WUNRN
ICRC – International Committee of the Red Cross
https://www.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v2_rul_rule93
Practice Relating to Rule 93. Rape and
Other Forms of Sexual Violence
I.
Treaties
Geneva Conventions (1949)
Common Article 3(1)(c) of the 1949 Geneva Conventions provides that
“outrages upon personal dignity” are prohibited at any time and in any place
whatsoever with respect to persons hors de combat.
Geneva Convention IV
Article 27, second paragraph, of the 1949 Geneva Convention IV provides:
“Women shall be especially protected against any attack on their honour, in
particular against rape, enforced prostitution, or any form of indecent
assault.”
Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons
and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others
Article 1 of the 1949 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in
Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others provides:
The
Parties to the present Convention agree to punish any person who …
(1) Procures, entices or leads away, for purposes of prostitution, another
person, even with the consent of that person;
(2) Exploits the prostitution of another person, even with the consent of
that person.
Additional Protocol I
Article 75(2)(b) of the 1977 Additional Protocol I provides that
“enforced prostitution and any form of indecent assault” shall remain
prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever.
Article 76(1) of the 1977 Additional Protocol I provides that women “shall be
protected in particular against rape, forced prostitution and any other form of
indecent assault”.
Article 77(1) of the 1977 Additional Protocol I provides that children “shall
be protected against any form of indecent assault”.
Additional Protocol II
Article 4(2)(e) of the 1977 Additional Protocol II provides that
“enforced prostitution and any form of indecent assault” shall remain
prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever.
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
Article 27 of the 1990 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the
Child provides:
States
Parties to the present Charter shall undertake to protect the child from all
forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse and shall in particular take
measures to prevent: (a) the inducement, coercion or encouragement of a child
to engage in any sexual activity; (b) the use of children in prostitution or
other sexual practices; (c) the use of children in pornographic activities,
performances and materials.
ICC Statute
Pursuant to Article 6(d) of the 1998 ICC Statute, “[i]mposing measures
intended to prevent births within the group” constitutes genocide when
“committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical,
racial or religious group”.
Pursuant to Article 7(1)(g) of the 1998 ICC Statute, “[r]ape, sexual slavery,
enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other
form of sexual violence of comparable gravity” constitutes a crime against
humanity “when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed
against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack”.
Pursuant to Article 8(2)(b)(xxii) and (e)(vi) of the 1998 ICC Statute,
“[c]ommitting rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy …
enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence” constitutes a war
crime in both international and non-international armed conflicts.
Optional Protocol on Child Trade, Prostitution and
Pornography
Article 1 of the 2000 Optional Protocol on Child Trade, Prostitution and
Pornography provides that the States Parties shall prohibit child prostitution
and child pornography.
Protocol on Trafficking in Persons
Article 1 of the 2000 Protocol on Trafficking in Persons states: “The
purposes of this Protocol are … (a) to prevent and combat trafficking in
persons, paying particular attention to women and children”. Article 5 of the
Protocol provides:
1.
Each State Party shall adopt such legislative and other measures as may be
necessary to establish as criminal offences the conduct set forth in article 3
of this Protocol [i.e. trafficking in persons], when committed intentionally.
2. Each State Party shall also adopt such legislative and other measures as may
be necessary to establish as criminal offences:
(a) Subject to the basic concepts of its legal system, attempting to
commit an offence established in accordance with paragraph 1 of this article;
(b) Participating as an accomplice in an offence established in
accordance with paragraph 1 of this article; and
(c) Organizing or directing other persons to commit an offence
established in accordance with paragraph 1 of this article.
SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking
in Women and Children for Prostitution
Article 3 of the 2002 SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating
Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution provides:
1.
The State Parties to the Convention shall take effective measures to ensure
that trafficking in any form is an offence under their respective criminal law
and shall make such an offence punishable by appropriate penalties which take
into account its grave nature.
2. The State Parties to the Convention, in their respective territories, shall
provide for punishment of any person who keeps, maintains or manages or
knowingly finances or takes part in the financing of a place used for the
purpose of trafficking and knowingly lets or rents a building or other place or
any part thereof for the purpose of trafficking.
3. Any attempt or abetment to commit any crime mentioned in paras 1 and 2 above
or their financing shall also be punishable.
Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone
Article 3(e) of the 2002 Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone
states that “[t]he Special Court shall have the power to prosecute persons who
committed or ordered the commission of serious violations of article 3 common
to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 for the Protection of War Victims,
and of Additional Protocol II thereto of 8 June 1977”, which include “rape,
enforced prostitution and any form of indecent assault”.
UN-Cambodia Agreement Concerning the Prosecution under
Cambodian Law of Crimes Committed During the Period of Democratic Kampuchea
Article 9 of the 2003 UN-Cambodia Agreement Concerning the Prosecution
under Cambodian Law of Crimes Committed During the Period of Democratic
Kampuchea provides:
The
subject-matter jurisdiction of the Extraordinary Chambers shall be the crime of
genocide as defined in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
the Crime of Genocide, crimes against humanity as defined in the 1998 Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court and grave breaches of the 1949
Geneva Conventions and such other crimes as defined in Chapter II of the Law on
the Establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers as promulgated on 10 August
2001.
Kampala Convention
Article 9(1) of the 2009 Kampala Convention states:
State
Parties shall protect the rights of internally displaced persons regardless of
the cause of displacement by refraining from, and preventing, the following
acts, amongst others:
d. Sexual and gender based violence in all its forms, notably rape, enforced
prostitution, sexual exploitation and harmful practices … .
Lieber Code
Article 44 of the 1863 Lieber Code provides that all rape of persons in
the invaded country is prohibited.
Report of the Commission on Responsibility
Based on several documents supplying evidence of outrages committed during
the First World War, the 1919 Report of the Commission on Responsibility lists
violations of the laws and customs of war which should be subject to criminal
prosecution, including rape and the abduction of girls and women for the
purpose of enforced prostitution.
Allied Control Council Law No. 10
Article II(1)(c) of the 1945 Allied Control Council Law No. 10 provides
that “rape, or other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population”
is a crime against humanity.
Memorandum of Understanding on the Application of IHL
between Croatia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Paragraph 4 of the 1991 Memorandum of Understanding on the Application
of IHL between Croatia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
requires that all civilians be treated in accordance with Article 75 of the
1977 Additional Protocol I.
Agreement on the Application of IHL between the Parties
to the Conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Under paragraph 1 of the 1992 Agreement on the Application of IHL
between the Parties to the Conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the parties
committed themselves to respect and ensure respect for common Article 3 of the
1949 Geneva Conventions. Paragraph 2.3 requires that all civilians be treated
in accordance with Article 75 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I.
UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against
Women
The preamble to the 1993 UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence
against Women expresses concern that “women in situations of armed conflict are
especially vulnerable to violence”. Article 2 of the Declaration provides:
Violence
against women shall be understood to encompass, but not be limited to, the
following:
(a) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family,
including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household,
dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other
traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence
related to exploitation;
(b) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the
general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and
intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in
women and forced prostitution;
(c) Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned
by the State, wherever it occurs.
ICTY Statute
Article 5(g) of the 1993 ICTY Statute provides that rape, when committed
in armed conflict, whether international or internal in character, and directed
against any civilian population, constitutes a crime against humanity.
ICTR Statute
According to Article 3(g) of the 1994 ICTR Statute, rape, when committed
as part of a widespread and systematic attack against any civilian population
on national, political, ethnic, racial or religious grounds, constitutes a
crime against humanity. Article 4(e) provides that the Tribunal is competent to
prosecute violations of common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions,
including rape, enforced prostitution and any form of indecent assault.
ILC Draft Code of Crimes against the Peace and Security
of Mankind (1996)
Under Article 18(j) of the 1996 ILC Draft Code of Crimes against the
Peace and Security of Mankind, “rape, enforced prostitution and any form of
sexual abuse” constitute crimes against humanity.
Article 20(d) of the 1996 ILC Draft Code of Crimes against the Peace and
Security of Mankind states that “[r]ape, enforced prostitution and any form of
indecent assault” committed in violation of international humanitarian law
applicable in international conflict are war crimes.
Article 20(f)(v) of the 1996 ILC Draft Code of Crimes against the Peace and
Security of Mankind stipulates that “[r]ape, enforced prostitution and any form
of indecent assault” constitutes a war crime in conflicts not of an
international character.
Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and
IHL in the Philippines
Article 2(7) of Part III of the 1998 Comprehensive Agreement on Respect
for Human Rights and IHL in the Philippines provides that the Agreement seeks
to protect and promote the right not to be subject to rape and sexual abuse.
UN Secretary-General’s Bulletin
According to Section 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4 of the 1999 UN Secretary-General’s
Bulletin, rape, enforced prostitution or any form of sexual assault and
humiliation against persons not, or no longer, taking part in military
operations and persons placed hors de combat, with a specific
reference to women and children, are prohibited at any time and in any place.
UNTAET Regulation No. 2000/15
The UNTAET Regulation No. 2000/15 establishes panels with exclusive
jurisdiction over serious criminal offences, including war crimes. According to
Section 6(1)(b)(xxii) and (e)(vi), “[c]ommitting rape, sexual slavery, enforced
prostitution, forced pregnancy … enforced sterilization, or any other form of
sexual violence” constitutes a war crime in both international and
non-international armed conflicts.
N’Djamena Declaration on Ending Recruitment and Use of
Children by Armed Forces and Groups
In June 2010, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria,
Niger and Sudan adopted the N’Djamena Declaration. In the preamble, the
participating States
Reiterat[ed]
[their] concern regarding the precarious situation of children
affected by conflict and the consistent presence of children within armed
forces and groups in [their] region”;
Recall[ed] the Optional Protocol [to the Convention on the Rights
of the Child] on the sale of children, child prostitution and child
pornography;
…
Recall[ed] Security Council resolution 1888 (2009) on sexual
violence in situations of armed conflict;
…
[expressed deep concern over] the situation of young girls associated with
armed forces and groups, subject to sexual violence and abuse during armed
conflict, and excluded from the release, withdrawal, psychosocial
rehabilitation and socio-economic reintegration programs often by socio-cultural
barriers; [and]
Recogniz[ed] that States have the primary
responsibility of ensuring, without discrimination, the security and protection
of all children living on their national territory.
[t]o protect children from all forms of exploitation and violence, by
criminalizing all acts of … child prostitution and child pornography and ensuring
the rights of child victims and witnesses. ‘’
Argentina
Argentina’s Law on the Protection of Children’s and Adolescents’ Rights
(2005) states:
Children
and adolescents are entitled to dignity as subjects of international law and
developing persons. [They are entitled] to not be subjected to … any form of …
sexual exploitation, kidnapping or trafficking for any cruel or degrading
purpose, or under any cruel or degrading form or condition …
Children and adolescents are entitled to their physical, sexual, psychological
and moral integrity.
Armenia
Under Armenia’s Penal Code (2003), the “application of … humiliating
practices” during an armed conflict constitutes a crime against the peace and
security of mankind. This is also the case for acts of genocide, including
“violently preventing births” within a national, ethnic, racial or religious
group.
Australia
Australia’s War Crimes Act (1945) provides that rape and “abduction of
girls and women for the purpose of enforced prostitution” are war crimes.
Under Australia’s War Crimes Act (1945), as amended in 2001, rape, indecent
assault and “abduction, or procuring, for immoral purposes” are considered
serious war crimes.
Australia’s Criminal Code Act (1995), as amended to 2007, states with
respect to serious war crimes that are committed in the course of an
international armed conflict
268.59 War crime – rape
(1) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence
if:
(a) the perpetrator sexually penetrates another person without the
consent of that person; and
(b) the perpetrator knows about, or is reckless as to, the lack of
consent; and
(c) the perpetrator’s conduct takes place in the context of, and is
associated with, an international armed conflict.
Penalty:
Imprisonment for 25 years.
(2) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence if:
(a) the perpetrator causes another person to sexually penetrate the
perpetrator without the consent of the other person; and
(b) the perpetrator knows about, or is reckless as to, the lack of
consent; and
(c) the perpetrator’s conduct takes place in the context of, and is
associated with, an international armed conflict.
Penalty:
Imprisonment for 25 years.
(3) In this section:
consent means free and voluntary agreement. The following are
examples of circumstances in which a person does not consent to an act:
(a) the person submits to the act because of force or the fear of force
to the person or to someone else;
(b) the person submits to the act because the person is unlawfully
detained;
(c) the person is asleep or unconscious, or is so affected by alcohol or
another drug as to be incapable of consenting;
(d) the person is incapable of understanding the essential nature of the
act;
(e) the person is mistaken about the essential nature of the act (for
example, the person mistakenly believes that the act is for medical or hygienic
purposes);
(f) the person submits to the act because of psychological oppression or
abuse of power;
(g) the person submits to the act because of the perpetrator taking
advantage of a coercive environment.
(4) In
this section:
sexually penetrate means:
(a) penetrate (to any extent) the genitalia or anus of a person by any
part of the body of another person or by any object manipulated by that other
person; or
(b) penetrate (to any extent) the mouth of a person by the penis of
another person; or
(c) continue to sexually penetrate as defined in paragraph (a) or (b).
(5) In
this section, being reckless as to a lack of consent to sexual
penetration includes not giving any thought to whether or not the person is
consenting to sexual penetration.
(6) In this section, the genitalia or other parts of the body of a person
include surgically constructed genitalia or other parts of the body of the
person.
268.60 War crime – sexual slavery
(1) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence if:
(a) the perpetrator causes another person to enter into or remain in
sexual slavery; and
(b) the perpetrator intends to cause, or is reckless as to causing, that
sexual slavery; and
(c) the perpetrator’s conduct takes place in the context of, and is
associated with, an international armed conflict.
Penalty:
Imprisonment for 25 years.
(2) For the purposes of this section, sexual slavery is the
condition of a person who provides sexual services and who, because of the use
of force or threats:
(a) is not free to cease providing sexual services; or
(b) is not free to leave the place or area where the person provides
sexual services.
(3) In
this section:
sexual service means the use or display of the body of the person
providing the service for the sexual gratification of others.
threat means:
(a) a threat of force; or
(b) a threat to cause a person’s deportation; or
(c) a threat of any other detrimental action unless there are reasonable
grounds for the threat of that action in connection with the provision of
sexual services by a person.
268.61 War
crime – enforced prostitution
(1) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence
if:
(a) the perpetrator causes one or more persons to engage in one or more
acts of a sexual nature without the consent of the person or persons, including
by being reckless as to whether there is consent; and
(b) the perpetrator intends that he or she, or another person, will
obtain pecuniary or other advantage in exchange for, or in connection with, the
acts of a sexual nature; and
(c) the perpetrator’s conduct takes place in the context of, and is
associated with, an international armed conflict.
Penalty:
Imprisonment for 25 years.
(2) In subsection (1):
consent means free and voluntary agreement. The following are
examples of circumstances in which a person does not consent to an act:
(a) the person submits to the act because of force or the fear of force
to the person or to someone else;
(b) the person submits to the act because the person is unlawfully
detained;
(c) the person is asleep or unconscious, or is so affected by alcohol or
another drug as to be incapable of consenting;
(d) the person is incapable of understanding the essential nature of the
act;
(e) the person is mistaken about the essential nature of the act (for
example, the person mistakenly believes that the act is for medical or hygienic
purposes);
(f) the person submits to the act because of psychological oppression or
abuse of power;
(g) the person submits to the act because of the perpetrator taking
advantage of a coercive environment.
threat of
force or coercion includes:
(a) a threat of force or coercion such as that caused by fear of violence,
duress, detention, psychological oppression or abuse of power; or
(b) taking advantage of a coercive environment.
(3) In
subsection (1), being reckless as to whether there is consent to one or more
acts of a sexual nature includes not giving any thought to whether or not the
person is consenting to the act or acts of a sexual nature.
268.62 War crime – forced pregnancy
(1) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence if:
(a) the perpetrator unlawfully confines one or more women forcibly made
pregnant; and
(b) the perpetrator intends to affect the ethnic composition of any
population or to destroy, wholly or partly, a national, ethnical, racial or
religious group, as such; and
(c) the perpetrator’s conduct takes place in the context of, and is
associated with, an international armed conflict.
Penalty:
Imprisonment for 25 years.
(2) In subsection (1):
forcibly made pregnant includes made pregnant by a consent that was
effected by deception or by natural, induced or age-related incapacity.
(3) To avoid doubt, this section does not affect any other law of the
Commonwealth or any law of a State or Territory.
268.63 War crime – enforced sterilisation
(1) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence if:
(a) the perpetrator deprives one or more persons of biological
reproductive capacity; and
(b) the deprivation is not effected by a birth-control measure that has
a non-permanent effect in practice; and
(c) the perpetrator’s conduct is neither justified by the medical or
hospital treatment of the person or persons nor carried out with the consent of
the person or persons; and
(d) the perpetrator’s conduct takes place in the context of, and is
associated with, an international armed conflict.
Penalty:
Imprisonment for 25 years.
(2) In subsection (1):
consent does not include consent effected by deception or by
natural, induced or age-related incapacity.
268.64 War crime – sexual violence
(1) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence if:
(a) the perpetrator does either of the following:
without the consent of the person or persons, including by being
reckless as to whether there is consent; and
(b) the perpetrator’s conduct is of a gravity comparable to the offences
referred to in sections 268.59 to 268.63; and
(c) the conduct takes place in the context of, and is associated with,
an international armed conflict.
Penalty:
Imprisonment for 25 years.
(2) Strict liability applies to paragraph (1)(b).
(3) In subsection (1):
consent means free and voluntary agreement. The following are
examples of circumstances in which a person does not consent to an act:
(a) the person submits to the act because of force or the fear of force
to the person or to someone else;
(b) the person submits to the act because the person is unlawfully
detained;
(c) the person is asleep or unconscious, or is so affected by alcohol or
another drug as to be incapable of consenting;
(d) the person is incapable of understanding the essential nature of the
act;
(e) the person is mistaken about the essential nature of the act (for
example, the person mistakenly believes that the act is for medical or hygienic
purposes);
(f) the person submits to the act because of psychological oppression or
abuse of power;
(g) the person submits to the act because of the perpetrator taking
advantage of a coercive environment.
threat of
force or coercion includes:
(a) a threat of force or coercion such as that caused by fear of
violence, duress, detention, psychological oppression or abuse of power; or
(b) taking advantage of a coercive environment.
(4) In
subsection (1), being reckless as to whether there is consent to one or more
acts of a sexual nature includes not giving any thought to whether or not the
person is consenting to the act or acts of a sexual nature. [emphasis
in original]
268.82 War crime – rape
(1) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence if:
(a) the perpetrator sexually penetrates another person without the
consent of that person; and
(b) the perpetrator knows of, or is reckless as to, the lack of consent;
and
(c) the perpetrator’s conduct takes place in the context of, and is
associated with, an armed conflict that is not an international armed conflict.
Penalty:
Imprisonment for 25 years.
(2) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence if:
(a) the perpetrator causes another person to sexually penetrate the
perpetrator without the consent of the other person; and
(b) the perpetrator knows of, or is reckless as to, the lack of consent;
and
(c) the perpetrator’s conduct takes place in the context of, and is
associated with, an armed conflict that is not an international armed conflict.
Penalty:
Imprisonment for 25 years.
(3) In this section:
consent means free and voluntary agreement. The following are
examples of circumstances in which a person does not consent to an act:
(a) the person submits to the act because of force or the fear of force
to the person or to someone else;
(b) the person submits to the act because the person is unlawfully
detained;
(c) the person is asleep or unconscious, or is so affected by alcohol or
another drug as to be incapable of consenting;
(d) the person is incapable of understanding the essential nature of the
act;
(e) the person is mistaken about the essential nature of the act (for
example, the person mistakenly believes that the act is for medical or hygienic
purposes);
(f) the person submits to the act because of psychological oppression or
abuse of power;
(g) the person submits to the act because of the perpetrator taking
advantage of a coercive environment.
(4) In
this section:
sexually penetrate means:
(a) penetrate (to any extent) the genitalia or anus of a person by any
part of the body of another person or by any object manipulated by that other
person; or
(b) penetrate (to any extent) the mouth of a person by the penis of
another person; or
(c) continue to sexually penetrate as defined in paragraph (a) or (b).
(5) In
this section, being reckless as to a lack of consent to sexual
penetration includes not giving any thought to whether or not the person is
consenting to sexual penetration.
(6) In this section, the genitalia or other parts of the body of a person
include surgically constructed genitalia or other parts of the body of the
person.
268.83 War crime – sexual slavery
(1) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence if:
(a) the perpetrator causes another person to enter into or remain in
sexual slavery; and
(b) the perpetrator intends to cause, or is reckless as to causing, that
sexual slavery; and
(c) the perpetrator’s conduct takes place in the context of, and is
associated with, an armed conflict that is not an international armed conflict.
Penalty:
Imprisonment for 25 years.
(2) For the purposes of this section, sexual slavery is the
condition of a person who provides sexual services and who, because of the use
of force or threats:
(a) is not free to cease providing sexual services; or
(b) is not free to leave the place or area where the person provides
sexual services.
(3) In
this section:
sexual service means the use or display of the body of the person
providing the service for the sexual gratification of others.
threat means:
(a) a threat of force; or
(b) a threat to cause a person’s deportation; or
(c) a
threat of any other detrimental action unless there are reasonable grounds for
the threat of that action in connection with the provision of sexual services
by a person.
268.84 War crime – enforced prostitution
(1) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence if:
(a) the perpetrator causes one or more persons to engage in one or more
acts of a sexual nature without the consent of the person or persons, including
by being reckless as to whether there is consent; and
(b) the perpetrator intends that he or she, or another person, will
obtain pecuniary or other advantage in exchange for, or in connection with, the
acts of a sexual nature; and
(c) the perpetrator’s conduct takes place in the context of, and is
associated with, an armed conflict that is not an international armed conflict.
Penalty:
Imprisonment for 25 years.
(2) In subsection (1):
consent means free and voluntary agreement. The following are
examples of circumstances in which a person does not consent to an act:
(a) the person submits to the act because of force or the fear of force
to the person or to someone else;
(b) the person submits to the act because the person is unlawfully
detained;
(c) the person is asleep or unconscious, or is so affected by alcohol or
another drug as to be incapable of consenting;
(d) the person is incapable of understanding the essential nature of the
act;
(e) the person is mistaken about the essential nature of the act (for
example, the person mistakenly believes that the act is for medical or hygienic
purposes);
(f) the person submits to the act because of psychological oppression or
abuse of power;
(g) the person submits to the act because of the perpetrator taking
advantage of a coercive environment.
threat of
force or coercion includes:
(a) a threat of force or coercion such as that caused by fear of
violence, duress, detention, psychological oppression or abuse of power; or
(b) taking advantage of a coercive environment.
(3) In
subsection (1), being reckless as to whether there is consent to one or more
acts of a sexual nature includes not giving any thought to whether or not the
person is consenting to the act or acts of a sexual nature.
268.85 War crime – forced pregnancy
(1) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence if:
(a) the perpetrator unlawfully confines one or more women forcibly made
pregnant; and
(b) the perpetrator intends to affect the ethnic composition of any
population or to destroy, wholly or partly, a national, ethnical, racial or
religious group as such; and
(c) the perpetrator’s conduct takes place in the context of, and is
associated with, an armed conflict that is not an international armed conflict.
Penalty:
Imprisonment for 25 years.
(2) In subsection (1):
forcibly made pregnant includes made pregnant by a consent that was
affected by deception or by natural, induced or age-related incapacity.
(3) To avoid doubt, this section does not affect any other law of the Commonwealth
or any law of a State or Territory.
268.86 War crime – enforced sterilisation
(1) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence if:
(a) the perpetrator deprives one or more persons of biological
reproductive capacity; and
(b) the deprivation is not effected by a birth-control measure that has
a non-permanent effect in practice; and
(c) the perpetrator’s conduct is neither justified by the medical or
hospital treatment of the person or persons nor carried out with the consent of
the person or persons; and
(d) the perpetrator’s conduct takes place in the context of, and is
associated with, an armed conflict that is not an international armed conflict.
Penalty:
Imprisonment for 25 years.
(2) In subsection (1):
consent does not include consent effected by deception or by
natural, induced or age-related incapacity.
268.87 War crime – sexual violence
(1) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence if:
(a) the perpetrator does either of the following:
without the consent of the person or persons, including by being
reckless as to whether there is consent; and
(b) the perpetrator’s conduct is of a gravity comparable to the offences
referred to in sections 268.82 to 268.87; and
(c) the conduct takes place in the context of, and is associated with,
an armed conflict that is not an international armed conflict.
Penalty:
Imprisonment for 25 years.
(2) Strict liability applies to paragraph (1)(b)(3). In subsection (1):
consent means free and voluntary agreement. The following are
examples of circumstances in which a person does not consent to an act:
(a) the person submits to the act because of force or the fear of force
to the person or to someone else;
(b) the person submits to the act because the person is unlawfully
detained;
(c) the person is asleep or unconscious, or is so affected by alcohol or
another drug as to be incapable of consenting;
(d) the person is incapable of understanding the essential nature of the
act;
(e) the person is mistaken about the essential nature of the act (for
example, the person mistakenly believes that the act is for medical or hygienic
purposes);
(f) the person submits to the act because of psychological oppression or
abuse of power;
(g) the person submits to the act because of the perpetrator taking
advantage of a coercive environment.
threat of
force or coercion includes:
(a) a threat of force or coercion such as that caused by fear of
violence, duress, detention, psychological oppression or abuse of power,
against the person or another person; or
(b) taking advantage of a coercive environment.
(4) In
subsection (1), being reckless as to whether there is consent to one or more
acts of a sexual nature includes not giving any thought to whether or not the
person is consenting to the act or acts of a sexual nature. [emphasis
in original]
Australia’s ICC (Consequential Amendments)
Act (2002) incorporates in the Criminal Code the crimes defined in the 1998 ICC
Statute, including: “genocide by imposing measures intended to prevent births”;
crimes against humanity, including “rape”, “sexual slavery”, “enforced
prostitution”, “forced pregnancy”, “enforced sterilisation” and “sexual
violence”; and war crimes, including “rape”, “sexual slavery”, “enforced
prostitution”, “forced pregnancy”, “enforced sterilisation” and “sexual
violence”, in both international and non-international armed conflicts.
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan’s Law concerning the Protection of Civilian Persons and the
Rights of Prisoners of War (1995) provides that in international and
non-international armed conflicts, rape of civilian persons, degrading and
humiliating treatment of women, forced prostitution and attacks on their
dignity are prohibited. It further prohibits the rape of prisoners of war and
adds: “Women and young girls are especially protected against attacks on their
honour.”
Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code (1999) provides that “committing rape, sexual
slavery, enforced prostitution, enforced sterilization and other acts related
to sexual violence” are war crimes.
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code (1999), as amended to 2007, provides that
“committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, enforced
sterilization, forced pregnancy and other acts related to sexual violence” are
war crimes.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s International Crimes (Tribunal) Act (1973) states that the
“violation of any humanitarian rules applicable in armed conflicts laid down in
the Geneva Conventions of 1949” is a crime.
Belgium
Belgium’s Penal Code (1867), as amended in 2003, provides:
The
crime of genocide, as defined below, whether committed in time of peace or in
time of war, constitutes a crime under international law and shall be punished
in accordance with the provisions of the present title. In accordance with the
Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 9
December 1948, and without prejudice to criminal provisions applicable to
breaches committed out of negligence, the crime of genocide means any of the
following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such:
…
4. imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
A crime
against humanity, as defined below, whether committed in time of peace or in
time of war, constitutes a crime under international law and shall be punished
in accordance with the provisions of the present title. In accordance with the
Statute of the International Criminal Court, crime against humanity means any
of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic
attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the
attack:
…
7. rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy,
enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable
gravity.
War crimes
envisaged in the 1949 [Geneva] Conventions … and in the [1977 Additional
Protocols I and II] … , as well as in Article 8(2)(f) of the [1998 ICC
Statute], and listed below, … constitute crimes under international law and
shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title …
:
…
4. rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, enforced pregnancy,
enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence constituting a
grave breach of the [1949] Geneva Conventions or a serious violation of Article
3 common to the said Conventions.
Belgium’s Law concerning the Repression of Grave Breaches of the Geneva
Conventions and their Additional Protocols (1993), as amended in 1999, provides
that “rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced
sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity”
constitutes a crime under international law.
Belgium’s Law relating to the Repression of Grave Breaches of
International Humanitarian Law (1993), as amended in 2003, provides:
The
crime of genocide, as defined below, whether committed in time of peace or in
time of war, constitutes a crime under international law and shall be punished
in accordance with the provisions of the present title. In accordance with the
Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 9
December 1948, and without prejudice to criminal provisions applicable to
breaches committed out of negligence, the crime of genocide means any of the
following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such:
…
4. imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
A crime
against humanity, as defined below, whether committed in time of peace or in
time of war, constitutes a crime under international law and shall be punished
in accordance with the provisions of the present title. In accordance with the
Statute of the International Criminal Court, crime against humanity means any
of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic
attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
…
7. rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy,
enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable
gravity.
War crimes
envisaged in the 1949 [Geneva] Conventions … and in the [1977 Additional
Protocols I and II] … , as well as in Article 8(2)(f) of the [1998 ICC
Statute], and listed below, … constitute crimes under international law and
shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title …
:
…
3 bis rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution,
enforced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual
violence constituting a grave breach of the [1949] Geneva Conventions or a
serious violation of Article 3 common to the said Conventions.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Criminal Code (1998) of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
provides that forced prostitution and rape of civilians is a war crime.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Criminal Code (2003) criminalizes the following
as an act of genocide:
Whoever,
with an aim to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or
religious group, orders perpetration or perpetrates any of the following
acts:
…
d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
(1)
Whoever, as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any
civilian population, with knowledge of such an attack, perpetrates any of the
following acts:
…
g) Coercing another by force or by threat of immediate attack upon his
life or limb, or the life or limb of a person close to him, to sexual
intercourse or an equivalent sexual act (rape), sexual slavery, enforced
prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization or any other form of
sexual violence of comparable gravity.
…
(2) For
the purpose of paragraph 1 of this Article the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
…
f) Forced pregnancy means the unlawful confinement of a
woman forcibly made pregnant, with the intent of affecting the ethnic
composition of any population or carrying out other grave violations of
international law. [emphasis
in original]
Whoever,
by means of use of force or threat of use of force or other forms of coercion,
of abduction, of fraud or deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of
vulnerability, or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve
the consent of a person having control over another person, recruits,
transports, transfers, harbours or receipts a person, for the purpose of the
prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, …
shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of between one and ten years.
Burundi
Burundi’s Law on Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes (2003)
states:
[The
following are] considered as war crimes:
…
B. Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international
armed conflicts, within the established framework of international law, namely,
any of the following acts:
…
u) committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced
pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence also
constituting a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions;
…
D. Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed
conflicts not of an international character, within the established framework
of international law, namely, any of the following acts:
…
f) committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced
pregnancy, enforced sterilization, and any other form of sexual violence also
constituting a serious violation of Article 3 common to the four Geneva
Conventions.
Burundi’s Penal Code (2009) states:
“War
crimes” means crimes which are committed as part of a plan or policy or as part
of a large-scale commission of such crimes, in particular:
…
2. … [S]erious violations of the laws and customs applicable in
international armed conflict, within the established framework of international
law, namely, any of the following acts:
…
5. … [S]erious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflicts
not of an international character, within the established framework of
international law, namely, any of the following acts:
Cambodia
Cambodia’s Law on the Establishment of the ECCC (2001), as amended in
2004, provides in its Article 5:
The
Extraordinary Chambers shall have the power to bring to trial all suspects who
committed crimes against humanity during the period 17 April 1975 to 6 January
1979.
Crimes against humanity … are any acts committed as part of a widespread or
systematic attack directed against any civilian population, on national,
political, ethnical, racial or religious grounds, such as:
…
- rape.
The
Extraordinary Chambers shall have the power to bring to trial all Suspects who
committed the crimes of genocide as defined in the Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948, and which were committed
during the period from 17 April 1975 to 6 January 1979.
The acts of genocide … mean any acts committed with the intent to destroy, in
whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, such as:
…
- imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
Canada
Canada’s Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act (2000) provides that
genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes defined in Articles 6, 7 and
8(2) of the 1998 ICC Statute are “crimes according to customary international
law” and, as such, indictable offences under the Act.
China
China’s Law Governing the Trial of War Criminals (1946) provides that
rape and “kidnapping females and forcing them to become prostitutes” is a war
crime.
Colombia
Colombia’s Penal Code (2000) imposes a criminal sanction on anyone who,
during an armed conflict, carries out or orders the “carrying out of forced
sexual acts on protected persons” and “forced prostitution or sexual slavery”.
Congo
Under the Congo’s Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity Act
(1998), “imposing measures intended to prevent births” within an ethnical,
racial or religious group, as such, with intent to destroy the group, in whole
or in part, constitutes a crime of genocide. Moreover, “rape, sexual slavery,
enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization and any other
form of sexual violence of comparable gravity” when committed as part of a
widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with
knowledge of the attack, is a crime against humanity.
Croatia
Croatia’s Criminal Code (1997) provides that forced prostitution and
rape are war crimes.
Croatia’s Criminal Code (1997), as amended to 2006, states that a war
crime is committed by whoever “orders rape, sexual oppression, forced
prostitution, pregnancy or sterilization or other sexual abuse”.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Military Penal Code (2002)
provides:
Article 169
Any of the following acts, perpetrated as part of a widespread
or systematic attack knowingly directed against the Republic or the civilian
population, equally constitutes a crime against humanity and is punished by
death, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war:
…
7. Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy,
enforced sterilization, and other forms of sexual violence of comparable
gravity.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Law Relative to Sexual Violence
(2006), modifying and completing the Congolese Penal Code, provides:
Legislative background
…
Until now, Congolese penal law did not contain all the incriminations that
international law, since 1946, has established as offences, as a dissuasive
bulwark against those who, big or small, violate international law, in
particular humanitarian law, thereby denying the civilian population the
quality and the values of humanity.
Thus, the present law modifies and completes the Congolese Penal Code by
integrating rules of international humanitarian law relative to offences of
sexual violence. Thereby, it largely takes into account the protection of the
most vulnerable persons, notably women, children and men victims of offences of
sexual violence.
…
Law
…
Article 2
Section II of Title VI of the Penal Code, Book II is modified and completed as
follows.
Section II: Sexual violence offences
First paragraph: Indecent assault
Article 167
Any act contrary to morals intentionally and directly exercised against a
person without their valid consent constitutes an indecent assault.
Any indecent assault committed without violence, trickery or threats against
the person or through the person of a child aged less than 18 years shall be
punished with penal servitude between six months and five years. The age of the
child can be determined by medical examination, official information on
personal data lacking.
Article 168
Indecent assault committed with violence, trickery or threats against persons
of either sex shall be punished with penal servitude between six months and
five years.
Indecent assault committed with violence, trickery or threats against the
person or through the person of a child aged less than 18 years shall be
punished with penal servitude between five and fifteen years. If the assault
was committed against persons or through persons aged less than ten years, the
penalty shall be between five and twenty years.
Paragraph 2: Rape
Article 170
Shall have committed rape, either by aid of violence or grave threats or by
coercion against a person, directly or through a third person, or by surprise,
psychological pressure, or at the occasion of a coercive environment, or by
abusing a person who due to illness, alteration of faculties or any other
accidental reason has lost the use of his/her senses, or who has been deprived
of them by artifice:
a) any man, whatever his age, who has inserted his sexual organ, however
slight, into that of a woman, or any woman, whatever her age, who has forced a
man to insert, if only superficially, his sexual organ into hers;
b) any man who has penetrated, however slight, the anus, mouth or any
other orifice of the body of a woman or a man with a sexual organ, with any
other part of the body, or with any object whatsoever;
c) any person who has inserted, however slight, any other part of the
body or any object whatsoever into the vagina;
d) any person who has forced a man or a woman to penetrate, however
slight, his anus, mouth or any orifice of the body with a sexual organ, with
any other part of the body, or with any object whatsoever;
Whoever is
found guilty of rape shall be punished with a penalty of penal servitude
between five and twenty years and a fine of not less than 100,000 Congolese
francs.
…
Article 171
If the rape or the indecent assault has caused the death of the person
against whom it was committed, the perpetrator shall be punished with penal
servitude for life.
Article 171bis
The minimum of the penalties provided in articles 167, paragraph 2, l68 and
170, paragraph 2, of the present Code shall be doubled:
…
2. if [the perpetrators] belong to the category of those who have
authority over [the person against whom or through whom the assault was
committed].
…
4. if the assault has been committed either by public agents … who have
abused their position to commit it …;
5. if the perpetrator has been aided in the execution of the offence by
one or several persons;
6. if it is committed against captive persons by their guards;
…
10. if the rape was committed by use of a weapon or threat therewith.
…
Article 3
Section III of Title VI of the Penal Code, Book II is modified as follows:
Section III: Other sexual violence offences
…
Paragraph 3: Enforced prostitution
Article 174 c
Whoever caused one or more persons to engage in one or more acts of a
sexual nature, by force, by threat of force, or by coercion, or by taking
advantage of such persons’ incapacity to give genuine consent, with a view to
obtain pecuniary or other advantage, shall be punished with three months to
five years of penal servitude.
…
Paragraph 5: Sexual slavery
Article 174 e
Punished with a penalty of five to twenty years of penal servitude and a
fine of 200,000 Congolese francs shall be whoever has exercised one or all of
the powers attached to the right of ownership over a person, notably by
detaining or imposing a similar deprivation of liberty or by purchasing,
selling, lending or bartering such a person for sexual purposes, and has caused
that person to engage in one or more acts of a sexual nature.
…
Paragraph 10: Trafficking and exploitation of children for sexual purposes
Article 174 j
Any act or transaction related to the trafficking or exploitation of
children or any other person for sexual purposes in return for remuneration or
any advantage whatsoever is punished with ten to twenty years of penal
servitude.
Paragraph 11: Forced pregnancy
Article 174 k
Punished with a penalty of penal servitude between ten and twenty years
shall be whoever has confined one or more women made pregnant by force or
trickery.
Paragraph 12: Enforced sterilization
Article 174 l
Punished with five to fifteen years of penal servitude shall be whoever has
committed against a person an act depriving that person of the biological and
organic reproductive capacity, without such an act having been previously been
made the object of a justified medical decision and the genuine consent of the
victim.
…
Paragraph 14: Child prostitution
Article 174 n
Punished by penal servitude between five and twenty years and a fine of
200,000 Congolese francs shall be whoever has used a child of less than 18
years for purposes of sexual activities against remuneration or any other form
of advantage.
Denmark
Denmark’s Military Criminal Code (1973), as amended in 1978, provides:
Any
person who uses war instruments or procedures the application of which violates
an international agreement entered into by Denmark or the general rules of
international law, shall be liable to the same penalty [i.e. a fine, lenient
imprisonment or up to 12 years’ imprisonment].
Any person
who deliberately uses war means [“krigsmiddel”] or procedures the application
of which violates an international agreement entered into by Denmark or
international customary law, shall be liable to the same penalty [i.e.
imprisonment up to life imprisonment].
El Salvador
Under El Salvador’s Penal Code (1997), “adopting measures aimed at
preventing reproduction” of a national, racial or religious group, with the
intent to destroy partially or totally such group, is a crime of genocide.
Estonia
Estonia’s Penal Code (2001) provides that rape of a civilian person is a
war crime.
Ethiopia
Under Ethiopia’s Penal Code (1957) “compulsion to acts of prostitution,
debauchery and rape” are war crimes against the civilian population.
Ethiopia’s Criminal Code (2004) states:
Article 270.- War Crimes against the Civilian Population.
Whoever, in time of war, armed conflict or occupation organizes,
orders or engages in, against the civilian population and in violation of the
rules of public international law and of international humanitarian
conventions:
…
(f) compulsion to acts of prostitution, debauchery or rape …
…
is
punishable with rigorous imprisonment from five years to twenty-five years, or,
in more serious cases, with life imprisonment or death.
Finland
Finland’s Criminal Code (1889), as amended in 2008, provides that any
person who “rapes another, subjects him or her to sexual slavery, forces him or
her into prostitution, pregnancy or sterilization or commits other
corresponding aggravated sexual violence against him or her” shall be “sentenced
for a war crime to imprisonment for at least one year or for
life”. (emphasis
in original)
France
France’s Penal Code (1994), as amended in 2010, states in its section on
war crimes common to both international and non-international armed conflicts:
Forcing
a person protected by the international law of armed conflict into
prostitution, unwanted pregnancy and sterilization against that person’s will,
or inflicting any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity against
such person, is punishable by life imprisonment.
Georgia
Under Georgia’s Criminal Code (1999), any war crime provided for by the
1998 ICC Statute, which is not explicitly mentioned in the Code, such as “rape,
sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, … enforced
sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave
breach of the Geneva Conventions” in international and non-international armed
conflicts, is a war crime.
Germany
Germany’s Law Introducing the International Crimes Code (2002) provides
for the punishment of anyone who, in connection with an international or
non-international armed conflict,
sexually
coerces, rapes, forces into prostitution or deprives a person who is to be
protected under international humanitarian law of his or her reproductive
capacity, or confines a woman forcibly made pregnant with the intent of
affecting the ethnic composition of any population.
Guinea
Guinea’s Children’s Code (2008) states:
Article
347: Any completed or attempted indecent act carried out directly, immediately
and intentionally against a person, with or without violence, constitutes
indecent assault.
Article 348: Any indecent assault committed or attempted without the use of
violence, coercion or surprise against a Child of either sex [under] the age of
13 will be punished with 3 to 10 years’ imprisonment and by a fine of 100,000
to 500,000 Guinean francs or with one of these penalties.
Any indecent assault on a Child above the age of 13 and not emancipated by
marriage will be punished with one or both of these penalties when completed or
attempted without violence, coercion or surprise by a natural or adoptive
ancestor of the victim, by a person having authority over the victim, or by a
person who abused the authority conferred on him or her through his or her
position.
During an armed conflict, any assault committed in the same circumstances as
those described above will be punished with 5 to 15 years’ imprisonment and
with a fine of 500,000 to 1,000,000 Guinean francs, or with one of these
penalties.
Article 349: Any indecent assault completed or attempted with violence, threat
or surprise against the person of a Child of either sex under the age of 15
will be punished with 3 to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 to
800,000 Guinean francs or with one of these penalties.
…
During an armed conflict, the penalty will be 5 to 20 years’ imprisonment and a
fine of 500,000 to 2,000,000 Guinean francs or one of these penalties.
…
Article 353: During an armed conflict, rape, sexual slavery, forced
prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization or any other form of
sexual violence, if committed against a person under the age of 18, will be
punished with 15 to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 1,000,000 to 2,500,000
Guinean francs or with one of these penalties.
An attempt to commit any of these violations will be punished with the same
penalties.
…
Article 430: During an armed conflict, any assault against the physical and
moral integrity of a Child will be punished with 2 to 5 years’ imprisonment and
a fine of 50,000 to 500,000 Guinean francs or with one of these penalties.
Hungary
Under Hungary’s Criminal Code (1978), as amended in 1998, taking
measures aiming at the prevention of births within a national, ethnic, racial
or religious group, as a part of a genocide campaign, constitutes a “crime
against the freedom of peoples”.
Iraq
Iraq’s Law of the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal (2005) identifies the
following as a serious violation of the laws and customs of war applicable in
both international and non-international armed conflicts: “Committing rape,
sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, or any other form of
sexual violence of comparable gravity”.
Ireland
Ireland’s Geneva Conventions Act (1962), as amended in 1998, provides
that any “minor breach” of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, including violations of
common Articles 3 and 27 of the Geneva Convention IV, and of the 1977
Additional Protocol I, including violations of Articles 75(2), 76(1) and 77(1),
as well as any “contravention” of the 1977 Additional Protocol II, including
violations of Article 4(2)(e), are punishable offences.
Israel
Israel’s Nazis and Nazi Collaborators (Punishment) Law (1950) includes
“imposing measures intended to prevent births among Jews” in its definition of
genocide.
Lithuania
Under Lithuania’s Criminal Code (1961), as amended in 1998, “rape of
women or forcing them to engage in prostitution” constitutes a war crime.
Mali
Mali’s Penal Code (2001) provides that “rape, sexual slavery, forced
prostitution, forced pregnancies, forced sterilization or any other form of
sexual violence which is a grave breach of the 1949 Geneva Conventions”
constitutes a war crime in international armed conflicts.
Mozambique
Mozambique’s Military Criminal Law (1987) criminalizes sexual
intercourse with a woman against her will, as well as the rape of minors under
12 years old.
Myanmar
Myanmar’s Defence Service Act (1959) provides:
Any
person subject to this law who commits an offence … of rape in relation to [any
person not subject to military law] shall not be deemed to be guilty of an
offence against this act and shall not be tried by a court-martial unless he
commits any of the said offences … while in active service.
Netherlands
The Definition of War Crimes Decree (1946) of the Netherlands includes
“rape” and “abduction of girls and women for the purpose of enforced
prostitution” in its list of war crimes.
Under the International Crimes Act (2003) of the Netherlands, “rape, sexual
slavery, enforced prostitution, enforced sterilization, or any other form of
sexual violence which can be deemed to be of a gravity comparable to a grave
breach of the Geneva Conventions”, “forced pregnancy”, as well as “outrages
upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment” of
persons taking no active part in the hostilities, constitute crimes, whether
committed in time of international or non-international armed conflict.
New Zealand
Under New Zealand’s International Crimes and ICC Act (2000), genocide
includes the crimes defined in Article 6(d) of the 1998 ICC Statute, crimes
against humanity include the crimes defined in Article 7(1)(g) of the Statute,
and war crimes include the crimes defined in Article 8(2)(b)(xxii) and (e)(vi)
of the Statute.
Niger
According to Niger’s Penal Code (1961), as amended in 2003, it is a
crime of genocide to adopt “measures aimed at preventing birth” within a group,
with the intent to destroy partially or totally a national, ethnic, racial or
religious group or a group defined on the basis of any other arbitrary
criterion.
Norway
Norway’s Military Penal Code (1902), as amended in 1981, provides:
Anyone
who contravenes or is accessory to the contravention of provisions relating to
the protection of persons or property laid down in … the Geneva Conventions of
12 August 1949 … [and in] the two additional protocols to these Conventions …
is liable to imprisonment.
Norway’s Penal Code (1902), as amended in 2008, states:
Any
person is liable to punishment for a war crime who in connection with an armed
conflict … subjects a protected person to rape, sexual slavery, enforced
prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilisation or any other form of
sexual violence of comparable gravity.
Paraguay
Under Paraguay’s Military Penal Code (1980), rape is a crime.
Peru
Peru’s Regulations to the Law on Internal Displacement (2005) states:
Internally
displaced persons who return to their places of habitual residence or who have
resettled in another part of the country have a right to:
…
k) Be protected against … gender-based violence and sexual exploitation.
l) Be protected against crimes of sexual violence and abuse against
women and their families.
Peru’s Code of Military and Police Justice (2006) states:
Any
member of the military or police who in the context of an international or
non-international armed conflict:
…
4. Subjects [one or more persons] to rape or sexual slavery, enforced
prostitution, enforced sterilization, forced marriage or cohabitation as a
partner, shall be imprisoned for a period of no less than six and no more than
15 years.
The same penalty shall be imposed for the unlawful confinement of a
woman protected by international humanitarian law who has been forcibly
impregnated with the intent of affecting the ethnic composition of a population,
or who has been forced by means of violence or serious threat to have an
abortion.
Peru’s Decree on the Use of Force by the Armed Forces (2010)
states:
With
respect to the persons mentioned above [i.e. persons not directly participating
in hostilities or who have laid down their arms as well as persons placed hors
de combat by illness, wounds, detention or any other reason], the
following actions are prohibited anytime and anywhere:
…
b. … sexual violence.
…
f. Threats to carry out any of the aforementioned acts.
Philippines
The Philippines’ Republic Act No. 8353 (1997), the “Anti-Rape Law of
1997”, provides:
Article
266-B. Penalties
…
The death penalty shall also be imposed if the crime of rape is committed with
any of the following aggravating/qualifying circumstances:
…
2) When the victim is under the custody of the police or military
authorities or any law enforcement or penal institution;
…
7) When committed by any member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
or para-military units thereof or the Philippine National Police or any law
enforcement agency or penal institution, when the offender took advantage of
his position to facilitate the commission of the crime.
Republic of Korea
The Republic of Korea’s Military Criminal Code (1962) provides that the
rape of women in combat or in an occupied zone is punishable by the death
penalty.
Republic of Korea
The Republic of Korea’s ICC Act (2007) provides for the punishment of
crimes listed in the 1998 ICC Statute, including in both international and
non-international armed conflicts: genocide by “[i]mposing measures intended to
prevent births within the group”; “[r]ape, sexual slavery, enforced
prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of
sexual violation of comparable gravity” as crimes against humanity; as well as
the war crimes of “[r]ape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced
pregnancy, enforced sterilization against a person who is to be protected under
international humanitarian law”.
Rwanda
Rwanda’s Law Repressing the Crime of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity
and War Crimes (2003) provides:
Article: 10
“War crime” shall also mean any of the following acts committed
in armed conflicts:
…
4° outrages upon human dignity, in particular rape, sexual abuse,
enforced prostitution, and any form of indecent assault;
…
Article:
11
Anyone who commits one of the war crimes provided for in Article
10 of this law shall be punished by the following penalties:
1° the death penalty or life imprisonment where he has committed a crime
provided for in point 1°, 4°, 5°, 6°, 9° or 10° of Article 10 of this law.
Senegal
Senegal’s Penal Code (1965), as amended in 2007, states that the
following constitute war crimes:
b)
[O]ther serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international
armed conflict, within the established framework of international law, namely,
any of the following acts:
…
19. committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, enforced
sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave
breach of the Geneva Conventions;
…
d) …
Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflicts
not of an international character, within the established framework of
international law, namely, any of the following acts:
…
6. subjecting to rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced
pregnancy, enforced sterilization, and any other form of sexual violence also
constituting a serious violation of Article 3 common to the four Geneva
Conventions.
Serbia
Serbia’s Criminal Code (2005) states that ordering or imposing measures
intended to prevent births within a group, “with intent to destroy, in whole or
in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”, constitutes an act
of genocide.
Slovenia
Under Slovenia’s Penal Code (1994), forced prostitution and rape are war
crimes.
Somalia
Somalia’s Military Criminal Code (1963) states:
A
commander who causes serious harm to lawful enemy belligerents who have fallen
into his power, or to the sick, wounded or shipwrecked, by not according them
the treatment prescribed by law or by international agreements … shall be
punished, unless the act constitutes a more serious offence, by military
confinement for not less than three years.
South Africa
South Africa’s ICC Act (2002) reproduces the crimes listed in the 1998
ICC Statute, including genocide by “imposing measures intended to prevent
births within the group”, and “rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution,
forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence
of comparable gravity” as crimes against humanity, as well as the war crimes of
“committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy …,
enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence also constituting
a grave breach of [the 1949 Geneva Conventions or, in non-international armed
conflicts, Common Article 3]” in both international and non-international armed
conflicts.
Spain
Spain’s Military Criminal Code (1985) provides for the punishment of
military personnel who commit rape of the wounded, sick and shipwrecked,
prisoners of war or the civilian population.
Under Spain’s Penal Code (1995), in time of armed conflict, acts of
induced or forced prostitution or any type of attempt against the honour of
protected persons are criminal offences.
Spain’s Penal Code (1995), as amended in 2010, states:
Any
person who [commits any of the following acts] during armed conflict is
punished with 10 to 15 years’ imprisonment, without prejudice to a penalty for
the results of such acts:
…
9. Outrage against the sexual freedom of a protected person through acts
of rape, sexual slavery, enforced or induced prostitution, forced pregnancy,
enforced sterilization or any other form of sexual violence.
Spain’s Royal Ordinances for the Armed Forces (2009) states that members
of the armed forces “[m]ust protect defenceless or disadvantaged persons, in
particular women and children, against rape, forced prostitution … or any other
form of sexual exploitation or violence.”
Switzerland
Switzerland’s Penal Code (1937), as amended in 2009, states
Any
person who, with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national,
racial, religious or ethnic group, [commits any of the following acts,] is to
be punished with life imprisonment, 10 years’ imprisonment or less:
…
c. imposing measures to prevent births within the group.
Turkey
Under Turkey’s Criminal Code (2004), the imposition of measures that are
intended to prevent births in the group constitutes genocide when committed
“under a plan against members of national, racial or religious groups with the
intention of destroying the complete or part of the group”. Furthermore, sexual
assault and sexual abuse of children, forced pregnancy and forced prostitution
constitute crimes against humanity when committed “systematically under a plan
against a sector of a community for political, philosophical, racial or
religious reasons”.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Under the UK ICC Act (2001), it is a punishable offence to commit
genocide as defined in Article 6(d) of the 1998 ICC Statute, a crime against
humanity as defined in Article 7(1)(g) of the Statute, and a war crime as
defined in Article 8(2)(b)(xxii) and (e)(vi) of the Statute.
United States of America
The US War Crimes Act (1996), as amended by the Military Commissions Act
(2006), which was passed by Congress following the Supreme Court’s decision
in Hamden v. Rumsfeld in 2006, includes in its definition of
war crimes any conduct constituting a grave breach of common Article 3 of the
1949 Geneva Conventions:
§ 2441. War crimes
…
(c) Definition.—As used in this section the term “war crime” means any conduct—
…
(3) which constitutes a grave breach of common Article 3 (as defined in
subsection (d)) when committed in the context of and in association with an
armed conflict not of an international character; or
…
(d) Common
Article 3 Violations.—
(1) Prohibited conduct.—In subsection (c)(3), the term “grave breach of common
Article 3” means any conduct (such conduct constituting a grave breach of
common Article 3 of the international conventions done at Geneva August 12,
1949), as follows:
…
(G) Rape.—The act of a person who forcibly or with coercion or threat of
force wrongfully invades, or conspires or attempts to invade, the body of a
person by penetrating, however slightly, the anal or genital opening of the
victim with any part of the body of the accused, or with any foreign object.
(H) Sexual assault or abuse.—The act of a person who forcibly or with
coercion or threat of force engages, or conspires or attempts to engage, in
sexual contact with one or more persons, or causes, or conspires or attempts to
cause, one or more persons to engage in sexual contact.
…
(2)
Definitions.—In the case of an offense under subsection (a) by reason of
subsection (c)(3)—
…
(C) the term “sexual contact” shall be applied for purposes of paragraph
(1)(G) in accordance with the meaning given that term in section 2246 (3) of
this title;
…
(5)
Definition of grave breaches.—The definitions in this subsection are intended
only to define the grave breaches of common Article 3 and not the full scope of
United States obligations under that Article.
United States of America
The US Military Commissions Act (2006), passed by Congress following the
Supreme Court’s decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld in 2006, amends
Title 10 of the United States Code as follows:
Ҥ
950v. Crimes triable by military commissions
“ …
“(b) OFFENSES.—The following offenses shall be triable by military commission
under this chapter at any time without limitation:
“ …
“(21) RAPE.—Any person subject to this chapter who forcibly or with coercion
or threat of force wrongfully invades the body of a person by penetrating,
however slightly, the anal or genital opening of the victim with any part of
the body of the accused, or with any foreign object, shall be punished as a
military commission under this chapter may direct.
“(22) SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE.—Any person subject to this chapter who
forcibly or with coercion or threat of force engages in sexual contact with one
or more persons, or causes one or more persons to engage in sexual contact, shall
be punished as a military commission under this chapter may direct.
“Sec.
6. Implementation of Treaty Obligations
“ …
“(b) REVISION TO WAR CRIMES OFFENSE UNDER FEDERAL CRIMINAL CODE.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2441 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended—
“…
“(B) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
In July 2007, and in accordance with section 6(a)(3) of the Military
Commissions Act (2006), the US President issued an Executive Order which stated
that a “Program of Detention and Interrogation Operated by the Central
Intelligence Agency” complied with US obligations under common Article 3 of the
1949 Geneva Conventions. The Executive Order stated in part:
Sec.
2. Definitions. As used in this order:
…
(c) “Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment” means the
cruel, unusual, and inhumane treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth,
Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.
Sec. 3.
Compliance of a Central Intelligence Agency Detention and Interrogation Program
with Common Article 3.
(a) Pursuant to the authority of the President under the Constitution and the
laws of the United States, including the Military Commissions Act of 2006, this
order interprets the meaning and application of the text of Common Article 3
with respect to certain detentions and interrogations, and shall be treated as
authoritative for all purposes as a matter of United States law, including
satisfaction of the international obligations of the United States. I hereby
determine that Common Article 3 shall apply to a program of detention and
interrogation operated by the Central Intelligence Agency as set forth in this
section. The requirements set forth in this section shall be applied with
respect to detainees in such program without adverse distinction as to their
race, color, religion or faith, sex, birth, or wealth.
(b) I hereby determine that a program of detention and interrogation approved
by the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency fully complies with the
obligations of the United States under Common Article 3, provided that:
(i) the conditions of confinement and interrogation practices of the
program do not include:
The US Military Commissions Act (2009) amends Chapter 47A of Title 10 of
the United States Code as follows:
Ҥ
950t. Crimes triable by military commission
“The following offenses shall be triable by military commission under this
chapter at any time without limitation:
“ …
“(21) RAPE.—Any person subject to this chapter who forcibly or with
coercion or threat of force wrongfully invades the body of a person by
penetrating, however slightly, the anal or genital opening of the victim with
any part of the body of the accused, or with any foreign object, shall be punished
as a military commission under this chapter may direct.
“(22) SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE.—Any person subject to this chapter who
forcibly or with coercion or threat of force engages in sexual contact with one
or more persons, or causes one or more persons to engage in sexual contact,
shall be punished as a military commission under this chapter may direct.
Uruguay
Uruguay’s Law on Cooperation with the ICC (2006) states:
A
person who commits any of the following acts with the intention to destroy in
whole or in part a national, ethnic, religious, political, or trade union group
or a group with their own identity based on gender, sexual orientation,
cultural or social reasons, age, disability or health, is punished with fifteen
to thirty years’ imprisonment:
…
B) … sexual aggression [or] enforced pregnancy … of one or more members
of the group.
…
D) measures intended to prevent births within the group.
Any person
who is a State agent or who is not a State agent but acts under the authority,
support or acquiescence of one or more State agents and who commits an act of
sexual aggression against a person deprived of their liberty or under their
custody or control or against a person in their custody or under their control
or who appears before authorities as expert witness or other kind of witness
must be punished with two to fifteen years’ imprisonment.
26.2. Persons and objects affected by the war crimes set out in the present
provision are persons and objects which international law protects in
international or internal armed conflict.
26.3. The following are war crimes:
…
30. Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy,
enforced sterilization as comprised in Article 24 and as referred to in Article
7, paragraph (g) of the Rome Statute, or any other form of sexual violence also
constituting a grave breach of the [1949] Geneva Conventions.
Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia’s Criminal Offences against
the Nation and State Act (1945) considers that, during war or enemy occupation,
“any person who ordered, assisted or otherwise was the direct executor of …
abduction for prostitution, or raping” committed war crimes.
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Penal Code (1976), as amended in
2001, provides that forced prostitution and rape are war crimes.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
In 2006, in the Samardžić case, the Appellate Panel of the
Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina stated:
[L]ack
of resistance or obvious and constant disagreement throughout the sexual
slavery cannot be interpreted as a sign of consent. Neither resistance nor the
permanent application of force in itself are required elements of the subject
matter of rape.
[I]t is
necessary to particularly stress that the criminal offence of rape, within the
context of Crimes against Humanity, differs considerably in its nature from the
general criminal offence of rape … [that requires] corroborating evidence or
direct examination of the victim. … [I]n cases of rape in war … the examination
of the victims themselves is very often impossible due to objective reasons, as
many were killed, were unaccounted for or, quite understandably, were of
unknown address.
In 2007, in the Šimšić case, the Appellate Panel of the
Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina stated:
The
Court found no grounds for the Defence assertion that … rapes were not accepted
as crimes against humanity pursuant to customary international law. To wit, the
Court notes that the stated actions are indisputably criminal offences which at
the time of war acquire the characteristics and the meaning of war crimes
…
Furthermore, the prohibition of rape and [serious sexual assault] during armed
conflicts has become a part of customary international law. It gradually
emerged from the explicit prohibition of rape referred to in Article 44 of the
Lieber Code and the general provisions referred to in Article 4[6] of the [1907
Hague Regulations], which should be interpreted together with the “Martens
clause” which is stated in the Preamble of the [referred regulations]. Although
the Nuremberg [Tribunal] did not conduct separate criminal prosecutions for
rape and sexual assault, rape has been qualified as crime against humanity
pursuant to Article II (1) (c) of [Control Council Law No. 10].
The [International Military Tribunal at Tokyo] convicted [Japanese] generals …
based on their command responsibility for violations of the laws and customs of
war which had been committed by their soldiers in Nanking, which included mass
scale rape and sexual assault. The former Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs
… was also convicted of such crimes.
This decision, as well as the decision of the [US Military Commission] in the
Yamashita case, in addition to …the fundamental prohibition of “[outrages upon]
personal dignity” in common Article [3] [which] has become part of customary
international law, have contributed to the development of universally accepted
norms of international law which prohibit rape and [serious] sexual assault.
These norms are applicable to any armed conflict.
In addition, no international human rights instrument explicitly prohibits rape
and other [serious] sexual [assaults] and yet these criminal offences are
implicitly prohibited by the provisions protecting the [physical] integrity
which [are contained in] all relevant international treaties. The right to
physical integrity is a fundamental right which is reflected in national
[legislation] and therefore it undoubtedly constitutes part of customary
international law.
In 2007, in the Janković case, the Appellate Panel of the
Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina stated with regard to the crime against
humanity of rape: “The criminal offence of rape requires the element of sexual
penetration to be proven”.
China
In its judgment in the Takashi Sakai case in 1946, the
War Crimes Military Tribunal of the Chinese Ministry of National Defence found
the accused guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity inasmuch as he had
incited or permitted his subordinates to commit, inter alia, acts
of rape.
Colombia
In 1995, Colombia’s Constitutional Court held that the prohibitions
contained in Article 4(2) of the 1977 Additional Protocol II practically
reproduced specific constitutional provisions.
In 2007, in the Constitutional Case No. C-291/07, the
Plenary Chamber of Colombia’s Constitutional Court stated:
Taking
into account … the development of customary international humanitarian law
applicable in internal armed conflicts, the Constitutional Court notes that the
fundamental guarantees stemming from the principle of humanity, some of which
have attained ius cogens status, … [include] the prohibition
of gender violence, sexual violence, enforced prostitution and indecent
assault. [footnote
in original omitted]
Germany
In 2010, the Federal Prosecutor General at Germany’s Federal Court of
Justice published the following statement, entitled Charges against Two Alleged
Leading Officials of the “Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda”
(FDLR):
On
8 December 2010, the Federal Prosecutor General brought charges before the
Senate on State Protection of the Higher Regional Court Stuttgart
against:
- the 47-year-old Rwandese national Dr. Ignace M. and
- the 49-year-old Rwandese national Straton M.
for crimes
against humanity and war crimes …
In the charges, which have now been delivered and which are the first ones
brought under the International Crimes Code, essentially the following facts
are set out:
The … [Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)] … is a rebel
group mainly comprised of members of the ethnic Hutu group and was originally
founded by individuals responsible for the genocide of the Tutsi who had fled
from Rwanda in 1994. Its operational base is in the Eastern Democratic Republic
of Congo [DRC]. …
…
The accused Dr. Ignace M. has been president of the FDLR since December 2001.
The accused Straton M. has been its first vice president since June 2004. Until
their arrest in Germany on 17 November 2009, both accused steered the FDLR’s
conduct, strategies and tactics from Germany together with Calixte M., who is
residing in France and who has since been detained by the International
Criminal Court in The Hague. Thus, they could have prevented the systematic
commission of violent acts against the civilian population by the FDLR’s
militiamen, which were part of the organisation’s strategy. Specifically, the
accused are responsible for 26 crimes against humanity and 39 war crimes, which
the militiamen under their control committed in the Democratic Republic of
Congo between January 2009 and 17 November 2009. These crimes inter
alia include … the rape of numerous women.
United States of America
In its judgment in the John Schultz case in 1952, the
US Court of Military Appeals listed rape as a “crime universally recognized as
properly punishable under the law of war”.
In the civil action brought against Radovan Karadžić in the United States in
1995, a US Court of Appeals held that rape committed in the course of
hostilities violated the laws of war and was a war crime.
In its memorandum opinion concerning the admissibility of the claim in
the Comfort Women case in 2001, the US District Court of
Columbia stated: “Japan’s use of its war-time military to impose ‘a
premeditated master plan’ of sexual slavery upon the women of occupied Asian
countries might be characterized properly as a war crime or a crime against humanity.”
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Australia
In response to a report by the Australian Joint Standing Committee on
Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, which recommended that the Australian
government establish a mechanism for investigating and identifying those
responsible for serious crimes, including rape, committed in the former
Yugoslavia, the Australian government replied that this mechanism was already
in place subsequent to the enactment of the International War Crimes Tribunal
Act of 1995.
In 2009, in a statement before the UN Human Rights Council, the
permanent representative of Australia stated:
The
recent mass rape of around 500 women, children and men in eastern DRC
[Democratic Republic of the Congo] is of deep concern to Australia. Sexual
violence is being used as a weapon of war. All parties to the conflict have a
responsibility to prevent such attacks.
In 2010, in a statement before the UN Human Rights Council on the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the representative of Australia stated:
“Australia shares the Experts’ alarm over levels of violence perpetrated against
women in the DRC, in particular rape, gang rape and sexual slavery”.
In 2010, in a statement before the UN Human Rights Council Periodic
Review on Kenya, the representative of Australia stated: “We are concerned that
children continue to be subject to sexual violence”.
Belgium
In 2007, during a debate in the UN Security Council on the protection of
civilians in armed conflict, the representative of Belgium stated:
…
Belgium attaches particular importance to the fight against violence,
especially sexual violence against women and minor children. We have noted how
such acts of violence become true instruments of war in a number of conflict
situations. It is imperative not only to eradicate such practices but also to
prevent them.
In 2007, during a debate in the UN Security Council on the protection of
civilians in armed conflict, the representative of Belgium stated: “The growing
scourge of sexual violence, in particular in situations of armed conflict … is
particularly repugnant when used as a weapon of war.”
Chad
In 2007, in its initial report to the Committee against Torture, Chad
stated:
Harmful
traditional practices and the lessons drawn from the torture practised by
President Habré’s political police, which spared no organ of the human body,
were the inspiration for the promulgation of Act No. 6/PR/2002 of 15 April 2002
on the promotion of reproductive health, article 9 of which states that:
All persons have the right not to be subjected to torture and to cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment of their body in general and of their
reproductive organs in particular. All forms of violence such as female genital
mutilation (FGM), early marriage, domestic violence and sexual abuse of a human
being are prohibited.
China
At the 2006 Session of the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping
Operations, China stated:
The
scandals in peacekeeping procurement and cases of sexual exploitation and
sexual abuse involving peacekeepers that have come to light in recent years not
only greatly damaged the overall image of UN peacekeeping operation, but also
revealed gross deficiencies in the internal management of the UN. The
Secretariat, senior management in particular, should draw lessons therefrom. It
is necessary not only to strictly discipline persons responsible, but also to
carry out reform at the system level with a view to improving management so as
to ensure the proper ethics and behavior of peacekeepers, address such
incidents appropriately and prevent them from recurrence.
Côte d’Ivoire
In 2010, in its combined initial to third periodic reports to the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Côte d’Ivoire
stated:
Acts of discrimination occurring as a result of social and
political crises
72. Social and political crises, in particular the one in 2002,
have exacerbated violence against women, in particular sexual violence. This
violence is perpetrated by armed groups, who use it as [a] weapon of war.
…
Situation of displaced, migrant or refugee women
548. The war has led to numerous acts of sexual violence, psychological
trauma and lasting physical injuries.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
In 2005, in its third periodic report to the Human Rights Committee, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo stated:
88.
Mass rape in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the war
has led to increased awareness in the country.
89. In the context of prevention of and efforts to combat violence against
women, information and awareness campaigns are conducted by public institutions
and non-governmental organizations for the public and officials in judicial
institutions. Thus, the Government, through the Ministries of Human Rights and
Social Affairs, Status of Women and the Family, organized a national human
rights conference in 2001 and a women’s forum in 2003. In coordination with
civil society organizations it launched a national campaign against sexual
violence against women and is involved in efforts to combat such violence
(Ministry of Social Affairs, Status of Women and the Family, national report of
the Democratic Republic of the Congo on review and implementation of the
Beijing Platform for Action +10, Kinshasa, February 2004, pp. 5 and 11).
90. Since 2003 the Ministries of Social Affairs, Status of Women and the
Family, and of Justice and Human Rights, have taken part in the initiative on
efforts to combat rape and violence against women. In this connection the
Ministry of Justice organizes retraining throughout the country for judges,
supplemented by seminars by non-governmental organizations in the justice
sector, with specific pedagogical support.
91. After a lengthy period of inactivity, owing to the protracted war, which
lasted from 1998 to 2003, legal proceedings are being undertaken in various
parts of the country (e.g. at Kalemie, March 2004, against police officers).
Djibouti
In 2010, in the History and Geography Textbook for 8th Grade, Djibouti’s
Ministry of National Education and Higher Education, under the heading “Basic
rules of IHL” and in a section on “Treatment”, stated: “Sexual violence is
prohibited.”
In 2011, in the History and Geography Textbook for 9th Grade, Djibouti’s
Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training, under the heading
“[O]ffences related to violations of humanitarian law”, listed “[r]ape, sexual
slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy or all other forms of sexual
violence”.
France
In 2008, the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of France stated:
[The
UN Security Council] Working Group [on Children and Armed Conflict] … considers
and formulates recommendations concerning … grave violations of children’s
rights, including sexual violence. During a visit to the Democratic Republic of
the Congo last month, I was able to see on the ground the seriousness and
extent of the widespread, systematic and premeditated use of sexual crime as an
instrument of war. That barbarity concerns us all. There, too, our failure to
act would be reprehensible. I welcome the fact that the Constitution of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo recognizes this as the most serious
crime.
The Council’s Working Group must absolutely strengthen its action on this
question. In its recommendations it must demand that the belligerents draw up
action plans to combat sexual violence and follow through on their
implementation.
Some might find it paradoxical that we ask the belligerents themselves to
combat these crimes, but it is essential. At the same time, the military
leadership must bear this in mind. It may be a paradox, it may even seem
immoral, but it is effective.
The Working Group should strengthen its efforts to combat impunity by
relentlessly demanding the arrest of those responsible for rape and call on
Governments to act in this regard.
In 2009, the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of France, in a
statement calling for the respect of international humanitarian law, which
provided examples of serious violations that had recently occurred in several
armed conflicts around the world, stated:
Children,
some less than 10 years old, are enlisted … as sex slaves.
In various conflicts, rape is increasingly being used in a systematic, planned
and large-scale manner; in short, it is used as a genuine weapon of war,
whether in the Kivus or in Sudan, with almost total impunity. In the Democratic
Republic of Congo, a woman is raped every 30 minutes; 30,000 were raped in the
Kivus in the first half of 2007.
Germany
In 1991, three political parties in the German parliament tabled a
resolution that referred to rape as a crime in the context of the Sudanese
civil war.
In 1992, in a written reply to questions in parliament concerning the
systematic rape of Muslim women and girls by Serb forces in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the German government stated that it had made “vigorous and
repeated representations to the ‘Yugoslav’ government, both bilaterally and
within the framework of the European Community, in connection with these rapes
and other grave human rights violations”. It reaffirmed that rape was “already
prohibited in armed conflict and deemed a war crime under the existing
provisions of international humanitarian law” and cited Article 27 of the 1949
Geneva Convention IV and Article 4(2)(e) of the 1977 Additional Protocol II in
support of its position. The government further stated: “Should the reports of
systematic mass rape of predominantly Muslim women and girls be confirmed, this
would, moreover, meet the statutory definition for systematic harm to an
ethnical group within the meaning of the 1948 Genocide Convention.”
In 2004, during a debate in the UN Security Council, the representative
of Germany stated:
Unfortunately,
the list of countries in conflict having a history of gender-based atrocities
is long and includes countries from all continents, including Haiti,
Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar, the former Yugoslavia, the Democratic Republic of
the Congo and others. The fact that women account for the vast majority of
victims of conflicts and are still significantly underrepresented at all levels
of decision-making indicates that we need tools and instruments that promote
our common vision as expressed in Security Council resolution 1325 (2000).
The continuing extreme violence against women and girls in the Darfur region is
a case in point …
…
… Given the scope of gender-based discrimination, including violence, we need
to ensure that all substantive units of a peacekeeping operation, starting with
the United Nations assessment team, include specialists with gender expertise …
That also requires that the United Nations continue to train its personnel,
including at the level of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General,
and that Member States invest more in gender training of potential peacekeeping
staff. The German Government has made the latter a political priority in its
endeavours. We strongly believe in the need for accountability for wartime
violence against women, and in the necessity to end impunity … The
International Criminal Court (ICC) certainly has a key role to play with regard
to the investigation and prosecution of gender-based crimes. However, its
efforts must be supplemented by national legal mechanisms.
In 2004, during a debate in the UN Security Council, the representative
of Germany stated:
On
this occasion, Germany would like to propose three points that we deem to be of
crucial importance concerning areas where the need for progress is urgent … We
propose the following.
First, let us put an end to impunity …
My second point is that we should better address the issue of humanitarian
access …
Thirdly, we must stop the recent trend of using sexual violence as a weapon of
conflict. The importance of reversing the escalating cycle of violence against
women and children during and after conflict cannot be overstated. Women and
children – be they civilians or female or child soldiers – are among the most
vulnerable groups in times of conflict. Women are increasingly subject to
cruel, degrading and often lethal treatment in times of conflict. Children
suffer most and have the fewest defences in conflict situations if they are
separated from or deprived of their parents, and their ability to cope with a
quickly changing environment is very limited.
…
Women and children are also, to an unprecedented extent, victims of atrocious
sexual violence. Worse still, sexual or gender violence is intentionally and
systematically used as a weapon of warfare. We must undertake special efforts
to study that phenomenon as diligently as possible to come to a swift determination
on how to stop that practice. In its report, the High-level Panel proposes
giving human rights components of peacekeeping operations explicit mandates and
sufficient resources for investigating and reporting human rights violations
against women. The Panel also proposes that the recommendations of Council
resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security and of the associated
Independent Experts’ Assessment for the protection of women be fully
implemented. The German delegation fully concurs with those proposals.
Let me end my remarks by reiterating our position: we believe that a new
resolution on the protection of civilians would be a feasible option for the
Council. I say that, bearing in mind that many of the points raised by the
excellent Security Council resolutions 1265 (1999) and 1296 (2000) still await
implementation. However, we believe that the changing character of conflict and
the development of new threats, new institutions and new tools to engage more
effectively in assistance should be reflected in an operational text adopted by
the Council.
In 2005, in its Seventh Human Rights Policy Report, Germany’s Federal
Government reported to the Bundestag (Lower House of Parliament):
3.
Priorities of the German human rights policy 2005–2006
…
3.7 Preventing violence against women
The Federal Government still attributes highest political importance to
fighting violence against women. It therefore will
…
- contribute to respect for international humanitarian law and to the
human rights of women and girls in armed conflicts;
- demand criminal law prosecution of sexual and other violence against
women in conflicts.
In 2010, in its report on German cooperation with the UN and other
international organizations and institutions within the UN system in 2008 and
2009 submitted to the Bundestag (Lower House of Parliament), Germany’s Federal
Government stated:
The
implementation of [UN] Security Council resolutions 1325 and 1820 is a key
aspect of the Federal Government’s current Development Policy Plan on Gender.
Within the framework of the Action Plan II on the Suppression of Violence
against Women adopted by the Federal Government in September 2007, measures are
also taken to protect women and girls from gender-specific violence, in
particular rape and other forms of sexual abuse as well as violence in
situations of armed conflict.
In 2010, in its report on German human rights policy in the context of
foreign relations and other policy areas in the period between 1 March 2008 and
28 February 2010, which was submitted to the Bundestag (Lower House of
Parliament), Germany’s Federal Government stated:
On
19 July 2008 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1820 (S/RES/1820). This
resolution is a milestone in the international fight for the elimination of
violence against women because for the first time, it classifies the use of
sexual violence as a means of warfare in times of armed conflict as a war
crime. The Federal Government explicitly welcomes this step.
Greece
In 2006, during a UN Security Council meeting on protection of civilians
in armed conflict, the Permanent Representative of Greece stated:
“[U]nchallenged use of sexual violence against women … can not be tolerated and
should come to a halt.”
Mexico
In 2009, during a debate in the UN Security Council on children and
armed conflict, the permanent representative of Mexico stated: “We condemn all
acts that jeopardize the integrity of children, such as … rape and other sexual
violence, which affects girls in particular”.
Netherlands
In a letter to parliament in 1993, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of
the Netherlands condemned the maltreatment and rape of women in the former
Yugoslavia.
Norway
In 2009, in a White Paper on “Climate, Conflict and Capital”, Norway’s
Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated:
Women
and children are particularly severely affected when abuse is systematically
used as a weapon of war and armed conflicts. Women and girls are often
subjected to brutal violence. Sexual violence as a strategy of war increases
the level of conflict and prevents women from taking part in the reconciliation
process. The association of masculinity with dominant behaviour and aggression
means that boys are easily recruited to armed groups, and can also increase the
brutality in the abuse of women and girls. UN Security Council resolution 1820
recognises the extent and seriousness of the use of rape as a weapon in armed
conflicts. The importance of ensuring that girls’ and women’s needs and
interests are met in armed conflicts and humanitarian crises is also underlined
in UN Security Council resolution 1325.
In 2009, in a statement before the UN Security Council on “Protecting
Women and Girls in Armed Conflict”, Norway’s Permanent Representative stated:
Norway
would like to take this opportunity to focus on two main issues, namely the
need for increased respect for International Humanitarian Law, and the need to
effectively combat sexual violence and rape in armed conflict.
…
Women and children are often forced to bear the heaviest burden when it comes
to the consequences of armed conflict. Sexual violence and rape occurs every
single day in armed conflicts and has tragic consequences, not only for the
individual but for the whole community. Sexual violence leaves lasting scars
for many generations to come making peace-building extremely difficult. It is
crucial that these acts are not viewed as separate individual crimes. In many
cases they are calculated tactics of war and should be treated as such. Crimes
of rape and sexual violence in armed conflict must be placed higher on the
international agenda. The systematic use of rape has rightly been recognized as
a crime of war both by this Council and the International Criminal Court.
…
Norway would also like to see the Security Council make use of the most
effective measures at its disposal, including targeted sanctions, to make it
clear that sexual violence is unacceptable, and that perpetrators will be held
accountable. It is unacceptable that impunity for these extremely severe crimes
seems to be the rule, not the exception. Norway supports the referral of such crimes
to the International Criminal Court and to consider sanctions against member
states as well as non-state actors that perpetrate these acts of crime. As
Member States it is also our obligation to ensure that violators are brought to
justice.
…
… Combating impunity and holding perpetrators accountable is [the] key to
protecting civilians in armed conflict and ending sexual violence.
In 2010, in a statement at the Oslo Conference on Armed Violence,
Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs stated: “Women need protection against
rape used as a tactic of war, as much as they need protection against forms of
violence used in the context of crime.”
In 2010, in a statement before the UN Security Council on the
“Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict”, Norway’s Counsellor at its
Permanent Mission to the UN stated:
It
is of particular concern that women continue to be targets of sexual violence
in conflict, and in particular in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our top
priority must be to end the vicious cycle of impunity. We must provide justice
for survivors, punishment for perpetrators and effective deterrence for the
future. For war-affected women, justice delayed is more than justice denied –
it is terror continued.
In 2010, in a statement before the Sixth Committee of the UN General
Assembly on the “Rule of Law”, Norway’s Counsellor at its Permanent Mission to
the UN stated:
Over
the last years, Norway has increased efforts to strengthen the protection of
civilians, especially women and children, against the atrocities of war, with
particular focus on the sexual violence that has been perpetrated in connection
with the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sexual violence
constitutes one of the most serious contemporary international crimes. The
consequences are dramatic not only for the victims, but also for their families
and affected communities.
Philippines
In 1995, the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines proposed that
rape and sexual violence in situations of conflict be recognized as war crimes.
Serbia and Montenegro
In its oral pleadings before the ICJ in the Application of the
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide case
(Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro) in 2006, Serbia and
Montenegro stated:
2.
Before I begin my analysis of the facts relating to the rapes committed in
Bosnia and Herzegovina during the civil war at the end of the twentieth
century, I must say that, regardless of the legal characterization of the
offence – rape as a common law crime, rape as a war crime, rape as a crime
against humanity, rape as an element of genocide – rape is first and foremost
rape, an obnoxious crime, …
…
33. Some cases of rape in Bosnia were tried by the Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia as war crimes and crimes against humanity, a fact which we once
again have no intention of denying. However, neither a rape that is a common
law crime, nor a rape that is a war crime, nor again a rape that is a crime
against humanity, is consistent with the definition of genocide.
Somalia
In 1998, an ICRC publication entitled “Spared from the Spear” recorded
traditional Somali practice in warfare as follows:
[T]he
practice of raping women or subjecting them to any other indignity, be it in
war-time or in peace-time, was something alien to Somali culture. Since every
woman was regarded as either a “daughter” or a potential spouse or a potential
mother-in-law, she could not be treated except with respect, care and kindness.
If, however, it happened at all that an immoral criminal violated a woman’s
dignity by raping her, there were strict customary laws that were invoked and
agreed ways of redressing the damage.
…
There was general consensus among Somalis that women should not be abused
during a conflict and that their dignity should not be assailed. In fact, the
incidence of such acts as rape in the context of conflict [was] quite rare in
traditional Somali society, if they took place at all.
…
[A]n act of rape was compensated for in the following manner, depending on the
category of the victim:
1. A girl of pre-adolescent age (under 15 years) was compensated for
with 15 she-camels.
2. A maiden, betrothed to a man, but not wedded yet: 15 she-camels.
3. A woman whose husband had died and who still wore the mourning dress:
15 she-camels.
4. An elderly woman, enfeebled by her years: 15 she-camels.
5. A woman who nursed a baby boy: 50 camels.
6. A maiden of marriageable age who, nonetheless, was neither married
nor betrothed to anyone was to be compulsorily married to her assailant with
payment of the full bride price she would have normally fetched. If he refused
to do so, then he was obligated to pay her full blood compensation, amounting
to 50 camels.
In times
of hostilities, the Biri-Ma-Geydo (Spared from the Spear),
i.e. Somalia’s own “Geneva Conventions”[,] which existed long before the
adoption of the Hague and Geneva Conventions, mitigated and regulated the
conduct of clan hostilities and the treatment of immune groups.
In 2011, in its report to the Human Rights Council, Somalia stated:
Somalia
has not ratified AP II [1977 Additional Protocol II] and it is therefore not
directly applicable to Somalia as a matter of treaty law. The Government is
aware that many provisions of AP II represent customary IHL rules and therefore
apply to the situation in Somalia. Such provisions include Article 4 providing
guarantees to persons taking no active part in hostilities … due to the fact
that these norms are reflected in Common Article 3 of the [1949] Geneva
Conventions.
Sri Lanka
In 2008, in its initial report to the Committee on the Rights of the
Child under the 2000 Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed
Conflict, Sri Lanka stated:
83.
In accordance with resolution 1612 and Section VI, paragraph 2 of the Terms of
Reference of the Working Group o[f] the [UN] Security Council on children and
armed conflict, the TFMR [Task Force for Monitoring and Reporting] will focus
on violations against children affected by armed conflict …
84. … [V]iolations and abuses committed against children affected by armed
conflict including … rape and other grave sexual violence against children …
will … be addressed.
In 2008, in its combined third and fourth periodic reports to the
Committee on the Rights of the Child, Sri Lanka stated: “Several amendments
were made to the Penal Code by Amendment Act No. 16 of 2006 to bring offences
against children, in particular sexual offences, in line with international
norms and standards.”
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
In 1993, during a debate in the House of Lords in 1993, the UK Minister
of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, stated: “Rape probably already comes
within the definition of a war crime.”
In 1994, in a briefing note on Britain’s peacemaking role in the former
Yugoslavia, the UK Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in reply
to the question as to whether he considered rape as a war crime, stated:
In
international armed conflicts, a war crime can be defined as any serious
violation of the laws and customs of war, including grave breaches of the 1949
Geneva Conventions. Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention specifically
prohibits rape; and Article 3, which applies to non-international armed
conflicts and which is common to all four Conventions, refers to “outrages upon
personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment”. This
would clearly include rape.
In 2003, in reply to a written question in the House of Lords, the UK
Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, wrote:
The
Government deplore the war crimes committed during the Balkans conflict in the
early 1990s, including the rape of women and girls in Bosnia.
We are sympathetic to any proposal to improve the situation of the victims of
these crimes, but it is not clear that awarding civilian war victim status
would be the most effective means of ensuring support for these women. What is
required is recognition of their suffering as victims of rape, conviction of
the perpetrators and provision of appropriate support for these women and their
children.
Through the work of the Department for International Development, and support
for UNICEF and local NGOs, the Government support projects to raise awareness
of rape as a war crime. We strongly support the work of the International
Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, which is tasked with bringing to trial
those suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Balkans
conflict, including rape. It has convicted a number of individuals of this
crime. With our partners in the EU, we apply concerted pressure to all governments
in the region for greater co-operation with ICTY, particularly in the handover
and prosecution of indictees.
The best way to secure financial support for these women and their children is
through successful convictions in the Bosnian courts, which can award
compensation to the victims of rape. Together with our EU partners, we are
working hard to strengthen the capacity of the Bosnian judicial system, so that
it can prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes more effectively and
efficiently, and provide sustainable support to the victims.
The UK Government Strategy on the Protection of Civilians in Armed
Conflict (2010) states: “IHL requires parties to a conflict to respect and
protect civilians. … [C]ivilians must not be … subjected to acts of violence such
as … forms of ill-treatment (including sexual violence)”.
In 2010, in its closing submissions to the public inquiry into the
circumstances surrounding the death of Baha Mousa and the treatment of those
detained with him by UK armed forces in Iraq in 2003, the UK Ministry of Defence
stated regarding common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions: “On its face
this protection is restricted to armed conflicts not of an international
character. However, it is understood to apply in all forms of armed conflict as
part of customary international law to set out the irreducible minimum
standard.”
United States of America
In 1987, the Deputy Legal Adviser of the US Department of State
affirmed: “We support the principle that … women be protected against rape and
indecent assault.”
In 1992, in reports submitted pursuant to paragraph 5 of UN Security Council
Resolution 771 (1992) on grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Convention IV
committed in the former Yugoslavia, the United States described acts of sexual
violence and rape perpetrated by the parties to the conflict.
In 1992, in its final report on the conduct of the Gulf War, the US Department
of Defense listed some specific Iraqi war crimes, in particular “inhumane
treatment of Kuwaiti and third country civilians, to include rape”.
In 1998, in response to the situation in Kosovo, but also referring to the
other conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, the US Congress adopted a resolution
by unanimous consent stating:
Whereas
there is reason to believe that as President of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), Slobodan Miloševic was responsible for the
conception and direction of a war of aggression … and that mass rape and forced
impregnation were among the tools used to wage this war … it is the sense of
Congress that … the United States should publicly declare that it considers
that there is reason to believe that Slobodan Miloševic, President of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), has committed war
crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
In a concurrent resolution adopted in 2000,
the US Congress expressed its sense concerning the war crimes committed by the
Japanese military during the Second World War, in particular the rape of
civilian women on the island of Guam and in Nanjing.
According to the Report on US Practice, “Articles 4, 5 and 6 [of the 1977
Additional Protocol II] reflect general US policy on treatment of persons in
the power of an adverse party in armed conflicts governed by common Article 3”
of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. The report also notes: “It is the opinio
juris of the US that persons detained in connection with an internal
armed conflict are entitled to humane treatment as specified in Articles 4, 5
and 6 [of the 1977 Additional Protocol II].”
In June 2008, in a letter to the UN Secretary-General on the subject of
“Women and Peace and Security: Sexual Violence in Situations of Armed
Conflict”, the permanent representative of the United States stated:
Since
the adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and
security, progress towards achieving its major goals has been slow and uneven.
…
One important aspect of resolution 1325 (2000) which demands urgent attention
by the international community is the call for all parties to armed conflict to
take special measures to protect women and girls from rape and other forms of
sexual abuse, and its emphasis on the need to end impunity for war crimes,
including those relating to sexual and other violence against women and girls.
…
Rape is clearly defined as a war crime in international humanitarian law. The
statute of the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which the
Security Council adopted by its resolution 827 (1993), gives the Tribunal the
power to prosecute persons responsible for rape when committed in armed
conflict, whether international or internal in character, and directed against
any civilian population.
In the fifteen years since the establishment of the criminal tribunals for the
former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the problem of widespread, organized and
systematic rape has continued and, if anything, has become more severe. In the
eight years since the Council adopted resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace
and security, sexual violence as a weapon of war has been perpetrated with
almost universal impunity. Even though rape and sexual violence in situations
of armed conflict are underreported by women victims, who often are ashamed to
come forward and suffer public humiliation or rejection and may well doubt they
will find adequate recourse to justice, United Nations sources on the ground
have reported thousands of women who have sought medical help for the grievous
wounds that have been inflicted upon them in the course of being raped by gangs
of soldiers and other armed men. These injuries are so severe that in some
cases victims are hospitalized for over a year. Thousands of women and girls,
and their children, have been abandoned by their families and ostracized by
their villages after surviving rape. For example, according to
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes, more than 32,000
cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence have been registered in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo’s province of South Kivu alone.
The recent reporting on women affected by sexual violence in situations of
armed conflict reveals a grave situation that requires a practical response
from the international community. During the United States Presidency of the
Security Council, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will chair a thematic
debate at the ministerial level for members of the Council on sexual violence
in situations of armed conflict, as part of the Council’s follow-up to
resolution 1325 (2000).
Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of
In an exceptional report submitted to the Committee on the Elimination
of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1993, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
reported its position that abuses of women in war zones were crimes contrary to
IHL and apologized for an earlier statement which might have given the false
impression that rape was considered normal behaviour in times of war.
UN Security Council
In a resolution adopted in 1992, the UN Security Council stated that it
was “appalled by reports of massive, organized and systematic detention and
rape of women, in particular Muslim women, in Bosnia and Herzegovina” and
strongly condemned “these acts of unspeakable brutality”.
In a resolution adopted in 1993 in the context of the conflict in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the UN Security Council stated that it condemned “massive,
organized and systematic detention and rape of women”.
In a resolution adopted in 1993, the UN Security Council expressed grave alarm
at the widespread and flagrant violations of IHL occurring within the territory
of the former Yugoslavia, especially Bosnia and Herzegovina, including “reports
of massive, organized and systematic rape of women”.
In a resolution adopted in 1995 on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the
UN Security Council stated that rape was a “grave violation of international
humanitarian law”.
In a resolution adopted in 1995, the UN Security Council expressed grave
concern and condemned in the strongest possible terms the violations of IHL and
human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including “evidence of a consistent
pattern of rape”.
In a resolution adopted in 1999 on children in armed conflicts, the UN Security
Council urged all parties to armed conflicts “to take special measures to
protect children, in particular girls, from rape and other forms of sexual abuse
and gender-based violence in situations of armed conflict”.
In a resolution adopted in 2000 on women and peace and security, the UN
Security Council called on “all parties to armed conflict to take special
measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly
rape and other forms of sexual abuse, and all other forms of violence in
situations of armed conflict”.
In a resolution adopted in 2003 on children in armed conflict, the UN
Security Council:
Notes with concern all the cases of sexual
exploitation and abuse of women and children, especially girls, in humanitarian
crisis, including those cases involving humanitarian workers and peacekeepers,
and requests contributing countries to incorporate the Six Core Principles of
the Inter-Agency Standing Committee on Emergencies into pertinent codes of
conduct for peacekeeping personnel and to develop appropriate disciplinary and
accountability mechanisms.
In a resolution adopted in 2003 on the situation concerning the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN Security Council:
Condemns the massacres and other
systematic violations of International Humanitarian Law and human rights
perpetrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular sexual
violence against women and girls as a tool of warfare and atrocities
perpetrated in the Ituri area by the Mouvement de Libération du Congo (MLC) and
the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie/National (RCD/N) troops, as well
as the acts of violence recently perpetrated by the Union des Patriotes
Congolais (UPC) forces, and reiterates that there will be no impunity for such
acts and that the perpetrators will be held accountable.
In a resolution adopted in 2003 on the situation concerning the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN Security Council:
8. Strongly
condemns the acts of violence systematically perpetrated against
civilians, including the massacres, as well as other atrocities and violations
of international humanitarian law and human rights, in particular, sexual
violence against women and girls,stresses the need to bring to
justice those responsible, including those at the command level, and urges all
parties, including the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to
take all necessary steps to prevent further violations of human rights and
international humanitarian law, in particular those committed against
civilians;
9. Reaffirms the importance of a gender perspective in
peacekeeping operations in accordance with resolution 1325 (2000), recalls the
need to address violence against women and girls as a tool of warfare, and in
this respect encourages MONUC to continue to actively address
this issue.
UN Security Council
In a resolution adopted in 2003 relating to the situation in Liberia,
the UN Security Council deplored “all violations of human rights, particularly
atrocities against civilian populations, including widespread sexual violence
against women and children”.
UN Security Council
In a resolution adopted in 2004 on children and armed conflict, the UN
Security Council:
1. Strongly
condemns … rape and other sexual violence mostly committed against
girls, …
…
10. Notes with concern all the cases of sexual exploitation
and abuse of women and children, especially girls, in humanitarian crisis,
including those cases involving humanitarian workers and peacekeepers,
[and] requests contributing countries to incorporate the Six
Core Principles of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee on Emergencies into
pertinent codes of conduct for peacekeeping personnel and to develop
appropriate disciplinary and accountability mechanisms.
In a resolution adopted in 2004 on the Sudan, the UN Security Council
condemned “all acts of violence and violations of human rights and
international humanitarian law by all parties to the crisis, in particular by
the Janjaweed, including … rapes”.
In a resolution adopted in 2004 on the situation concerning the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN Security Council:
Expresses grave concern at the allegations of
sexual exploitation and misconduct by civilian and military personnel of MONUC,requests the
Secretary-General to continue to fully investigate these allegations to take
the appropriate action in accordance with the Secretary-General’s Bulletin on
special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse
(ST/SGB/2003/13) and to keep the Council informed, further
encourages MONUC to conduct training for personnel targeted to ensure
full compliance with its code of conduct regarding sexual misconduct, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate disciplinary and other action to ensure full
accountability in cases of such misconduct involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the Sudan, the UN Security Council:
Strongly condemning all violations of human rights
and international humanitarian law in the Darfur region, in particular the
continuation of violence against civilians and sexual violence against women
and girls since the adoption of resolution 1574 (2004), urging all parties to
take necessary steps to prevent further violations, and expressing its
determination to ensure that those responsible for all such violations are
identified and brought to justice without delay,
Recalling the demands in resolutions 1556 (2004), 1564 (2004), and
1574 (2004), that all parties to the conflict in Darfur refrain from any
violence against civilians and cooperate fully with the African Union Mission
in Darfur,
…
Expressing grave concern at the allegations of sexual exploitation
and misconduct by United Nations personnel in United Nations established
operations, and welcoming the Secretary-General’s 9 February 2005 letter to the
Council in this regard, affirming there will be a zero-tolerance policy of
sexual exploitation and abuse of any kind in all United Nations peacekeeping
missions,
…
14. Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary
measures to achieve actual compliance in UNMIS with the United Nations
zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, including the development
of strategies and appropriate mechanisms to prevent, identify and respond to
all forms of misconduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse, and the
enhancement of training for personnel to prevent misconduct and ensure full
compliance with the United Nations code of conduct, requests the
Secretary-General to take all necessary action in accordance with the
Secretary-General’s Bulletin on special measures for protection from sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse (ST/SGB/2003/13) and to keep the Council
informed, and urges troop-contributing countries to take
appropriate preventive action including the conduct of pre-deployment awareness
training, and to take disciplinary action and other action to ensure full
accountability in cases of such conduct involving their personnel;
15. Reaffirms the importance of appropriate expertise on
issues relating to gender in peacekeeping operations and post-conflict
peacebuilding in accordance with resolution 1325 (2000), recalls the need to
address violence against women and girls as a tool of warfare, and encourages
UNMIS as well as the Sudanese parties to actively address these issues.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the Sudan, the UN Security
Council:
Strongly condemning all violations of human
rights and international humanitarian law in the Darfur region, in particular
the continuation of violence against civilians and sexual violence against
women and girls since the adoption of resolution 1574 (2004), urging all
parties to take necessary steps to prevent further violations, and expressing
its determination to ensure that those responsible for all such violations are
identified and brought to justice without delay.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the situation concerning the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN Security Council:
Recalling that all the parties bear
responsibility for ensuring security with respect to civilian populations, in
particular women, children and other vulnerable persons, and expressing
concern at the continuing levels of sexual violence.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the situation in the Middle East, the
UN Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
UNIFIL to implement the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the
United Nations code of conduct, requests the Secretary-General
to continue to take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the
Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action including the conduct of
pre-deployment awareness training, and to take disciplinary action and other
action to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their
personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the situation in Georgia, the UN
Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
UNOMIG to implement the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the
United Nations code of conduct, requests the Secretary-General
to continue to take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the
Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action including the conduct of
pre-deployment awareness training, and to take disciplinary action and other
action to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their
personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the situation between Eritrea and
Ethiopia, the UN Security Council:
Requests the Secretary-General to take the
necessary measures to achieve actual compliance in UNMEE with the United
Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, including the
development of strategies and appropriate mechanisms to prevent, identify and
respond to all forms of misconduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse,
and the enhancement of training for personnel to prevent misconduct and ensure
full compliance with the United Nations code of conduct, requests the
Secretary-General to take all necessary action in accordance with the
Secretary-General’s Bulletin on special measures for protection from sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse (ST/SGB/2003/13) and to keep the Council
informed, and urges troop-contributing countries to take appropriate preventive
action including the conduct of pre-deployment awareness training, and take
disciplinary action and other action to ensure full accountability in cases of
such conduct involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the situation in Liberia, the UN
Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts undertaken by UNMIL
to implement the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the
United Nations code of conduct, and requests the Secretary-General to take all
necessary action in this regard and to keep the Security Council informed, and
urges troop-contributing countries to take appropriate preventive action,
including the conduct of pre-deployment awareness training, and to take
disciplinary action and other action to ensure that allegations of sexual
exploitation or abuse against their personnel are properly investigated and, if
substantiated, punished.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the Sudan, the UN Security Council:
Urges troop-contributing countries carefully to
review the Secretary-General’s letter of 24 March 2005 (A/59/710) and to take
appropriate action to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse by their personnel
in UNMIS, including predeployment awareness training, and to take disciplinary
action and other action to ensure full accountability in cases of such
misconduct involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the situation in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, the UN Security Council:
Welcomes the action taken by MONUC in
investigating and dealing with instances of sexual exploitation and abuse and
its efforts to put in place preventive measures, requests the
Secretary-General to continue to take the necessary measures to achieve actual
compliance in MONUC with the United Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to keep the Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action, including pre-deployment
awareness training, and other action to ensure full accountability in cases of
such conduct involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the situation in the Middle East, the
UN Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force to implement the
Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and
to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the United Nations code of
conduct, requests the Secretary-General to continue to take
all necessary action in this regard and to keep the Security Council informed,
and urges troop-contributing countries to take preventive and
disciplinary action to ensure that such acts are properly investigated and
punished in cases involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the situation in the Middle East, the
UN Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
UNIFIL to implement the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the
United Nations code of conduct, requests the Secretary-General to continue to
take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the Security Council
informed, and urges troop-contributing countries to take appropriate preventive
action including the conduct of pre-deployment awareness training, and to take
disciplinary action and other action to ensure full accountability in cases of
such conduct involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the situation in Georgia, the UN
Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
UNOMIG to implement the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the
United Nations code of conduct, requests the Secretary-General
to continue to take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the
Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action including the conduct of
pre-deployment awareness training, and to take disciplinary action and other
action to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their
personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the protection of civilians in armed
conflict, the UN Security Council:
5. Reaffirms
also its condemnation in the strongest terms of all acts of violence
or abuses committed against civilians in situations of armed conflict in
violation of applicable international obligations with respect in particular to
… (ii) gender-based and sexual violence … and demands that all parties put an
end to such practices;
…
19. Condemns in the strongest terms all sexual and other forms
of violence committed against civilians in armed conflict, in particular women
and children, and undertakes to ensure that all peace support
operations employ all feasible measures to prevent such violence and to address
its impact where it takes place;
20. Condemns in equally strong terms all acts of sexual
exploitation, abuse and trafficking of women and children by military, police
and civilian personnel involved in United Nations operations, welcomes the
efforts undertaken by United Nations agencies and peacekeeping operations to
implement a zero-tolerance policy in this regard, and requests the
Secretary-General and personnel-contributing countries to continue to take all
appropriate action necessary to combat these abuses by such personnel,
including through the full implementation without delay of those measures
adopted in the relevant General Assembly resolutions based upon the
recommendations of the report of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping,
A/59/19/Rev.1.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the situation concerning Western
Sahara, the UN Security Council:
Requests the Secretary-General to continue
to take the necessary measures to achieve actual compliance in MINURSO with the
United Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, including
the development of strategies and appropriate mechanisms to prevent, identify
and respond to all forms of misconduct, including sexual exploitation and
abuse, and the enhancement of training for personnel to prevent misconduct and
ensure full compliance with the United Nations code of conduct, requests the
Secretary-General to take all necessary action in accordance with the
Secretary-General’s Bulletin on special measures for protection from sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse (ST/SGB/2003/13) and to keep the Council
informed, and urges troop-contributing countries to take
appropriate preventive action including the conduct of pre-deployment awareness
training, and to take disciplinary action and other action to ensure full
accountability in cases of such conduct involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the situation in the Middle East, the
UN Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force to implement the
Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and
to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the United Nations code of
conduct, requests the Secretary-General to continue to take
all necessary action in this regard and to keep the Security Council informed,
and urges troop-contributing countries to take preventive and
disciplinary action to ensure that such acts are properly investigated and
punished in cases involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the situation in Cyprus, the UN
Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
UNFICYP to implement the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the
United Nations code of conduct, requests the Secretary-General
to continue to take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the
Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action including the conduct of
pre-deployment awareness training, and to take disciplinary action and other
action to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their
personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the situation in Timor-Leste, the UN
Security Council:
Requests the Secretary-General to take the
necessary measures to achieve actual compliance in UNMIT with the United
Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, including the
development of strategies and appropriate mechanisms to prevent, identify and
respond to all forms of misconduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse,
and the enhancement of training for personnel to prevent misconduct and ensure
full compliance with the United Nations code of conduct, requests the
Secretary-General to take all necessary action in accordance with the
Secretary-General’s Bulletin on special measures for protection from sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse (ST/SGB/2003/13) and to keep the Council
informed, and urges troop-contributing countries to take appropriate
preventive action including the conduct of pre-deployment awareness training,
and to take disciplinary action and other action to ensure full accountability
in cases of such conduct involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the Sudan, the UN Security Council
reiterated “its strong condemnation of all violations of human rights and
international humanitarian law in Darfur” and called upon “the Government of
National Unity to take urgent action to tackle gender-based violence in
Darfur”.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the situation in Liberia, the UN
Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts undertaken by UNMIL
to implement the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the
United Nations code of conduct, and requests the
Secretary-General to take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the
Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action, including the conduct of
pre-deployment awareness training, and to take disciplinary and other action to
ensure that allegations of sexual exploitation or abuse against their personnel
are properly investigated and, if substantiated, punished.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the situation in Georgia, the UN
Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
UNOMIG to implement the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the
United Nations code of conduct, requests the Secretary-General
to continue to take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the
Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action including the conduct of
pre-deployment awareness training, and to take disciplinary action and other
action to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their
personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the situation concerning Western
Sahara, the UN Security Council:
Requests the Secretary-General to continue
to take the necessary measures to ensure full compliance in MINURSO with the
United Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to
keep the Council informed, and urges troop-contributing countries to take
appropriate preventive action including pre-deployment awareness training, and
other action to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving
their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the situation in Cyprus, the UN
Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
UNFICYP to implement the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the
United Nations code of conduct, requests the Secretary-General
to continue to take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the
Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action including the conduct of
pre-deployment awareness training, and to take disciplinary action and other
action to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their
personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the situation in the Middle East, the
UN Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force to implement the
Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and
to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the United Nations code of conduct, requests the
Secretary-General to continue to take all necessary action in this regard and
to keep the Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take preventive and disciplinary action to ensure that such acts
are properly investigated and punished in cases involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the question concerning Haiti, the UN
Security Council:
17. Strongly
condemns the grave violations against children affected by armed
violence, as well as widespread rape and other sexual abuse of girls;
…
22. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to take the
necessary measures to ensure full compliance of all MINUSTAH personnel with the
United Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to
keep the Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to ensure that acts involving their personnel are properly
investigated and punished.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the situation in Timor-Leste, the UN
Security Council:
Reaffirming its resolutions 1325 (2000) on
women, peace and security and 1502 (2003) on the protection of humanitarian and
United Nations personnel,
…
12. Requests UNMIT fully to take into account gender
considerations as set out in Security Council resolution 1325 as a
cross-cutting issue throughout its mandate, and further requests the
Secretary-General to include in his reporting to the Security Council progress
on gender mainstreaming throughout UNMIT and all other aspects relating to the
situation of women and girls, especially in relation to the need to protect
them from gender-based violence;
13. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to take the
necessary measures to ensure full compliance in UNMIT with the United Nations
zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to keep the Council
informed, and urges those countries contributing troops and
police to take appropriate preventive action and to ensure full accountability
in cases of such conduct involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the situation in Georgia, the UN
Security Council:
Requests the Secretary-General to continue
to take the necessary measures to ensure full compliance of all UNOMIG
personnel with the United Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation
and abuse and to keep the Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to ensure that acts involving their personnel are properly
investigated and punished.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the situation concerning Western
Sahara, the UN Security Council:
Requests the Secretary-General to continue
to take the necessary measures to ensure full compliance in MINURSO with the
United Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to
keep the Council informed, and urges troop-contributing countries to take
appropriate preventive action including pre-deployment awareness training, and
other action to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving
their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the Sudan, the UN Security Council:
Requests the Secretary-General to continue
to take the necessary measures to ensure full compliance in UNMIS with the
United Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to
keep the Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action, including pre-deployment
accountability in cases of such conduct involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the situation concerning the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN Security Council:
Expressing grave concern at the allegations
of sexual exploitation and violence by civilian and military personnel of
MONUC, taking note of the measures taken by MONUC to address
instances of sexual exploitation and abuse and of the zero tolerance policy
reiterated by the Secretary General during his recent visit to the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, requests the Secretary-General to
continue to fully investigate these allegations, to take the appropriate
measures set out in the Secretary-General’s bulletin on special measures for
protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (ST/SGB/2003/13), and to
keep the Council informed, underlinesthe importance of MONUC
conducting training for the personnel concerned in order to ensure full
compliance with its Code of Conduct regarding sexual misconduct, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate disciplinary and other action to ensure full
accountability in cases of such misconduct involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the situation in Cyprus, the UN
Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
UNFICYP to implement the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the
United Nations code of conduct, requests the Secretary-General to continue to
take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the Security Council
informed, and urges troop-contributing countries to take appropriate preventive
action including the conduct of predeployment awareness training, and to take
disciplinary action and other action to ensure full accountability in cases of
such conduct involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the situation in the Middle East, the
UN Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force to implement the
Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and
to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the United Nations code of
conduct, requests the Secretary-General to continue to take
all necessary action in this regard and to keep the Security Council informed,
and urges troop-contributing countries to take preventive and
disciplinary action to ensure that such acts are properly investigated and
punished in cases involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the Sudan, the UN Security Council:
Requests the Secretary-General to take the
necessary measures to achieve actual compliance in UNAMID with the United
Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, including the
development of strategies and appropriate mechanisms to prevent, identify and
respond to all forms of misconduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse,
and the enhancement of training for personnel to prevent misconduct and ensure
full compliance with the United Nations code of conduct, and to further take
all necessary action in accordance with the Secretary-General’s Bulletin on
special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse
(ST/SGB/2003/13) and to keep the Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action including the conduct of
pre-deployment awareness training and, in the case of forces previously
deployed under AU auspices, post-deployment awareness training, and to take
disciplinary action and other action to ensure full accountability in cases of
such conduct involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the situation in the Middle East, the
UN Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
UNIFIL to implement the Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the
United Nations code of conduct, requests the Secretary-General
to continue to take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the
Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take preventive and disciplinary action to ensure that such acts
are properly investigated and punished in cases involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the situation in Liberia, the UN
Security Council welcomed “UNMIL’s continuing efforts to promote and protect the
rights of women” and called on the Liberian authorities to “combat gender-based
violence, sexual exploitation and abuse”.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the situation in Haiti, the UN
Security Council:
Requests the Secretary-General to continue
to take the necessary measures to ensure full compliance of all MINUSTAH
personnel with the United Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation
and abuse, and to keep the Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to ensure that acts involving their personnel are properly
investigated and punished.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the situation in Georgia, the UN
Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
UNOMIG to implement the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the
United Nations code of conduct, requests the Secretary-General
to continue to take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the
Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action including the conduct of
pre-deployment awareness training, and to take disciplinary action and other action
to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their
personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the Western Sahara situation, the UN
Security Council:
Requests the Secretary-General to continue
to take the necessary measures to ensure full compliance in MINURSO with the
United Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to
keep the Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action including pre-deployment
awareness training, and other action to ensure full accountability in cases of
such conduct involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the Sudan, the UN Security Council:
Requests the Secretary-General to continue
to take the necessary measures to ensure full compliance in UNMIS with the
United Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to
keep the Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action including pre-deployment
awareness training, and other action to ensure full accountability in cases of
such conduct involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the situation in the Middle East, the
UN Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force to implement the
Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and
to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the United Nations code of
conduct, requests the Secretary-General to continue to take
all necessary action in this regard and to keep the Security Council informed,
and urges troop-contributing countries to take preventive and
disciplinary action to ensure that such acts are properly investigated and
punished in cases involving their personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the situation in Cyprus, the UN
Security Council:
Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by
UNFICYP to implement the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy on sexual
exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the
United Nations code of conduct, requests the Secretary-General
to continue to take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the
Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action including the conduct of
pre-deployment awareness training, and to take disciplinary action and other
action to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their
personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the situation in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, the UN Security Council:
Condemning in particular sexual violence
perpetrated by militias and armed groups as well as elements of the FARDC, the
PNC and other security and intelligence services, stressing the
urgent need for the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in
cooperation with MONUC and other relevant actors, to end such violence and
bring the perpetrators, as well as the senior commanders under whom they serve,
to justice, and calling on Member States to assist in this
regard and to continue to provide medical, humanitarian and other assistance to
victims,
…
15. Reiterates its call upon the Congolese authorities to put
an end to impunity, by bringing to justice without delay perpetrators of grave
violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law, with special
attention to … grave violations against women and children, in particular
sexual violence, …
…
18. Requests MONUC, in view of the scale and severity of
sexual violence committed especially by armed elements in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, to undertake a thorough review of its efforts to prevent
and respond to sexual violence, and to pursue a comprehensive mission-wide
strategy, in close cooperation with the United Nations Country Team and other
partners, to strengthen prevention, protection, and response to sexual
violence, including through training for the Congolese security forces in
accordance with its mandate, and to regularly report, including in a separate
annex if necessary, on actions taken in this regard, including factual data and
trend analyses of the problem.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the situation in Sierra Leone, the UN
Security Council welcomed “the efforts undertaken by UNIOSIL to implement the
Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse to
ensure full compliance of its personnel with the United Nations code of
conduct”.
In 1998, in a statement by its President on Sierra Leone, the UN
Security Council condemned as gross violations of IHL “atrocities against the
civilian population, particularly women and children”, including widespread
rape.
In 1998, in a statement by its President on children and armed conflict, the UN
Security Council strongly condemned the sexual abuse of children.
In 2004, in a statement by its President on the situation in the Darfur
region of Sudan, the UN Security Council expressed its deep concern “at the
continuing reports of large-scale violations of human rights and of
international humanitarian law in Darfur, including indiscriminate attacks on
civilians, sexual violence, forced displacement and acts of violence”.
In 2004, in a statement by its President on women and peace and
security, the UN Security Council stated:
The
Security Council strongly condemns the continued acts of gender-based violence
in situations of armed conflict. The Council also condemns all violations of
the human rights of women and girls in situations of armed conflict and the use
of sexual exploitation, violence and abuse. The Council urges the complete
cessation by all parties of such acts with immediate effect. The Council
stresses the need to end impunity for such acts as part of a comprehensive
approach to seeking peace, justice, truth and national reconciliation. The
Council welcomes the efforts of the United Nations system to establish and
implement strategies and programmes to prevent and report on gender-based
violence, and urges the Secretary-General to further his efforts in this
regard. The Council requests the Secretary-General to ensure that human rights
monitors and members of commissions of inquiry have the necessary expertise and
training in gender-based crimes and in the conduct of investigations, including
in a culturally sensitive manner favourable to the needs, dignity and rights of
the victims. The Council urges all international and national courts
specifically established to prosecute war-related crimes to provide gender
expertise, gender training for all staff and gender-sensitive programmes for
victims and witness protection. The Council emphasizes the urgent need for
programmes that provide support to survivors of gender-based violence. The
Council further requests that appropriate attention is given to the issue of
gender-based violence in all future reports to the Council.
In 2004, in a statement by its President on the protection of civilians
in armed conflict, the UN Security Council stated:
The
Security Council strongly condemns the increased use of sexual and gender-based
violence as a weapon of war as well as the recruitment and use of child
soldiers by parties to armed conflict in violation of international obligations
applicable to them … It stresses the importance of developing strategies aimed
at preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence, through the
improvement in the design of peacekeeping and assessment missions by, inter
alia, the inclusion of gender and child protection advisers. It stresses also
the importance for women and children subject to exploitation and sexual
violence to receive adequate assistance and support.
In 2005, in a statement by its President on UN peacekeeping operations,
the UN Security Council stated:
The
Security Council is deeply concerned with the allegations of sexual misconduct
by United Nations peacekeeping personnel. The distinguished and honourable
record of accomplishment in United Nations peacekeeping is being tarnished by
the acts of a few individuals.
The Security Council condemns, in the strongest terms, all acts of sexual abuse
and exploitation committed by United Nations peacekeeping personnel. The
Council reiterates that sexual exploitation and abuse are unacceptable and have
a detrimental effect on the fulfilment of mission mandates.
The Security Council, while confirming that the conduct and discipline of
troops is primarily the responsibility of Troop Contributing Countries,
recognizes the shared responsibility of the Secretary-General and all Member
States to take every measure within their purview to prevent sexual
exploitation and abuse by all categories of personnel in United Nations
peacekeeping missions, to enforce United Nations standards of conduct in this
regard. The Security Council reiterates the importance of ensuring that sexual
exploitation and abuse are properly investigated and appropriately punished.
The Security Council underlines that the provision of an environment in which
sexual exploitation and abuse are not tolerated is primarily the responsibility
of managers and commanders.
The Security Council welcomes the comprehensive report on sexual exploitation
and abuse by United Nations Peacekeeping Personnel (A/59/710), prepared by the
Secretary-General’s Adviser on this issue, H.R.H. Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid
Al-Hussein, Permanent Representative of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the
United Nations. The Council also welcomes the report of the resumed session of
the Special Committee on Peacekeeping (A/59/19/Add.1).
The Security Council urges the Secretary-General and Troop Contributing
Countries to ensure that the recommendations of the Special Committee, which
fall within their respective responsibilities, are implemented without delay.
The Security Council will consider including relevant provisions for
prevention, monitoring, investigation and reporting of misconduct cases in its
resolutions establishing new mandates or renewing existing mandates. In this
regard, the Security Council calls on the Secretary-General to include, in his
regular reporting of peacekeeping missions, a summary of the preventive
measures taken to implement a zero-tolerance policy and of the outcome of
actions taken against personnel found culpable of sexual exploitation and
abuse.
In 2005, in a statement by its President on the protection of civilians
in armed conflict, the UN Security Council expressed “in particular its deep
concern at the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war” and called upon “all
States to put an end to impunity also in this regard”.
In 2005, in a statement by its President on women and peace and
security, the UN Security Council stated:
The
Security Council condemns sexual and other forms of violence against women,
including trafficking in persons, and calls upon all parties to armed conflict
to ensure full and effective protection of women and emphasizes the necessity
to end impunity of those responsible for gender-based violence.
The Security Council reiterates its condemnation, in the strongest terms, of
all acts of sexual misconduct by all categories of personnel in United Nations
Peacekeeping Missions. The Council welcomes the comprehensive report on sexual
exploitation and abuse by United Nations Peacekeeping Personnel (A/59/710). The
Council also welcomes the report of the resumed session of the Special
Committee on Peacekeeping (A/59/19/Add.1) and, taking into account resolution 59/300
of the General Assembly, urges the Secretary-General and troop-contributing
countries to ensure that the recommendations of the Special Committee, which
fall within their respective responsibilities, are implemented without delay.
In this connection, the Council expresses its support to the efforts of the
United Nations to fully implement codes of conduct and disciplinary procedures
to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and enhance monitoring and
enforcement mechanisms, and notes the strategies and actions included in the
System-wide Action Plan to fully implement those codes of conduct and
disciplinary procedures. The Security Council urges troop-contributing
countries to take appropriate preventive action, including the conduct of
predeployment awareness training, and to take disciplinary action and other
action to ensure full accountability in cases of misconduct involving their
personnel.
In 2006, in a statement by its President on women and peace and
security, the UN Security Council stated:
The
Security Council remains deeply concerned by the pervasiveness of all forms of
violence against women in armed conflict, including killing, maiming, grave
sexual violence, abductions and trafficking in persons. The Council reiterates
its utmost condemnation of such practices and calls upon all parties to armed
conflict to ensure full and effective protection of women, and emphasizes the
necessity to end impunity of those responsible for gender-based violence.
The Security Council reiterates its condemnation, in the strongest terms, of
all acts of sexual misconduct by all categories of personnel in United Nations
Peacekeeping Missions. The Council urges the Secretary-General and
troop-contributing countries to ensure the full implementation of the
recommendations of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping operations (A/60/19).
In this connection, the Council expresses its support for further efforts by the
United Nations to fully implement codes of conduct and disciplinary procedures
to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse, and enhance monitoring
and enforcement mechanisms based on a zero-tolerance policy.
In 2006, in a statement by its President on children and armed conflict,
the UN Security Council strongly condemned “the killing and maiming of
children, rape and other sexual violence … by parties to armed conflict”.
In 2007, in a statement by its President on women and peace and
security, the UN Security Council stated:
The
Security Council reaffirms also the need to implement fully international human
rights and humanitarian law including the four Geneva Conventions that protect
the rights of women and girls during and after conflicts.
The Security Council remains deeply concerned by the pervasiveness of all forms
of violence against women and girls in armed conflict, including killing,
maiming, grave sexual violence, abductions and trafficking in persons. The
Council reiterates its utmost condemnation of such practices and calls on all
parties to armed conflict to take specific measures to protect women and girls
from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse,
and all other forms of violence in situations of armed conflict.
The Security Council stresses the need to end impunity for acts of gender-based
violence in situations of armed conflict and emphasizes the responsibility of
all States to put an end to impunity and to prosecute those responsible for
genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes including those relating to
sexual and other violence against women and girls, and in this regard stresses
the need to exclude these crimes, where feasible from amnesty provisions.
In 2007, in a statement by its President on women and peace and
security, the UN Security Council stated:
The
Security Council strongly condemns all violations of international law,
including international humanitarian law, human rights law and refugee law,
committed against women and girls in situations of armed conflict, including
killing, maiming, sexual violence, exploitation and abuse. In this regard, the
Council urges the complete cessation by all parties of such acts with immediate
effect.
The Security Council is deeply concerned that despite its repeated condemnation
of all acts of violence, including killing, maiming, sexual violence,
exploitation and abuse in situations of armed conflict, and despite its calls
addressed to all parties to armed conflict for the cessation of such acts with
immediate effect, and for the adoption of specific measures to protect women
and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape, and other forms of
sexual abuse, as well as all other forms of violence, such acts remain
pervasive, and in some situations have become systematic, and have reached
appalling levels of atrocity. The Council stresses the need to end impunity for
such acts as part of a comprehensive approach to seeking peace, justice, truth
and national reconciliation.
UN General Assembly
In 1993, in a resolution proclaiming the UN Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence against Women, the UN General Assembly stated:
States
should condemn violence against women and should not invoke any custom,
tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to
its elimination. States should pursue by all appropriate means and without
delay a policy of eliminating violence against women and, to this end, should:
(a) Consider, where they have not yet done so, ratifying or acceding to
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
or withdrawing reservations to that Convention;
(b) Refrain from engaging in violence against women;
(c) Exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance
with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women, whether those
acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons;
(d) Develop penal, civil, labour and administrative sanctions in
domestic legislation to punish and redress the wrongs caused to women who are
subjected to violence …
In a resolution adopted in 1993, the UN General Assembly strongly
condemned the practice of rape and abuse of women and children in areas of
armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia and emphasized “the particularly
heinous nature of the crime of rape”. It considered that “the abhorrent
practice of rape and abuse of women and children” constituted a war crime.
In a resolution adopted in 1994 on the situation of human rights in the
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia and the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), the UN General Assembly
expressed “its outrage that the systematic practice of rape continues to be
used as a weapon of war against women and children and as an instrument of
ethnic cleansing” and recognized that “rape in this context constitutes a war
crime”.
In a resolution adopted in 1995 on rape and abuse of women in the areas of
armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia, the UN General Assembly:
1.
Strongly condemns the abhorrent practice of rape and abuse of women and
children in the areas of armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia, which
constitutes a war crime;
2. Expresses its outrage that the systematic practice of rape has been used as
a weapon of war and an instrument of ethnic cleansing against women and
children in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
3. Reaffirms that rape in the conduct of armed conflict constitutes a war crime
and that under certain circumstances it constitutes a crime against humanity
and an act of genocide as defined in the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and calls upon States to take all measures
required for the protection of women and children from such acts and to
strengthen mechanisms to investigate and punish all those responsible and bring
the perpetrators to justice.
In a resolution adopted in 1995 on the
situation of human rights in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the
Republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and
Montenegro), the UN General Assembly expressed its outrage that “the systematic
practice of rape has been used as a weapon of war against women and children
and as an instrument of ethnic cleansing, and recognizes that rape in this
context constitutes a war crime”.
In a resolution adopted in 1996 on the rights of the child, the UN General
Assembly:
Reaffirms that rape in the conduct of armed conflict
constitutes a war crime and that under certain circumstances it constitutes a
crime against humanity and an act of genocide, as defined in the Convention on
the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and calls upon all
States to take all measures required for the protection of women and children
from all acts of gender-based violence, including rape, sexual exploitation and
forced pregnancy, and to strengthen mechanisms to investigate and punish all those
responsible and bring the perpetrators to justice.
In a resolution adopted in 1996 on Rwanda,
the UN General Assembly:
Expresses its deep concern at the intense suffering of the
victims of genocide and crimes against humanity, [and] recognizes the ongoing
suffering of their survivors, particularly the extremely high number of
traumatized children and women victims of rape and sexual violence.
In a resolution adopted in 2003 on the strengthening of the coordination
of UN emergency humanitarian assistance, the UN General Assembly:
Welcomes the continued efforts to address
the issue of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse in the context of
humanitarian crises, and notes with interest the bulletin of the
Secretary-General on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation
and sexual abuse.
In a resolution adopted in 2003 on the safety and security of
humanitarian personnel and protection of UN personnel, the UN General Assembly
strongly condemned “other forms of violence, rape and sexual assault … to which
those participating in humanitarian operations are increasingly exposed”.
In a resolution adopted in 2003 on special assistance for the economic
recovery and reconstruction of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN General
Assembly:
Strongly condemns the acts of violence, including
the latest massacres in Ituri, systematically perpetrated against civilians,
including the massacres, as well as other atrocities and violations of
international humanitarian law and human rights, in particular sexual violence
against women and girls.
In a resolution adopted in 2003 on assistance to refugees, returnees and
displaced persons in Africa, the UN General Assembly:
19. Condemns any
exploitation of refugees, especially their sexual abuse and exploitation, calls
for those responsible for such deplorable acts to be brought to justice,
welcomes in this regard the conclusion on protection from sexual abuse and
exploitation adopted by the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at its fifty-fourth session, and notes
with deep concern that inadequate protection and/or inappropriate assistance,
particularly concerning the quantity and quality of food and other material
assistance, increases the vulnerability of refugees and asylum-seekers to
sexual abuse and exploitation;
20. Welcomes the decision of the Office of the High
Commissioner to put in place a code of conduct for humanitarian personnel aimed
at preventing the exploitation of refugees, especially in the area of sexual
exploitation.
In a resolution adopted in 2003 on the girl child, the UN General
Assembly:
9.
… urges all States to enact and enforce legislation to protect
girls from all forms of violence and exploitation, including … rape, … sexual
abuse, sexual exploitation, child prostitution and child pornography …
…
15. Also urges States to take special measures for the
protection of girls affected by armed conflicts and in particular to protect
them from sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, gender-based
violence, including rape and sexual abuse, and sexual exploitation, torture,
abduction and forced labour, paying special attention to refugee and displaced
girls, and to take into account the special needs of girls affected by armed
conflict in the delivery of humanitarian assistance and disarmament,
demobilization, rehabilitation assistance and reintegration processes;
16. Deplores all the cases of sexual exploitation and abuse of
women and children, especially girls, in humanitarian crises, including those
cases involving humanitarian workers and peacekeepers.
In a resolution adopted in 2003 on the rights of the child, the UN
General Assembly called upon all States to take all necessary measures,
including legal reforms where appropriate:
To
eliminate all forms of discrimination against girls and all forms of violence,
including … rape, sexual abuse … by enacting and enforcing legislation and,
where appropriate, formulating comprehensive, multidisciplinary and coordinated
national plans, programmes or strategies protecting girls.
In a resolution adopted in 2003 on human rights and mass exoduses, the
UN General Assembly:
Condemns all incidents of sexual
exploitation and abuse and violence against refugees and internally displaced
persons, [and] encourages Governments to adopt and implement initiatives aimed
at preventing, and at addressing allegations of, sexual exploitation and abuse
in emergency situations.
In a resolution adopted in 2003 on the situation of human rights in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN General Assembly:
2. Condemns:
…
(f) The widespread recourse to sexual violence against women and
children, inter alia, as a means of warfare”;
…
4. Urges all parties to the conflict in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo:
…
(g) To implement all necessary measures to put an end to the widespread
violations of human rights and to impunity, in particular with regard to the
sexual violence against women and children.
In a resolution adopted in 2004 on emergency international assistance
for peace, normalcy and reconstruction of war-stricken Afghanistan, the UN
General Assembly:
Emphasizes again the necessity of investigating
allegations of current and past violations of human rights and of international
humanitarian law, including violations committed against persons belonging to
ethnic and religious minorities, as well as against women and girls, of
facilitating the provision of efficient and effective remedies to the victims
and of bringing the perpetrators to justice in accordance with international
law.
In a resolution adopted in 2004 on the strengthening of the coordination
of UN emergency humanitarian assistance, the UN General Assembly:
Gravely concerned that violence, including sexual
abuse and sexual and other violence against women, girls and boys, continues to
be, in many emergency situations, deliberately directed against civilian
populations,
…
13. Strongly condemns all acts of violence committed against
civilian populations in situations of humanitarian crisis, especially against
women, girls and boys, including sexual violence and abuse, and reiterates that
such acts can constitute serious violations or grave breaches of international
humanitarian law and constitute, in defined circumstances, a crime against
humanity and/or a war crime;
…
19. Expresses concern about the continued occurrence of sexual
exploitation and abuse in humanitarian crises, emphasizes that the highest
standards of conduct and accountability are required of all personnel serving
in humanitarian and peacekeeping operations, and requests the Secretary-General
to report on measures to follow up, inter alia, the Plan of Action on
Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises developed
by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and the application of the bulletin of
the Secretary-General on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation
and sexual abuse.
In a resolution adopted in 2004 on the situation of human rights in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN General Assembly urged all parties to
the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
To
take special measures to protect women and children from the appalling
violence, including sexual violence, which has been and continues to be
prevalent throughout the country, in particular in Ituri, North and South Kivu
and other areas in the eastern part of the country, and condemns in particular
the widespread use of sexual violence as a means of warfare.
In a resolution adopted in 2004 on the safety and security of
humanitarian personnel and protection of UN personnel, the UN General Assembly
strongly condemned “rape and sexual assault and all forms of violence committed
in particular against women … to which those participating in humanitarian
operations are increasingly exposed”.
In a resolution adopted in 2004 on the rights of the child, the UN
General Assembly called upon States to “protect refugee, asylum-seeking and
internally displaced children, in particular those who are unaccompanied, [and]
who are particularly exposed to risks in connection with armed conflict, such
as recruitment, sexual violence and exploitation”.
In a resolution adopted in 2004 on the situation of human rights in
Myanmar, the UN General Assembly called upon the Government of Myanmar to “end
the systematic violations of human rights in Myanmar, including … the use of
rape and other forms of sexual violence persistently carried out by members of
the armed forces”.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the 2005 World Summit Outcome, UN
member States stated:
…
We strongly condemn all violations of the human rights of women and girls in
situations of armed conflict and the use of sexual exploitation, violence and
abuse, and we commit ourselves to elaborating and implementing strategies to
report on, prevent and punish gender-based violence.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on emergency international assistance
for peace, normalcy and reconstruction of war-stricken Afghanistan, the UN
General Assembly:
Continues to emphasize the necessity of
investigating allegations of current and past violations of human rights and of
international humanitarian law, including violations committed against persons
belonging to ethnic and religious minorities, as well as against women and
girls, of facilitating the provision of efficient and effective remedies to the
victims and of bringing the perpetrators to justice in accordance with
international law.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the safety and security of
humanitarian personnel and protection of UN personnel, the UN General Assembly
strongly condemned “rape and sexual assault and all forms of violence committed
in particular against women … to which those participating in humanitarian
operations are increasingly exposed”.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the strengthening of the coordination
of UN emergency humanitarian assistance, the UN General Assembly:
Noting with grave concern that
violence, including sexual abuse and sexual and other violence against women,
girls and boys, continues to be, in many emergency situations, deliberately
directed against civilian populations,
…
5. Also calls upon States to elaborate and implement
strategies to report on, prevent and punish all forms of violence against
women, girls and boys, in particular sexual violence and abuse.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the girl child, the UN General
Assembly:
Recognizing the efforts of the international
community to strengthen the standards for combating sexual abuse and
exploitation, and in this regard taking note of the Secretary-General’s
bulletin on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual
abuse and other policies and codes of conduct developed by the United Nations
system to prevent and address such incidents,
…
9. … urges all States to enact and enforce legislation to
protect girls from all forms of violence and exploitation, including … rape, …
sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, child prostitution and child pornography …
…
15. Also urges States to take special measures for the
protection of girls affected by armed conflicts and by post-conflict situations
and in particular to protect them from sexually transmitted diseases, such as
HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, including rape and sexual abuse, and sexual
exploitation, torture, abduction and forced labour, paying special attention to
refugee and displaced girls, and to take into account the special needs of
girls affected by armed conflict in the delivery of humanitarian assistance and
disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation assistance and reintegration
processes;
16. Deplores all the cases of sexual exploitation and abuse of
women and children, especially girls, in humanitarian crises, including those
cases involving humanitarian workers and peacekeepers.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the situation of human rights in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN General Assembly:
4.
Condemns:
(a) The ongoing violations of human rights and international
humanitarian law, particularly in North Kivu and South Kivu, northern Katanga
and other areas in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
including armed violence and reprisals against the civilian population and the
recourse to sexual violence against women and children, including in situations
where such practices are being used as a weapon of war;
…
5. Urges all the parties …
…
(d) To take special measures to protect women and children from the
appalling violence, including sexual violence, which continues to be prevalent
throughout the country, in particular in the eastern part of the country, and
to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to justice as soon as possible, and
condemns in particular the widespread use of sexual violence as a means of
warfare;
…
8. Urges the Secretary-General to continue his work aimed at
eliminating sexual exploitation and abuse committed by personnel serving the
United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the rights of the child, the UN
General Assembly:
13. Condemns all
forms of violence against children, including physical, mental and sexual
violence …
…
22. Also calls upon States to protect refugee, asylum-seeking
and internally displaced children, in particular those who are unaccompanied,
who are particularly exposed to risks in connection with armed conflict, such
as recruitment, sexual violence and exploitation …
…
30. Calls upon all States:
(a) To criminalize and penalize effectively all forms of sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse of children, including all acts of paedophilia,
including within the family or for commercial purposes, child pornography and
child prostitution, child sex tourism, trafficking in children, the sale of
children and their organs and the use of the Internet for these purposes, and
to take effective measures against the criminalization of children who are
victims of exploitation.
In a resolution adopted in 2005 on the situation of human rights in
Myanmar, the UN General Assembly:
2.
Expresses grave concern at:
(a) … violations suffered by persons belonging to ethnic nationalities,
women and children, especially in non-ceasefire areas, including but not
limited to … rape and other forms of sexual violence persistently carried out
by members of the armed forces …
…
3. Strongly calls upon the Government of Myanmar:
…
(f) To end widespread rape and other forms of sexual violence
persistently carried out by members of the armed forces, in particular against
women belonging to ethnic nationalities, and to investigate and bring to
justice any perpetrators in order to end impunity for those acts;
…
(l) Without further delay, to cooperate fully with the Special
Rapporteur to facilitate an independent international investigation of
continuing reports of sexual violence and other abuse of civilians carried out
by members of the armed forces.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on a comprehensive review of a strategy
to eliminate future sexual exploitation and abuse in UN peacekeeping
operations, the UN General Assembly:
Reaffirming its resolution 59/296 of 22 June
2005, as well as resolutions 59/300 and 60/263, and the need for the United
Nations to implement its policy of zero tolerance of sexual exploitation and
abuse in its peacekeeping operations as recommended by the Special Committee,
Affirming the need for a comprehensive strategy of assistance to
victims of sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations staff or related
personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the criminal accountability of UN
officials and experts on mission, the UN General Assembly:
Recalling its resolution 59/281 of 29 March
2005, in which it endorsed the recommendation in paragraph 56 of the report of
the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations that the Secretary-General
make available to the United Nations membership a comprehensive report on the
issue of sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations peacekeeping
operations,
…
Recalling its resolution 59/300 of 22 June 2005 endorsing the
recommendation of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations that a group
of legal experts be established to provide advice on the best way to proceed so
as to ensure that the original intent of the Charter of the United Nations can
be achieved, namely that United Nations staff and experts on mission would
never be effectively exempt from the consequences of criminal acts committed at
their duty station, nor unjustly penalized, in accordance with due process.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the intensification of efforts to
eliminate all forms of violence against women, the UN General Assembly urged
States to take action to eliminate all forms of violence against women and to
this end:
To
protect women and girls in situations of armed conflict, post-conflict settings
and refugee and internally displaced persons settings, where women are at
greater risk of being targeted for violence and where their ability to seek and
receive redress is often restricted, bearing in mind that peace is inextricably
linked with equality between women and men and development, that armed and
other types of conflicts and terrorism and hostage-taking still persist in many
parts of the world and that aggression, foreign occupation and ethnic and other
types of conflicts are an ongoing reality affecting women and men in nearly
every region, [and] undertake efforts to eliminate impunity for all
gender-based violence in situations of armed conflict.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on trafficking in women and girls, the
UN General Assembly:
Encourages Governments, relevant
intergovernmental bodies and international organizations to ensure that
military, peacekeeping and humanitarian personnel deployed in conflict,
post-conflict and other emergency situations are provided training on conduct
that does not promote, facilitate or exploit trafficking in women and girls,
including for sexual exploitation, and to raise the awareness of such personnel
of the potential risks to victims of conflict and other emergency situations,
including natural disasters, of being trafficked.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the rights of the child, the UN
General Assembly:
15. Condemns all
forms of violence against children, and urges States to take effective
legislative and other measures to prevent and eliminate all such violence,
including physical, mental, psychological and sexual violence, torture, child
abuse and exploitation, hostage-taking, domestic violence, trafficking in or
sale of children and their organs, paedophilia, child prostitution, child
pornography, child sex tourism, gang-related violence and harmful traditional
practices in all settings;
…
22. Calls upon States to take all necessary measures,
including legal reforms where appropriate, to eliminate all forms of
discrimination against girls and all forms of violence, including female
infanticide and prenatal sex selection, rape, sexual abuse and harmful
traditional or customary practices …
…
25. Also calls upon all States to protect refugee,
asylum-seeking and internally displaced children, in particular those who are
unaccompanied, who are particularly exposed to violence and risks in connection
with armed conflict, such as recruitment, sexual violence and exploitation …
…
34. Calls upon all States:
(a) To criminalize and penalize effectively all forms of sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse of children, including all acts of paedophilia,
including within the family or for commercial purposes, child pornography and
child prostitution, child sex tourism, trafficking in children, the sale of
children and the use of the Internet for these purposes, and to take effective
measures against the criminalization of children who are victims of
exploitation.
In a resolution adopted in 2006 on the situation of human rights in
Myanmar, the UN General Assembly:
2.
Expresses grave concern at:
(a) … violations suffered by persons belonging to ethnic nationalities
of Myanmar, including extrajudicial killings, rape and other forms of sexual
violence persistently carried out by members of the armed forces …
…
3. Strongly calls upon the Government of Myanmar:
…
(b) To take urgent measures to put an end to the military
operations targeting civilians in the ethnic areas, and the associated
violations of human rights and humanitarian law against persons belonging to
ethnic nationalities, including widespread rape and other forms of sexual
violence persistently carried out by members of the armed forces …
…
(e) To end impunity, and to this end:
…
(ii) To facilitate a genuinely independent investigation of continuing
reports of sexual violence, in particular against women belonging to ethnic
nationalities, and other abuse of civilians carried out by members of the armed
forces in Shan, Karen, Mon and other States.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on a comprehensive review of a strategy
to eliminate future sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations
peacekeeping operations, the UN General Assembly:
Reaffirming the need for the United Nations to
implement its policy of zero tolerance of sexual exploitation and abuse in its
peacekeeping operations, as recommended by the Special Committee on
Peacekeeping Operations,
Reaffirming also the need for a comprehensive strategy
of assistance to victims of sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations
staff or related personnel.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 entitled “Administrative and budgetary
aspects of the financing of the United Nations peacekeeping operations:
cross-cutting issues”, the UN General Assembly:
Reaffirming resolution 59/300 of 22 June
2005,
1. Underlines the great importance it attaches to the
elimination of misconduct, including sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, and
calls for full implementation of the United Nations zero-tolerance policy.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the criminal accountability of UN
officials and experts on mission, the UN General Assembly:
Recalling its resolution 59/281 of 29 March
2005, in which it endorsed the recommendation in paragraph 56 of the report of
the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations that the Secretary-General
make available to the United Nations membership a comprehensive report on the
issue of sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations peacekeeping
operations,
Noting that the Secretary-General, on 24 March 2005, transmitted to
the President of the General Assembly a report of his Adviser concerning sexual
exploitation and abuse by United Nations peacekeeping personnel,
Recalling its resolution 59/300 of 22 June 2005 endorsing the recommendation
of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations that a group of legal
experts be established to provide advice on the best way to proceed so as to
ensure that the original intent of the Charter of the United Nations can be
achieved, namely that United Nations staff and experts on mission would never
be effectively exempt from the consequences of criminal acts committed at their
duty station, nor unjustly penalized without due process,
…
Reaffirming also that the present resolution is without prejudice
to the privileges and immunities of United Nations officials and experts on
mission and the United Nations under international law,
Reaffirming further the obligation of United Nations officials and
experts on mission to respect the national laws of the host State, as well as
the right of the host State to exercise, where applicable, its criminal
jurisdiction, in accordance with the relevant rules of international law and
agreements governing operations of United Nations missions,
Deeply concerned by reports of criminal conduct, and conscious that
such conduct, if not investigated and, as appropriate, prosecuted, would create
the negative impression that United Nations officials and experts on mission
operate with impunity,
…
Convinced of the need for the United Nations and its Member States
to urgently take strong and effective steps to ensure criminal accountability
of United Nations officials and experts on mission,
…
2. Strongly urges States to take all appropriate measures to
ensure that crimes by United Nations officials and experts on mission do not go
unpunished and that the perpetrators of such crimes are brought to justice,
without prejudice to the privileges and immunities of such persons and the
United Nations under international law, and in accordance with international
human rights standards, including due process;
3. Strongly urges all States to consider establishing to the
extent that they have not yet done so jurisdiction, particularly over crimes of
a serious nature, as known in their existing domestic criminal laws, committed
by their nationals while serving as United Nations officials or experts on
mission, at least where the conduct as defined in the law of the State
establishing jurisdiction also constitutes a crime under the laws of the host
State;
4. Encourages all States to cooperate with each other and with
the United Nations in the exchange of information and in facilitating the
conduct of investigations and, as appropriate, prosecution of United Nations
officials and experts on mission who are alleged to have committed crimes of a
serious nature, in accordance with their domestic laws and applicable United
Nations rules and regulations, fully respecting due process rights, as well as
to consider strengthening the capacities of their national authorities to
investigate and prosecute such crimes;
5. Requests the Secretariat to ensure that requests to Member
States seeking personnel to serve as experts on mission make States aware of
the expectation that persons who serve in that capacity should meet high
standards in their conduct and behaviour and are aware that certain conduct may
amount to a crime for which they may be held accountable;
…
9. Requests the Secretary-General to bring credible
allegations that reveal that a crime may have been committed by United Nations
officials and experts on mission to the attention of the States against whose
nationals such allegations are made, and to request from those States an
indication of the status of their efforts to investigate and, as appropriate,
prosecute crimes of a serious nature, as well as the types of appropriate
assistance States may wish to receive from the Secretariat for the purposes of
such investigations and prosecutions.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 entitled “Policies and programmes
involving youth: youth in the global economy – promoting youth participation in
social and economic development”, the UN General Assembly adopted the
“Supplement to the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and
Beyond”.
Governments
should strengthen legal, policy, administrative and other measures for the
promotion and protection of the full enjoyment of all human rights by youth,
the protection of their dignity and the reduction of their vulnerability to
HIV/AIDS through the elimination of all forms of discrimination and all types
of sexual exploitation of young girls and boys, including for commercial
reasons, as well as all forms of violence against women and girls, including
harmful traditional and customary practices, abuse, rape and other forms of
sexual violence, battering and trafficking in women and girls.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the elimination of rape and other
forms of sexual violence in all their manifestations, including in conflict,
the UN General Assembly:
Reaffirming … the obligations of States
parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Geneva Conventions of
1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto, of 1977 and the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,
…
Recalling also the inclusion of rape and other forms of
gender-related crimes and crimes of sexual violence in the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court,
Recalling further the recognition by the ad hoc international
criminal tribunals that rape can constitute a war crime, a crime against
humanity, or a constitutive act with respect to genocide,
…
Stressing that States have the obligation to promote and protect
all human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls, and must exercise
due diligence to prevent, investigate and punish the perpetrators of violence
against women and girls, and to provide protection to the victims, and that
failure to do so violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment of the human
rights and fundamental freedoms of the victims,
Strongly condemning all acts of violence against women and girls,
whether these acts are perpetrated by the State, by private persons or by
non-State actors, calling for the elimination of all forms of gender-based
violence in the family, within the general community, and where perpetrated or
condoned by the State, and stressing the need to treat all forms of violence
against women and girls as a criminal offence, punishable by law,
Stressing that rape or other forms of sexual violence must not be
used or condoned in any circumstance by any individual, State or non-State
actor,
Recognizing that rape or any other form of sexual violence is
unlawful in all circumstances and in all places, regardless of the sex or age
of the victim, including in detention and in jails, whether or not committed by
State or non-State actors in the course of achieving political or military
objectives, whether or not in the course of an international or
non-international armed conflict, or in areas under foreign occupation,
…
Affirming the need for States to ensure that perpetrators of rape
or other forms of sexual violence committed on their territory do not operate
with impunity and that the perpetrators of such acts are brought to justice as
provided for by national law and obligations under international law, and also
affirming the need to penalize persons in authority found guilty of sexually
assaulting victims,
…
Determined to eliminate rape and other forms of sexual violence in
all their manifestations, including in conflict and related situations,
1. Urges States:
(a) To take special measures to protect women and girls from
gender-based violence, in particular rape and other forms of sexual
violence;
(b) To end impunity by ensuring that all rape victims, particularly
women and girls, have equal protection under the law and equal access to
justice and by investigating, prosecuting and punishing any person responsible
for rape and other forms of sexual violence, whether or not committed by State
or non-State actors in the course of achieving political or military
objectives, wherever they occur, whether or not in the course of an
international or non-international armed conflict, including in detention and
in jails, and regardless of the sex or age of the victim;
(c) To provide victims with access to appropriate health care, including
sexual and reproductive health care, psychological care and trauma counselling,
as well as to rehabilitation, social reintegration and, as appropriate,
effective and sufficient compensation, in accordance with relevant
international and national law;
(d) To develop and implement at all levels, as required, a comprehensive
and integrated strategy of prevention and prosecution of rape, and monitor the
implementation of such a strategy, which should include the training of, inter
alia, all relevant government and military personnel, in particular military
commanders, law enforcement officials, judicial system personnel, health
workers, teachers and social workers, as well as community leaders and the news
media, in all appropriate aspects of the prevention and prosecution of rape and
other forms of sexual violence and of protection and support for victims of
such violence;
…
3. Urges States, in cooperation with the private sector,
non-governmental organizations and other civil society actors, as appropriate:
(a) To conduct public education and awareness campaigns at the national
and grass-roots levels in order to raise awareness about the causes and
consequences of rape and other forms of sexual violence;
(b) To establish reception centres and shelters for victims, take other
appropriate measures to promote and protect women’s rights, and provide
protection, safe shelter, medical assistance, including sexual and reproductive
health care, all necessary medications, including antiretroviral drugs and
antibiotics, counselling for victims and their families, comprehensive
information and education, legal aid, rehabilitation, and reintegration of
victims and their offspring into society, in cooperation with State efforts
towards protecting and supporting victims, in particular appropriate
compensation that is effective and sufficient, maintaining due confidentiality
and privacy of the victims and their families;
(c) To support programmes to eliminate rape and other forms of sexual
violence in all their manifestations, and design programmes to provide
assistance to all victims of rape;
(d) To address the long-term consequences faced by victims of rape and
other forms of sexual violence, including legal discrimination and social
stigmatization, as well as the effects on children born as a result of rape.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the girl child, the UN General
Assembly:
13.
… urges all States to enact and enforce legislation to protect
girls from all forms of violence and exploitation, including female infanticide
and prenatal sex selection, female genital mutilation, rape, domestic violence,
incest, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, child prostitution and child
pornography, trafficking and forced migration, forced labour and early and
forced marriage, and to develop age-appropriate safe and confidential
programmes and medical, social and psychological support services to assist
girls who are subjected to violence and discrimination;
…
19. Urges all States and the international community to
respect, promote and protect the rights of the girl child, taking into account
the particular vulnerabilities of the girl child in pre-conflict, conflict and
post-conflict situations, and further urges States to take special measures for
the protection of girls, in particular to protect them from sexually
transmitted diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, including rape,
sexual abuse and sexual exploitation, torture, abduction and forced labour,
paying special attention to refugee and displaced girls …
20. Deplores all cases of sexual exploitation and abuse of
women and children, especially girls, in humanitarian crises, including those
cases involving humanitarian workers and peacekeepers, and urges States to take
effective measures to address gender-based violence in humanitarian emergencies
and to make all possible efforts to ensure that their laws and institutions are
adequate to prevent, promptly investigate and prosecute acts of gender-based
violence;
21. Deplores further all acts of sexual exploitation, abuse of
and trafficking in women and children by military, police and civilian
personnel involved in United Nations operations, welcomes the efforts
undertaken by United Nations agencies and peacekeeping operations to implement
a zero-tolerance policy in this regard, and requests the Secretary-General and
personnel-contributing countries to continue to take all appropriate action
necessary to combat these abuses by such personnel, including through the full
implementation without delay of those measures adopted in the relevant General
Assembly resolutions based on recommendations of the Special Committee on
Peacekeeping Operations.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 on the rights of the child, the UN
General Assembly:
11. Calls
upon States to take all necessary and effective measures, including
legal reforms where appropriate, to eliminate all forms of discrimination
against girls and all forms of violence, including female infanticide and
prenatal sex selection, rape, sexual abuse and harmful traditional or customary
practices …
…
29. Also calls upon all States to protect refugee,
asylum-seeking and internally displaced children, taking into account their
gender-specific needs, in particular those who are unaccompanied, who are
particularly exposed to violence and risks in connection with armed conflict,
such as recruitment, sexual violence and exploitation …
…
38. Calls upon all States:
(a) To criminalize and penalize effectively all forms of sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse of children, including all acts of paedophilia,
including within the family or for commercial purposes, child pornography and
child prostitution, child sex tourism, trafficking in children, the sale of
children and the use of the Internet and other information and communications
technologies for these purposes, and to take effective measures against the
criminalization of children who are victims of exploitation;
…
52. Condemns all forms of violence against children, including
physical, mental, psychological and sexual violence, torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment, child abuse and exploitation, hostage-taking,
domestic violence, trafficking in or sale of children and their organs,
paedophilia, child prostitution, child pornography, child sex tourism,
gang-related violence, bullying and harmful traditional practices, and urges
States to strengthen efforts to prevent and protect children from all such
violence through a comprehensive approach and to develop a multifaceted and
systematic framework, which is integrated into national planning processes, to
respond to violence against children.
In a resolution adopted in 2007 entitled “United Nations Comprehensive
Strategy on Assistance and Support to Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
by United Nations Staff and Related Personnel”, the UN General Assembly:
Deeply concerned by and strongly condemning all acts
of sexual exploitation and abuse committed by United Nations staff and related
personnel,
Reiterating its support to the Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance
policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, and recalling all relevant United Nations
standards of conduct and regulations, including the Secretary-General’s
bulletin on the special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and
sexual abuse.
SEE WEBSITE LINK FOR ADDITIONAL RESOURCES - https://www.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v2_rul_rule93