The Hague, 7 December 2012
The ICTY’s Outreach Programme today made its documentary film on the prosecution of wartime sexual violence available to online audiences across the world. Sexual Violence and the Triumph of Justice depicts the Tribunal's historic role in the prosecution and adjudication of wartime sexual violence. It includes interviews with former and current senior staff members of the ICTY, as well as testimonies from witnesses and survivors of sexual violence, who gave evidence at numerous trials. As of today, the film is available through the Tribunal’s website, as well as on its YouTube channel.
This feature-length documentary was originally released in December 2011, with a gala premiere being held in The Hague in February 2012. In the ensuing months, the film was screened to audiences across the former Yugoslavia, where it met with universal praise. Speaking after the screening in Belgrade, Serbia, Marijana Toma, historian and representative of the Humanitarian Law Centre, said: “During the armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, rape and sexual violence were widely used as weapons of war. These crimes destroyed the dignity of the victims and inflicted permanent suffering upon them. Therefore it is very important that crimes of sexual violence have been addressed by the Tribunal and that such a level of attention has been paid to them. We should never forget the courage of the victims, both men and women, who found the strength to testify before the ICTY and thereby ensure that those responsible were made to face the truth about their terrible crimes.”
Originally released in English and Bosnian/ Croatian/ Serbian, the film was subsequently translated into French, Macedonian and Albanian, and will be available online in all of these languages.
The production of this documentary forms part of the Tribunal’s efforts to raise awareness and understanding of the crimes committed during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, and its achievements in punishing those responsible and setting international legal precedents while doing so.