Prosecution Of Wartime Rape Before The Icty

In 1993 the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established to prosecute the crimes committed during the Yugoslav conflict. Due to the widespread occurrence of rape and its disastrous consequences, it was of high importance that concern was shown by the international community to ensure that prosecutions for gender crimes would take place at the ICTY. This paper examines the possibilities to prosecute wartime rape under the ICTY Statute and highlights those procedural rules which are significant in case of trials dealing with victims and witnesses of wartime sexual violence. It aims at finding out about the achievements made by the Yugoslav Tribunal in prosecuting wartime rape under international criminal law. To comprehend which understanding of wartime rape underlies the creation of the ICTY Statute and its procedural rules, chapter 2 of this paper focuses on the development of the status of rape in international humanitarian law and international criminal law. Based on ICTY case law and the reasoning of experts, chapter 3 illustrates the opportunities to prosecute rape under the four categories of crimes enumerated under the ICTY Statute. Finally, chapter 4 identifies those procedural provisions which aid in safeguarding the rights of victims and witnesses of sexual violence crimes. Within this section, the importance of those procedural rules and their potential to reshape the perception of rape in public international law as well as domestic law will be furthermore highlighted.