Gender Report Card on the International Criminal ... - YWCA Canada

Trial Proceedings
and ‘partial’. 1435 The Defence suggested that
Bemba did not enjoy effective control and
command over the troops, and expressed
surprise at the absence of any charges against
those who did, including President Patassé and
General Miskine. 1436 The Defence concluded by
requesting the Trial Chamber to acquit Bemba.
Witness testimony
From the start of trial on 22 November 2010
until 16 September 2011, Trial Chamber III
heard approximately 220 days of testimony by
28 witnesses, including three expert witnesses
called by the Prosecution, who testified for a
total of nine days. Among these 28 witnesses, 14
witnesses, including two expert witnesses, were
called to testify directly about sexual violence. 1437
A further eight witnesses also mentioned rape
in their testimony. 1438 Witnesses also testified
on the use of child soldiers and on looting by
soldiers of ransacked areas. In this time period,
ten female witnesses testified before the Court,
eight of whom were direct victims of sexual
violence.
1435 ICC-01/05-01/08-T-32-ENG, p 51 lines 13-25; p 52 lines
1-21.
1436 ICC-01/05-01/08-T-32-ENG, p 52-55.
1437 The Prosecution called twelve crime-based witnesses
(Witnesses 22, 87, 68, 23, 81, 82, 80, 79, 29, 119, 42 and
73) and two expert witnesses (Witness 221, Dr Adeyinka
Akinsulure-Smith, and Witness 229, Dr André Tabo) to
testify directly about sexual violence.
1438 Apart from the 14 witnesses who were called by the
Prosecution to testify directly about sexual violence, the
following eight witnesses also mentioned rape in their
testimony: Witness 38, ICC-01/05-01/08-T-33-Red-ENG,
p 39, 53-55, ICC-01/05-01/08-T-34-Red-ENG, p 9-13, 40,
52; ICC-01/05-01/08-T-35-Red-ENG, p 54 lines 19-25, p
55 line 1, ICC-01/05-01/08-T-36-Red-ENG, p 29-32 and
ICC-01/05-01/08-T-37-Red-ENG, p 14-16, 17, 25, 32;
Witness 63, ICC-01/05-01/08-T-110-Red-ENG, p 4-6, 17
and ICC-01/05-01/08-T-113-Red-ENG, p 36 lines 19-25;
Witness 209, ICC-01/05-01/08-T-122-Red-ENG, p 29-31,
36; Witness 112, ICC-01/05-01/08-T-129-Red-ENG, p 47
lines 4-22, p 49 lines 10-21; Witness 108, ICC-01/05-
01/08-T-132-Red-ENG, p 41 lines 8-14; Witness 173,
ICC-01/05-01/08-T-144-Red-ENG, p 56-57 and ICC-01/05-
01/08-T-145-Red-ENG, p 29 line 11, p 38; Witness 178,
ICC-01/05-01/08-T-152-Red-ENG, p 30-32; and Witness
33, ICC-01/05-01/08-T-159-Red-ENG, p 40 lines 17-19.
This section includes selected witness
testimonies given in open session and made
available on the ICC’s website as of 16 September
2011. Extensive testimony was given in closed
or private session, and the identifying details of
many of the witnesses were also given in closed
or private session. Three witnesses testified
almost entirely in closed session (Witness 75,
Witness 63 and Witness 169). For these reasons,
the descriptions of the witnesses and their
testimonies are necessarily limited. The section
focuses primarily on the direct testimony
of witnesses called by the Prosecution, with
summaries of issues raised by the Defence teams
and Legal Representatives of Victims included
only where relevant. The Defence team’s
arguments will be reviewed more thoroughly
once it has presented its case at a later stage of
the proceedings, along with the positions of the
Legal Representatives of Victims.
The section focuses in particular on the
testimony given by witnesses about the sexual
violence committed by the MLC soldiers,
often referred to as the Banyamulengue. The
Prosecution called twelve crime-based witnesses
who testified directly about sexual violence; at
least nine of them were direct victims of sexual
violence. Ten witnesses testified about gangrape
and multiple rapes. At least nine witnesses
testified that the Banyamulengue were armed
while committing rape and threatened their
victims with their weapons. A number of
witnesses testified that the MLC soldiers did
not say anything during the rapes. At least ten
witnesses testified about the profound social
impact of the rapes, and told the Court that
they felt embarrassed about what happened.
Some also spoke about the stigma attached to
the crime, which caused their communities to
ostracise them. At least four witnesses spoke
about being abandoned by their families as a
consequence of the rape. Five witnesses testified
that they continue to suffer from depression. At
least seven witnesses testified about the rape of
children.
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