8 April 2000

Interview with Françoise Ngendahayo, Advisor on Gender Issues and Assistance to Victims at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). The interview takes place outside, and there is a lot of background noise. Ngendahayo explains her role in the tribunal and how it started after women's groups complained about the lack of sensitivity towards Rwandan women victims and witnesses. She talks about "gender gaps" in the provision of legal guidance and information to victims, in the participation of victims in the process, and in rehabilitation and support for victims during the hearings. She has also learned about other factors that were preventing women from testifying about sexual violence, such as cultural traditions and household responsibilities. Ngendahayo explains that they have tried to address these gaps at the investigative and administrative levels at the tribunal. She talks about how the ICTR has contributed to the ICC through the lessons learned about gender sensitivity. Ngendahayo reiterates the need for gender sensitivity and accommodating measures through an anecdote about a woman who was living in the house of the person who killed her husband and raped her sister and daughter. The woman asked where she would live if she were to testify against the perpetrator. Ngendahayo also recounts other instances where women witnesses were willing to testify but faced barriers such as needing to work or HIV-related illness. She then talks about the five women from Taba who came to testify in Jean-Paul Akayesu's case. Ngendahayo says that she went to visit the women after they had testified and told them that Akayesu had been sentenced to life; the women were happy. Ngendahayo then talks about the support she has received from the Women's Caucus, and the importance of women's solidarity. Next, there is an interview with Navanetham Pillay, Judge President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She says that after the first two years of the tribunal and twenty-one indictments, there were no counts of rape or sexual violence. This absence suggested to many women that investigators were not taking these crimes as seriously as killings or looting. Then, during Akayesu's trial, the judges realized that the victims were continually testifying to rape and sexual violence. The charges were amended, leading to the first historical conviction of rape as genocide. Pillay states that this conviction never would have happened without the courage of the women of Rwanda to testify. It is a precedent that can now be developed further. Pillay says that as they heard the testimonies, the judges realized that the definitions of rape used in national jurisdictions did not apply in war crimes situations, as women's experiences differed from these archaic definitions. In the Akayesu case, they developed a new definition of rape as the physical invasion of a sexual nature of a person under coercive circumstances. This new definition has already been used in two other cases. Pillay talks about the work of victims and witness protection units, such as relocation. She mentions other considerations like using pseudonyms, giving evidence behind curtains, being transported secretly, and safe houses. Nonetheless, Pillay empathizes with what women are saying about the lack of representation and access to justice for witnesses and survivors at the tribunals. This has been remedied in the ICC Statute. Pillay clarifies that women must testify in front on the accused, and that there is a balance between the protection of the testifier and the rights of the accused. Pillay discusses the importance of a gender balance within the court. Women need to occupy decision-making positions within the tribunal and in investigation. Finally, she talks about the incremental development from the tribunals to the ICC. Next is interview with Florence Mukamugema, who works at the National University of Rwanda and is a MA candidate in Human Rights and Democratization at the University of Pretoria. She discusses the ICTR and the importance of including rape as genocide, as it empowers women survivors by defining and defending their rights. She asserts the rape is one of the most inhuman acts, and that the ICC needs to emphasize its punishability.