To mark the 24th remembrance of the genocide in Rwanda, we are screening The Uncondemned. This documentary tells the gripping story of a group of young international lawyers, activists and Rwandan women. Together, they played a major role in the international recognition and prosecution of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
During the Rwandan genocide, starting on the 6th of April in 1994, an estimated 800.000 Rwandans were brutally killed in the space of 100 days. Soon after the genocide, it became clear that sexual violence had played a major factor during the mass murder and was used as a weapon of war.
Four years later, in 1998, judges of the Rwanda Tribunal gave an important verdict. For the first time a suspect was found guilty of using sexual violence as a weapon of war during a genocide: mayor Jean-Paul Akayesu. The documentary portrays this iconic trial.
After the movie, we will talk about the prosecution of sexual violence as a weapon of war and the judicial process regarding the trials. Did the case against Akayesu have a deterring effect on possible future perpetrators? What needs to be done to prosecute those who go unpunished? And how does sexual violence still play a role in today’s conflict areas?
Speakers
- Patricia Viseur Sellers. Special Adviser on gender-based crimes for the International Criminal Court (ICC). Patricia contributed to the trial against Akayesu.
- Anne-Marie de Brouwer. Co-founder Mukomeze Foundation and IMPACT: Center against Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence in Conflict.
- Closing remarks by H.E. Jean Pierre Karabaranga. Ambassador of the Embassy of Rwanda in the Netherlands.
- The moderator will be Pinar Okur. Board member Mukomeze Foundation.
About Mukomeze Foundation
The Mukomeze Foundation improves the conditions of life of women and girls who survived different forms of sexual violence during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. In the national language of Rwanda, Mukomeze means ’empower her’. The Foundation positively impacts the lives of these women and girls by attending to their physical, psychological, material, social, economical and spiritual needs in order to contribute to their empowerment. The foundation celebrates 10 years of existence.
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