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

Trial Proceedings
Witness 22 confirmed that none of the men who
raped her used a condom, and that all of them
ejaculated into her. 1447 She said that when she
resisted, the first man threw her down on her
bed and pressed his weapon against her neck.
The weapon remained there when the other two
men raped her. 1448 She added that the soldiers
did not speak to her while raping her. When the
Prosecution asked the witness how she felt during
the assaults, the witness stated: ‘The day in my
mind, when they brutalised me, after I got up and
I found my entire family and we fled that day, I
wanted to commit suicide.’ 1449
During questioning by the Legal Representatives of
Victims, Witness 22 testified that she had a fiancé,
but that he left her after the rape; the break-up
was linked to the rape. 1450 She added that she knew
of more women in her community who had been
raped, but could not say whether they had been
abandoned by their partners as well. 1451
Witness 87 was described as a very vulnerable
witness and, prior to her testimony, Presiding
Judge Steiner outlined the in-court protective
measures granted to this witness, which included
the use of a pseudonym, and face and voice
distortion. A large portion of her testimony was
given in private session. She was accompanied by a
support person from the VWU during testimony as
well as the presence of a psychologist in Court. The
witness had also been accompanied by a support
person during her travel to The Hague. Presiding
Judge Steiner reminded the parties to ask short,
simple and open-ended questions, and not to
pose embarrassing or unnecessarily intrusive
questions. 1452 She also reminded the Defence not
to use the terminology ‘cross-examination’, but
instead to refer to its questioning simply as an
‘examination’. 1453
1447 ICC-01/05-01/08-T-41-Red-ENG, p 13 lines 8-20.
1448 ICC-01/05-01/08-T-41-Red-ENG, p 13 line 25, p 14 lines 1-10;
p 18 lines 13-19.
1449 ICC-01/05-01/08-T-41-Red-ENG, p 17 lines 14-15.
1450 ICC-01/04-01/08-T-42-Red-ENG, p 17 lines 6-9.
1451 ICC-01/04-01/08-T-42-Red-ENG, p 20 lines 9-15.
1452 ICC-01/05-01/08-T-44-Red-ENG, p 3 lines 21-24.
1453 ICC-01/05-01/08-T-45-Red-ENG, p 12 lines 12-18.
Witness 87 testified that Congolese soldiers looted
their house and that they raped her and killed her
brother. She told the Court that they dragged her
behind the house to rape her and did not speak to
her. 1454 She testified that she was gang-raped by
three soldiers.
Q
A
Q
A
Q
A
Q
A
What part of your body did the first
perpetrator penetrate
I had a wrap wrapped around my waist
and I was wearing underwear under
that. I was wearing a T-shirt. When they
took me behind the house, they took
off the wrap-around, they took off my
underwear on one side of my legs. He
opened up his zipper, or the button of his
pants, and he did that with his left hand.
After he opened the zipper, he brought
out his penis and he put it in my vagina.
That is the part of the body that he
penetrated my body with.
[…]
While this first perpetrator was sleeping
with you, where was his gun
The first person had his weapon in his
right hand. They had the flashlight in the
left hand, but he put the flashlight down
on the ground.
Where did the perpetrator put the gun
while he was raping you
When he raped me, he put the weapon
on the ground and he protected the hand
-- well, he had his hand on the weapon
which was on the ground.
When the first Banyamulengue raped
you, Madam Witness, in which position
were you
I was down on the ground and I had my
two hands behind my head when he was
sleeping with me.
1454 ICC-01/05-01/08-T-44-Red-ENG, p 38 lines 11-25.
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