SUMMARY. The following is a brief summary of the main implications of the Foca indictment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. This case is mentioned in the interviews with McDonald and Viseur-Sellers. It is of central relevance to the concept of justice in relation to women's issues. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: getinfo@haworthpressinc.com]
KEYWORDS. Foca, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, rape, war crimes, Grave Breaches
On June 26, 1996, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia made history with the "Foca" indictment against eight Bosnian Serbs for the rapes, gang rapes, sexual assaults and sexual enslavement of women and girls living in this town in the southeast of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Muslim women and girls were detained in a number of sites, including houses, sports halls, detention centers, apartments and the Foca High School. They were raped, gang raped, tortured, enslaved, forced to perform domestic chores and sexual services on behalf of allies and friends of the perpetrators. In several instances, they were sold for profit by their masters. These crimes were carried out with either the active or passive knowledge of a number of individuals in positions of power, including paramilitary leaders and Dragan Gavovic, Foca's Chief of Police. In the indictment, they are charged with crimes committed against at least 14 victims, some of whom are young adolescents. Meanwhile, the eight perpetrators remain at large.
This is the first indictment in the history of International Humanitarian Law in which an International Criminal Tribunal has indicted male perpetrators for war crimes committed exclusively against women and girls in which all of the charges are related to sexual offenses. In turn, this means that there has been no "mainstreaming" of the war crimes committed against women.
Of course, this is not to say that the present Tribunal has never before charged a perpetrator for rape. But this is the first time that rape has not been bundled with several other charges or used as a means to achieve other ends. In short, the gendered nature of these crimes has been made entirely explicit: these are acts committed by men, in wartime, against women and girls because of their sex. Moreover, these crimes must be understood to be genderspecific because they are committed disproportionately against women, because they are women.
Yes, men do get raped, but it is mostly by other men and it happens less frequently than is the case for women. Yes, men are also enslaved, but usually it does not entail limited or unlimited sexual access to their bodies or forced impregnation.
Also to be stressed in this regard is the fact that such acts have neither the same attribution nor meaning for women and men, and thus the gender specific aspects of the same "act" must be carefully analyzed and understood. Quite simply, the narrow view that crimes committed against both women and men cannot, by definition, be considered gender specific overlooks the fact that women are routinely persecuted because they are women, whereas men are not persecuted simply because they are men. Moreover, when women are raped, the institutional and structural consequences are radically different than they are for men: the latter are not cast away by their wives; they are not seen as having dishonored their partners or families; they are not deemed to be unmarriageable; questions are not raised as to whether or not they were consenting, and so forth. As well, the implications of forced/ unwanted impregnation must be considered: death, botched abortions, sterility, horrific traumatization, unwanted children, abandoned children, stigmatized children, etc. For women in general and those living in the Former Yugoslavia in particular, we must look very closely at the intersections of class, religion/ethnicity and gender: women and girls were persecuted as Muslims, Croats or Serbs and as females. Men were persecuted as Muslims, Croats or Serbs. The crimes were directed principally against Muslims. However, in the case of rape, the problem is that women often suffer subsequent persecution at the hands of their own families and societies.
Also important in this indictment is that rape is typified as torture, both under Crimes Against Humanity and under Grave Breaches. However, there is continuing disagreement among legal experts as to whether the incidence of rape and enslavement must be massive and/or systematic to be considered Crimes Against Humanity, or whether it is sufficient that the rape itself be massive in its violence. There is no such debate in relation to Grave Breaches: one crime of rape, committed by one individual against one woman or girl once is deemed to be a serious war crime. The dualistic thinking that rape is bad when massive and/or systematic in scale hut not as bad when sporadic must be overcome. Describing it as torture also labels rape for what it is: torture and as such a serious war crime.
This is the first time that an International Criminal Tribunal has charged perpetrators with the sexual enslavement of females. This highlights once again the gender specificity of slavery, with women and girls forced to perform household duties, while their bodies become sexually accessible to their masters and their masters' associates.
It is hoped that this short summary of the main implications of the Foca indictment will prompt the feminist community to pay more attention to the significance of what has been happening at the Tribunal, particularly in relation to women's issues. We must insist that all indicted criminals be brought to trial and, if the political will continues to be lacking, then we must also ask that these eight perpetrators be subjected to the Tribunal's Rule 61, allowing the prosecutor to present further evidence against them and issue international warrants for their arrest. This will ensure that, if they are found guilty, they will become the international pariahs that they are. It will also ensure that we, as women, will get a chance to speak. Let us work towards this goal.
Address correspondence to: Sara Sharratt, PhD, P.O. Box 2292-1000, San Jose, Costa Rica.
[Haworth co-indexing entry note]: "The Foca Indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia" Sharratt, Sara. Co-published simultaneously in Women & Therapy (The Haworth Press, Inc.) VoL 22. No. 1, 1999, pp. 79-81; and: Assatdt on the Soul: Women in the Former Yugoslavia (ed: Sara Sharratt and Ellyn Kaschak) The Haworth Press, Inc., 1999, pp. 79-81. Single or multiple copies of this article are available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service [1-800-342-9678, 9:00a.m. 5:00 p.m. (EST). E-mail address: getinfo@haworthpressinc.com].
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