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28 Syracuse J. Int'l L. & Com. 99 (2001)
Hearing the Cry without Answering the Call: Rape, Genocide, and the Rwandan Tribunal

handle is hein.journals/sjilc28 and id is 103 raw text is: NOTES HEARING THE CRY WITHOUT ANSWERING THE CALL: RAPE, GENOCIDE, AND THE RWANDAN TRIBUNAL Margaret A. Lyons* Beware of those who speak of the spiral of history; they are preparing a boomerang.' I. INTRODUCTION Rape constitutes an egregious violation of humanity.2 This un- speakable crime conjures up images of violence, hate and atrocity.3 In times of war, perpetrators attempt to undermine their enemies by using rape as a weapon of torture and hate.4 International criminal tribunals struggle with the issue of how to identify, define, and prosecute rape.5 Rape is not only an aggressive manifestation of sexuality but also a manifestation of aggression and severe torture.6 Historically, rape gen- erated a dearth of international attention.7 States with a duty to prose- cute war crimes see rape as an inevitable act of aggression by uncontrollable soldiers.8 Rape of women in the conquered territory by * J.D., Syracuse University College of Law, 2001; B.A., American Studies, cum laude, Hollins University, 1998. The author thanks Stephen J. Jones, Laura A. E. Beardsley, and Doug B. Rose. The author also thanks Veronica M. Lyons, Paul M. Kinzelman, and her grandparents: Adele and Gerald Kinzelman for their love and support. 1. See Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, quoted in PHILLIP GouREvrrCH, WE WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT TOMORROW WE WILL BE KILLED WITH OUR FAMILIES: STORIES FROM RWANDA 45 (1998), for an authoritative account of the genocide in Rwanda. 2. See generally, Rhonda Copelon, Surfacing Gender: Reconceptualizing Crimes Against Women in Time of War, in MASS RAPE: THE WAR AGAINST WOMEN IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVtNA 197 (Alexandra Stiglmayer ed., 1993). 3. Id. Rape is sometimes thought of as a natural, inevitable by-product of war but this should not lessen the violence of the act itself. 4. See generally Ruth Siefert, War and Rape: A Preliminary Analysis, in MASS RAPE: THE WAR AGAINST WOMEN IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA 54 (Alexandra Stiglmayer ed., 1993). For an in depth discussion of how Rape is similar to psychological torture sometimes used to achieve a military objective and how rape is the forgotten war crime. 5. Id. 6. Siefert, supra note 4, at 55. 7. Copelon, supra note 2, at 197. Copelon discusses how the international community his- torically forgets that rape occurred when the war is over. 8. Id.

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