, Feb. 22, of "crimes against humanity" for the
months-long systematic rape of women in Foca, Bosnia in 1992-93. Judge
Florence Mumbia of Zambia delivered this historic legal decision, the first
by an international court defining rape as a crime against humanity. It was
a product of decades of pressure by women's groups but does not apply
directly to other conflicts where mass rape also occurred.
After hearing evidence from 16 rape survivors, some as young as 15 at the
time, Judge Mumbia concluded that Serb forces had used rape "as an
instrument of terror" as part of their overall plan of "ethnic cleansing"
aimed at Bosnian citizens of Croat or Muslim origin. She added: "The three
accused are not ordinary soldiers whose morals were merely lowered by the
hardships of war....They thrived in the dark atmosphere of the
dehumanization of those believed to be enemies."
Although prosecutors had repeatedly used the term "sexual slavery," the
judgment avoided doing so, because--incredibly--even today sexual slavery is
not officially a crime under international law!
The three defendants received sentences ranging from 12 to 28 years. This
outraged some survivors who had expected the maximum, life in prison. One
said that she didn't "trust these judgments any more" and would refuse to
testify at future trials. Human Rights Watch noted that the failure to
arrest most of the rapists, who still move about freely in Bosnia, "places
those witnesses who courageously came forward...in serious danger of
retaliation."
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