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The Role Of Sexual Offences In Rwanda Genocide

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The Role Of Sexual Offences In Rwanda Genocide
Sexual offences are often used by combatants and and non combatantsnon-combatants in times of conflict for the advancement of military and political agenda. This was not different in former Yugoslavia and the Rwanda genocide of 1994. In the former state of Yugoslavia women were targeted while at the same time being forced to witness other crimes like murder being committed as part of a system of planned criminal activities. During the 1994 genocide, Rwandan women were subjected to sexual violence on a massive scale, perpetrated by members of the infamous Hutu militia groups known as the Interahamwe, by other civilians, and by soldiers of the Rwandan Armed Forces (Forces Armées Rwandaises, FAR), including the Presidential Guard. Administrative, military and political leaders at the national and local levels, as well as heads of militia, directed or encouraged both the killings and sexual violence to further their political goal: the destruction of the Tutsi as a group. …show more content…
In spite of the existence of widespread evidence of the commission of sexual offences during the Rwanda genocide the crime was generally given little attention by the UN Security Council in the early stages of the conflict. The reasons for this are is the perception that sexual offences are of a private nature, committed in isolated places with few if any witnesses. The offence is also viewed as a byproduct of war. Were it not for NGOs and advocacy groups that provided information on the commission of sexual offences the crimes would have remained out of the limelight for a much longer period and therefore escape
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