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25 Temp. Int'l & Comp. L.J. 393 (2011)
Rape and Forced Pregnancy as Genocide before the Bangladesh Tribunal

handle is hein.journals/tclj25 and id is 399 raw text is: RAPE AND FORCED PREGNANCY AS GENOCIDE BEFORE THE BANGLADESH TRIBUNAL Alexandra Takai* I. INTRODUCTION Rape as an act of genocide is a recent and controversial topic in international law. When genocide first emerged as an international crime in response to the atrocities committed by the Nazis during World War 11, sexual violence was not part of the discourse. In 1948, when the Genocide Convention was established to define and codify the crime of genocide, rape was still viewed as an inevitable byproduct of war' rather than a deliberate strategy. It was not until 1998 in the landmark case of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Prosecutor v. Akayesu,2 when rape was successfully prosecuted as an act of genocide. In the wake of Akayesu, the international legal community is beginning to recognize genocidal rape as a distinct crime. During the 1971 Liberation War, in which Bangladesh seceded from Pakistan,3 it is estimated that between 200,000 and 400,000 women were raped,4 and thousands became pregnant as a result.5 Four decades later, Bangladesh's International Criminal Tribunal (the Tribunal) began to charge individuals for crimes committed during the Liberation war.6 The Tribunal has yet to establish a prosecutorial plan for sexual crimes, opening up debate * J.D. (expected May 2012), Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law; B.A., Bucknell University. The author would like to thank Professor Margaret deGuzman for her guidance and insight and Andrew Morrison for his support throughout the writing process. I would also like to thank the Temple International & Comparative Law Journal staff for their hard work and assistance. 1. See SUSAN BROWNMILLER, AGAINST OUR WILL: MEN, WOMEN, AND RAPE 85-86 (1975) (stating that the mass rape of Bangladesh was not a unique occurrence as other examples of war experienced a comparable frequency of rape). 2. Prosecutor v. Akayesu, Case No. ICTR-96-4-T, Judgment (Sept. 2, 1998), available at http://www.un.org/ictr/english/judgements/akayesu.html. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was created in the wake of the 1994 civil war between Hutus and Tutsis. Id. 112-29. In 1998, the ICTR held Jean Paul Akayesu guilty for committing genocidal rape during the 1994 civil war in Rwanda. Id. 734. 3. See infra text accompanying notes 10-15. 4. Lisa Sharlach, Rape as Genocide: Bangladesh, the Former Yugoslavia, and Rwanda, 22 NEW POL. Scl. 89,94 (2000). 5. BROWNMILLER, supra note 1, at 84. 6. Bangladesh Charges Four with War Crimes from 1971, MONSTERS AND CRITICS.COM (July 26, 2010, 1:51 PM), http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/southasia/news/article_1573290.php/Banglad esh-charges-four-with-war-crimes-from-1971. 393

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