9 The Picture of Sexual Violence in the Former Yugoslavia Conflicts as Reflected in ICTY Judgments

Subject(s):

Right to fair trial — Rape and sexual violence — Armed conflict

This chapter looks at the overall picture of sexual violence that emerges from International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) judgments—stemming from the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, crimes committed at the outbreak of conflict in Croatia in 1991 and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in 1992, the mass expulsion campaign in Kosovo in 1999, and the conflict in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in 2001. These judgments have documented widespread atrocities, including sexual violence crimes, committed throughout the different theatres of conflict. While this picture necessarily cannot present a comprehensive account of sexual violence in the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, it does provide an important baseline for reflection on the work of the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), particularly when viewed in light of reports about sexual violence from the early 1990s as set out in Chapter 2.