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ICC takes sex crimes seriously in Bemba trial

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The trial of Congo’s former vice president, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo is breaking new ground at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The trial is not only the first to focus on sex crimes but also the first time all judges in the court will be women.

And it is the first time in ICC’s history in which rapes vastly outnumber the counts of murder, AllAfrica.com reports.

“Sexual violence is at last being treated the way women have always experienced it – as a tactic of war and terror,” says Margot Wallström, the Secretary-General’s representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Bemba, Congo’s former Vice-President, is on trial for crimes committed in the Central African Republic between 2002 and 2003.

Bemba’s case is groundbreaking on several fronts:

  • It is the first time an ICC trial is centred on sex crimes including rape as a war crime, and rape as a crime against humanity.
  • This is the first time, in any war crimes tribunal, where three female judges are on the bench. Presiding Judge Sylvia Steiner from Brazil is joined by Judge Kuniko Ozaki from Japan and Judge Joyce Aluoch from Kenya.
  • Bemba is the highest level official to be tried in ICC history
  • Petra Kneuer is the first female trial attorney to take the lead in a case before the ICC.
  • Bemba is the first person to be tried for crimes committed by his subordinates. The prosecution argues that he failed to prevent and punish crimes committed by troops under his control.

Though the trial began on November 22, the case was originally brought to the ICC’s attention in 2003. After conducting an independent investigation in 2007 the ICC issued a warrant for Bemba’s arrest in 2008.

The Open Society Justice Initiative is also following the case.

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