Last month, the International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba of crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated by his rebel group, the Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC). It is a breakthrough case for a number of reasons. It establishes the strongest precedent to date for holding high-level commanders responsible for the actions of their soldiers, even when controlling troops from a distance, and it is the first ICC case that puts a spotlight on prosecuting sexual violence as a war crime. The United Nations tribunals for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda have passed down high-profile convictions for rape as a war crime and crime against humanity, but this marks the first time the ICC has prosecuted rape as a crime against humanity.
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Jocelyn Kelly, the director of Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s (HHI) Women in War program
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