Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T06:53:53.008Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sexual Violence beyond Reasonable Doubt: Using Pattern Evidence and Analysis for International Cases

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Xabier Agirre Aranburu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Establishing the pattern of crime is fundamental for the successful investigation of international crimes (genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity). A pattern of crime is the aggregate of multiple incidents that share common features related to the victims, the perpetrators, and the modus operandi. Pattern evidence and analysis have been used successfully, mainly in the investigation of large‐scale killings, destruction, and displacement; the use for sexual violence charges has been remarkably more limited. There is a need to overcome this gap by setting proper methods of data collection and analysis. At the level of evidence collection, under‐reporting should be addressed through victimization surveys or secondary analysis of data available from different sources. At the level of analysis, the available evidence needs to be subject to impartial examination beyond the pre‐conceptions of the conflict parties and advocacy groups, in compliance with scientific standards for quantitative, qualitative, and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) methods. Reviewing the different investigative experiences and jurisprudence will help to set the right methodology and contribute most efficiently to putting an end to the impunity regarding sexual crimes.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , Fall 2010 , pp. 855 - 879
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2010 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aitken, C. G. G., and Taroni, Franco. 2004. Statistics and the Evaluation of Evidence for Forensic Scientists. 2nd ed. Chichester, UK: Wiley.Google Scholar
Aldous, Peter. 2008. Sexual Abuse of Male Soldiers Common in Liberian War. New Scientist, Aug 12. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14522‐sexual‐abuse‐of‐male‐soldiers‐common‐in‐liberian‐war.html (accessed August 18, 2010).Google Scholar
Alliance for Direct Action against Rape in Conflicts and Crises. 2006. Documenting Sexual Violence in Conflict: Data and Methods: An Annotated Bibliography. http://www.alliancedarc.org/downloads/news/Annotated_Bibliography_on_sexual_violence_in_conflict.pdf (accessed January 3, 2010).Google Scholar
Amowitz, Lynn L., Reis, Chen, Lyons, Kristina Hare, Vann, Beth, Mansaray, Binta, Akinsulure‐Smith, Adyinka M., Taylor, Louise, and Iacopino, Vincent. 2002. Prevalence of War‐Related Sexual Violence and Other Human Rights Abuses among Internally Displaced Persons in Sierra Leone. Journal of the American Medical Association 287 (4): 513–21.Google Scholar
Anastario, Michael P., Larrance, Ryan, and Lawry, Lynn. 2008. Using Mental Health Indicators to Identify Postdisaster Gender‐Based Violence among Women Displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Women's Health 17 (9): 1437–44.Google Scholar
Aranburu, Xabier Agirre. 2003. Los delitos de agresión sexual en el Tribunal Penal Internacional de Naciones Unidas para la Antigua Yugoslavia. In Mujer, derecho y sociedad: Violencia contra las mujeres en conflictos armados, ed. Luengo, Sabina Diaz, Stoffels, Ruth Abril, and Caballero, Susana Sanz, 39–63. Valencia, Spain: Cruz Roja Española.Google Scholar
Aranburu, Xabier Agirre. 2009. Prosecuting the Most Responsible for International Crimes: Dilemmas of Definition and Prosecutorial Discretion. In Protección Internacional de Derechos Humanos y Estado de Derecho, ed. Gonzalez, J., 381–404. Bogotá, Colombia: Grupo Editorial Ibáñez.Google Scholar
Asher, Jana, Banks, David, and Scheuren, Fritz J., eds. 2008. Statistical Methods for Human Rights. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Askin, Kelly D. 1997. War Crimes against Women: Prosecution in International War Crimes Tribunals. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff.Google Scholar
Askin, Kelly D. 2005. The Jurisprudence of International War Crimes Tribunals: Securing Gender Justice for Some Survivors. In Listening to the Silences: Women and War, ed. Durham, Helen and Gurd, Tracey, 125–53. Leiden, the Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff.Google Scholar
Ball, Patrick. 1996. Who Did What to Whom? Planning and Implementing a Large Scale Human Rights Data Project . Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science.Google Scholar
Ball, Patrick. 2000. Policy or Panic? The Flight of Ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, March‐May 1999 . http://shr01.aaas.org/kosovo/policyorpanic (accessed August 19, 2010).Google Scholar
Ball, Patrick, Betts, Wendy, Schueren, Fritz, Dudukovich, Jana, and Asher, Jana. 2002. Killings and Refugee Flow in Kosovo, March‐June 1999. http://shr.aaas.org/kosovo/icty_report.pdf (accessed December 16, 2009).Google Scholar
Ball, Patrick, Spirer, Herbert F., and Spirer, Louise, eds. 2000. Making the Case: Investigating Large Scale Human Rights Violations Using Information Systems and Data Analysis. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science. http://shr.aaas.org/mtc (accessed January 3, 2010).Google Scholar
Brownmiller, Susan. 1975. Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape . New York: Fawcett Columbine.Google Scholar
Centre for Rights Education and Awareness. 2008. Women Paid the Price: Sexual and Gender‐Based Violence in the 2007 Post‐Election Conflict in Kenya. http://creawkenya.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=100&Itemid=127 (accessed March 5, 2010).Google Scholar
Commission of Inquiry on the Post‐Election Violence. 2008. Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Post‐Election Violence. Available at http://www.communication.go.ke/documents/CIPEV_FINAL_REPORT.pdf (accessed January 2, 2010).Google Scholar
Challen, Stephen. 1993. Richard Korherr and His Reports . London: Cromwell Press.Google Scholar
De Brouwer, Anne‐Marie L. M. de. 2005. Supranational Criminal Prosecution of Sexual Violence: The ICC and the Practice of the ICTY and the ICTR . Antwerp, Belgium: Intersentia.Google Scholar
Dueck, Judith, Guzman, Manuel, and Verstappen, Bert. 1993. HURIDOCS Events Standard Formats: A Tool for Documenting Human Rights Violations . Oslo, Norway: HURIDOCS.Google Scholar
Dueck, Judith, and Noval, Aída María. 1993. HURIDOCS Events Standard Formats: Supporting Documents . Oslo, Norway: HURIDOCS.Google Scholar
Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme . 2003. War Crimes in the Central African Republic: “When the Elephants Fight, the Grass Suffers”. No. 335. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/46f146560.html (accessed May 29, 2010).Google Scholar
Gastwirth, J. L., ed. 2000. Statistical Science in the Courtroom . New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Gottschall, Jonathan. 2004. Explaining Wartime Rape. Journal of Sex Research 41 (2): 129–36.Google Scholar
Harries, Keith. 1999. Mapping Crime: Principle and Practice. Washington, DC: Crime Mapping Research Center. http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/178919.pdf (accessed May 26, 2010).Google Scholar
Hoover, Amelia. 2009. Learning the Hard Way at the ICTY: Methods and Strategies for Presenting Statistical Evidence of Human Rights Violations. Draft paper presented at the Expert Meeting on Collective Violence and International Criminal Justice: An Interdisciplinary Approach, organized by the Amsterdam Centre of Interdisciplinary Research on International Crimes and Security, June, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Kaiyuan, Zhang, ed. 2001. Eyewitnesses to Massacre: American Missionaries Bear Witness to Japanese Atrocities in Nanjing . New York: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Kilpatrick, Dean, and McCauley, Jenna. 2009. Understanding National Rape Statistics. National Online Resource Center on Violence against Women. http://new.vawnet.org/Assoc_Files_VAWnet/AR_RapeStatistics.pdf (accessed January 3, 2010).Google Scholar
Kisuke, Connie. 2008. Rape: A Critical Analysis . Nairobi, Kenya: Uzima.Google Scholar
Loue, Sana. 2000. Epidemiological Causation in the Legal Context: Substance and Procedures. In Statistical Science in the Courtroom, ed. Gastwirth, J. L., 263–80. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Luping, Dianne. 2009. Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual and Gender‐Based Crimes before the ICC. American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law 17:433–94.Google Scholar
MarcCrimmon, Marilyn, and Tillers, Peter. 2002. The Dynamics of Judicial Proof, Computation, Logic, and Common Sense . New York: Physica‐Verlag.Google Scholar
Meintjes‐Van der Walt, Lirieka. 2001. Expert Evidence in the Criminal Justice Process: A Comparative Perspective . Amsterdam: Rozenberg.Google Scholar
Mijatovic, Boris. 2006. “Statistical Evidence” for the Investigation of International Crimes. http://www.ssm.lu/pdfs/2006_2_12.pdf (accessed August 19. 2010).Google Scholar
Nowrojee, Binaifer. 1996. Shattered Lives: Sexual Violence during the Rwandan Genocide and Its Aftermath . New York: Human Rights Watch.Google Scholar
Nowrojee, Binaifer. 2004. We Can Do Better Investigating and Prosecuting International Crimes of Sexual Violence. http://www.coalitiondroitsdesfemmes.org/site/publications/papers/doBetter_en.php (accessed May 26, 2010).Google Scholar
Nowrojee, Binaifer. 2005. “Your Justice Is Too Slow”: Will the ICTR Fail Rwanda's Rape Victims? Occasional Paper 10, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. http://www.coalitiondroitsdesfemmes.org/site/pdf/binaifer_paper.pdf (accessed May 26, 2010).Google Scholar
Nowrojee, Binaifer. 2007. A Lost Opportunity for Justice: Why Did the ICTR Not Prosecute Gender Propaganda? In The Media and the Rwanda Genocide, ed. Thompon, Allan, 362–74. London: Pluto Press.Google Scholar
Petersen, Andreas Höfer, and Tullin, Lise‐Lotte. 2006. The Scorched Earth of Darfur: Patterns in Death and Destruction Reported by the People of Darfur, January 2001‐September 2005. Copenhagen, Denmark: Bloodhound. http://www.bloodhound.se/06_04_26_DARFUR_report.pdf (accessed May 26, 2010).Google Scholar
Physicians for Human Rights. 2002. War‐Related Sexual Violence in Sierra Leone. A Population‐Based Assessment . http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/documents/reports/sexual‐violence‐sierra‐leone.pdf (accessed August 18, 2010).Google Scholar
Rafter, Nicole H., and Heidensohn, Frances, eds. 1995. International Feminist Perspectives in Criminology . Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Rejali, Darius. 1996. After Feminist Analyses of Bosnian Violence. Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice 8 (3): 365–71.Google Scholar
SáCouto, Susana, and Cleary, Katherine. 2009. The Importance of Effective Investigation of Sexual Violence and Gender‐Based Crimes at the International Criminal Court. American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law 17 (2):338–58.Google Scholar
Silva, Romesh, and Ball, Patrick. 2008. The Demography of Conflict‐Related Mortality in Timor‐Leste (1974–1999): Reflections on Empirical Quantitative Measurement of Civilian Killings, Disappearances, and Famine‐Related Deaths. In Statistical Methods for Human Rights, ed. Asher, Jana, Banks, David, and Scheuren, Fritz J., 117–39. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Sivakumaran, Sandesh. 2007. Sexual Violence against Men in Armed Conflict. European Journal of International Law 18 (2): 253–76.Google Scholar
Swiss, Shana, and Giller, Joan E. 1993. Rape as a Crime of War: A Medical Perspective. Journal of the American Medical Association 270 (5): 612–15.Google Scholar
Swiss, Shana, Jennings, Peggy J., Aryee, Gladys V., Brown, Grace H., Jappah‐Samukai, Ruth M., Kamara, Mary S., Schaack, Rosana D. H., and Turay‐Kanneh, Rojatu S. 1998. Violence against Women during the Liberian Civil Conflict. Journal of the American Medical Association 279 (8): 625–29.Google Scholar
Tabeau, Ewa. 2003. Needs for Demographic and Statistical Expertise at the International Criminal Court. http://www.icc‐cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/library/organs/otp/brunborg.pdf (accessed May 26, 2010).Google Scholar
Thornhill, Randy, and Palmer, Craig T. 2000. A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Totten, Samuel, and Markusen, Eric, eds. 2006. Genocide in Darfur: Investigating the Atrocities in the Sudan . New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Travis, Cheryl Brown, ed. 2003. Evolution, Gender and Rape . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
United Nations. 2009. International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991 . http://www.icty.org/x/cases/milutinovic/tjug/en/jud090226‐e3of4.pdf (accessed May 26, 2010).Google Scholar
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 2008. The Nature, Scope and Motivation for Sexual Violence against Men and Boys in Armed Conflict. http://ochaonline.un.org/OchaLinkClick.aspx?link=ocha&docId=1092305 (accessed January 15, 2010).Google Scholar
Viseur‐Sellers, Patricia. 2005. The Other Voices: Interpreters and Investigators of Sexual Violence in International Criminal Prosecutions. In Listening to the Silences: Women and War, ed. Durham, Helen and Gurd, Tracey, 155–64. Leiden, the Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff.Google Scholar
Viseur‐Sellers, Patricia. 2009. Gender Strategy Is Not a Luxury for International Courts. American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law 17:301–25.Google Scholar
Ward, Jeanne. 2002. Addressing Gender‐Based Violence in Refugee, Internally Displaced and Post‐Conflict Settings. Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium. http://www.rhrc.org/resources/gbv/ifnotnow.html (accessed August 19, 2010).Google Scholar
Whisnant, Rebecca. 2009. Feminist Perspectives on Rape. In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2009 Edition), ed. Zalta, Edward N. http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2009/entries/feminism‐rape (accessed May 29, 2010).Google Scholar
Wood, Elisabeth. 2008. Sexual Violence during War: Toward an Understanding of Variation. In Order, Conflict and Violence, ed. Kalyvas, Stathis N., Shapiro, Ian, and Masoud, Tarek, 321–51. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wood, Elisabeth. 2009. Armed Groups and Sexual Violence: When Is Wartime Rape Rare? Politics & Society 37 (1): 131–62.Google Scholar
World Health Organization. 2007. WHO Ethical and Safety Recommendations for Researching, Documenting and Monitoring Sexual Violence in Emergencies. http://www.who.int/gender/documents/OMS_Ethics&Safety10Aug07.pdf (accessed May 26, 2010).Google Scholar