FIRST WOMAN SENTENCED TO LIFE IN RWANDA FOR GENOCIDE

FIRST WOMAN SENTENCED TO LIFE IN RWANDA FOR GENOCIDE

By Tamara Alfred
Impunity Watch Reporter

The only woman to ever be indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, Rwanda’s former minister of family and women affairs, was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 24 for genocide and rape, among other crimes.

Pauline Nyiramasuhuko (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)
Pauline Nyiramasuhuko (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

Nyiramasuhuko, 65, her son Arsene Shalom Ntahobali and the former mayor, Elie Ndayambaje, were all given life sentences.  Each had been convicted of extermination, rape and persecution as crimes against humanity during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.  Over 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis, were murdered during the conflict.

“Hoping to find safety and security, they [ethnic Tutsis seeking refuge in the local government] instead found themselves subject to abductions, rapes, and murder,” said Presiding Judge William Sekule.  “The evidence…paints a clear picture of unfathomable depravity and sadism.”

The judgment comes 10 years after the trial started and 16 years since the first arrest.  The case is considered the longest, largest and probably the most expensive in the history of international justice trials.  A total of 189 witnesses were presented and approximately 13,000 pages submitted into evidence, creating more than 125,000 pages of transcript.

Nyiramasuhuko, Ntahobali and Ndayambaje were convicted alongside three other accused, Sylvain Nsabimana and Alphonse Nteziryayo, both former governors of Butare prefecture, and Joseph Kanyabashi, the ex-Mayor of Ngoma Commune.

Nsabimana was sentenced to 25 years for failing to discharge his legal duty.  Nteziryayo was sentenced to 30 years for direct and public incitement to commit genocide during two speeches he delivered.  Kanyabashi was sentenced to 35 years for genocide.

While Nyiramasuhuko is the only woman to have been convicted by the ICTR, other women have been convicted by other courts in connection with the genocide.  A Roman Catholic nun was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a tradition Rwandan court and two other Catholic nuns were convicted by a Belgian court.

Between April and mid-June 1994, hundreds of Tutsis were rounded up by militia members in Butare.  Many were victims of assault and rape.  The genocide was triggered by the April 6, 1994 shooting down of a plane carrying Rwanda’s Hutu president.

In a statement, the United States hailed the judgments:  “This ruling is an important step in providing justice and accountability for the Rwandan people and the international community,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.  “This conviction is a significant milestone because it demonstrates that rape is a crime of violence and it can be used as a tool of war by both men and women.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – US hails Rwanda genocide verdict – 26 June 2011

All Africa – Rwanda: Woman Sentenced to Life for Genocide – 24 June 2011

BBC News – Profile: Female Rwandan killer Pauline Nyiramasuhuko – 24 June 2011

CNN – Ex-Rwanda minister jailed for life on genocide and rape counts – 24 June 2011

Trafficking sex slaves: a booming industry in the US capital

By Brianne Yantz
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON D.C., United States – Human trafficking is a booming business in the United States. Particularly popular is the sexual exploitation of trafficking victims, many of which are young boys and girls.  These child prostitutes are often lured in by false promises and then forced into a life as a “sex slave.”  Although cities across the U.S. are hubs for child prostitution, Washington D.C. has one of the highest rates of sex trafficking in the nation.

Tina Frundt, a former trafficking victim turned activist (Photo Courtesy of CNN). Tina Frundt, a former trafficking victim turned activist. (Photo Courtesy of CNN)

 

According to Examiner.com, a study funded by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2001 estimated that “300,000 runaway and throwaway youths under 18 have been sexually exploited.” ABC’s Good Morning America reported that in 2007 the U.S. Department of Justice had expanded that estimate to “between 100,000 and 3 million.”

Recently, CNN investigated and reported on the sex slave ring in D.C.  During the investigation, CNN’s Barbara Starr interviewed Tina Frundt, a former trafficking victim turned activist who works at a non-profit organization for victims of sex trafficking called Courtney’s House.  Frundt revealed to Starr that the average age of young girls being trafficked is between 11 and 14 years, and for boys it is between six and nine years old.

Frundt further revealed that at night the streets of D.C. are traffic controlled: the trafficker makes all the money.  The women and children live as slaves, being beaten and forced to work the streets every night.

Frundt’s interview with CNN brings the reality of the sex slave trade to the forefront. At the close of the report, she offers that “if President Obama had to walk out of his door, his front door, at two-three in the morning – he would go two blocks away and see traffickers forcing women and girls out on the street every night here in the United States.”

CNN also interviewed Bradley Myles, the Executive Director and CEO of the Polaris Project, an organization aimed at combating human trafficking and slavery, to discuss public unawareness.  Myles told Starr that most people who walk the streets of D.C. on a daily basis do not realize that at four and five in the morning those same street corners are used for prostitution.

Those who are aware of the trafficking and sexual exploitation in D.C. are extremely concerned.  Amanda Kloer, an Editor at Change.org, reported that “all this wealth, political power, and slavery happens within five square blocks of one another, in what may become the human trafficking capital of America.”

Kloer, who works in D.C., is extremely disturbed that from her own office window she can see “one of the most notorious corners for prostitution in the city.”

Despite its continued prevalence, there have been some efforts by the federal government to crackdown on sex trafficking.  In 2000, Congress passed anti-trafficking laws, which were reauthorized in 2006.  Both the Human Trafficking Task Force and the U.S. Justice Department’s Innocence Lost initiative, separate efforts that target violent and predatory pimps, have made use of the laws to impose stiffer penalties on those convicted.

Yet, cracking down in Washington D.C. has proved to be a challenge.  One reason may be because it is a small region where different legal jurisdictions intersect.  Maryland and Virginia abide by their respective state laws, while a mixture of both local and federal laws govern D.C.

Human trafficking is also a very lucrative business, which makes it extremely difficult for police to shut it down.  As CNN reported, “the sex trade alone is worth millions of dollars every year and the buyers keep on coming.”

For more information, please see:

 

CNN – Sex slaves in nation’s capital – June 24, 2011

Change.org – Human Trafficking Booming in Washington D.C. – June 28, 2010

The Washington Post – Activists Work to End Human Trafficking in D.C. – October 8, 2009

Examiner.com – Washington DC a sexual playground for pimps and johns: Exposing child prostitution rings in DC – March 18, 2009

ABC News – Teen Sex Slave Trade Hits Home – January 30, 2007

The Washington Post – Area Juvenile Sex Rings Targeted Using Anti-Trafficking Laws – March 6, 2006

 

Sudanese President Makes Visit to Beijing

By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch, Asia

BEIJING, China – Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir arrived in Beijing on July 5 following an unexpected delay for a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao which was initially scheduled to take place on July 4.

Bashir arrived in China on Tuesday after being invited to visit the country by Chinese president Hu Jintao (Photo Courtesy of International Business Times).
Bashir arrived in China on Tuesday after being invited to visit the country by Chinese President Hu Jintao (Photo Courtesy of International Business Times).

Indictments by the International Criminal Court against Bashir have made Beijing’s invitation to the Sudanese leader controversial and has led to condemnation by several rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Because China is not a member of the International Criminal Court, the country was not obligated to arrest Bashir once he presented himself in the country.

The International Criminal Court has indicted Bashir on charges of genocide for the mass killings that have occurred in the Darfur region of Sudan since the leader’s rise to office in 1993.

Richard Dicker, the director of Human Rights Watch’s international justice program stated that “Bashir’s flouting of international arrest warrants should be cause for condemnation, not for an invitation.”

Chinese President Hu Jintao reportedly invited Bashir to China to increase cooperation between the two nations and “exchange views on Sudan’s ongoing north-south peace process and the Darfur issue.”

Bashir’s visit comes just before the secession of South Sudan from the North which is expected to occur at midnight on July 9.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Sudanese Leader’s Visit Emphasizes China’s African Agenda – 29 June 2011

L.A. Times – Confusion as Sudan President Arrives Day Late in Beijing – 28 June 2011

Aljazeera – Bashir Visits China Ahead of S Sudan Split – 27 June 2011

War Crimes Prosecution Watch, Vol. 6, Issue 7– July 5, 2011

Volume 6, Issue 7 — July 5, 2011

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Central African Republic & Uganda

Darfur, Sudan

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kenya

Libya

AFRICA

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

EUROPE

European Court of Human Rights

Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia

MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal

War Crimes Investigations in Burma

NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

United States

TOPICS

Terrorism

Piracy

Universal Jurisdiction

REPORTS

UN Reports

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSIONS

Ivory Coast

Kenya

Thailand

COMMENTARY AND PERSPECTIVES

WORTH READING

War Crimes Prosecution Watch is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that compiles official documents and articles from major news sources detailing and analyzing salient issues pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes throughout the world. For more information about War Crimes Prosecution Watch, please contact warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org.