The Crime of Rape in International Humanitarian Law
![handle is hein.journals/usafa9 and id is 111 raw text is: The Crime of Rape in
International Humanitarian Law
FRANCES T. PILCH*
History has shown.. .that combatants often behave deplorably by
humiliating and raping women. Although such acts are serious
violations of international humanitarian law, they mostly go
unpunished. Acts of sexual violence are very often sporadic and
uncontrolled, but when they are committed repeatedly and even
systematically, women become a means for armed men to terrorize,
humiliate or even destroy an entire community.1
- International Committee of the Red Cross
Introduction
In September 1998, Jean-Paul Akayesu was found guilty of genocide
and crimes against humanity by Trial Chamber I of the International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).2 In addition to the fact that this
was the first conviction of the crime of genocide under international law,
this case was remarkable in its explicit inclusion of rape as an instrument
of genocide. Louise Arbour, chief prosecutor of both the ICTR and the
International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY), commenting on
the importance of the judgment in the evolution of international law
stated, [t]he judgement is truly remarkable in its breadth and vision, as
well as in the detailed legal analysis on many issues that will be critical to
the future of both the ICTR and ICTY, in particular with respect to the law
of sexual violence.3
The Akayesu case represents a milestone in the conceptualization of
rape as a crime under international law. For hundreds of years, the cries of
* Assistant Professor of Political Science, United States Air Force Academy.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/usafa9&div=10&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Crime of Rape in International Humanitarian Law
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