Documenting Conflict and Atrocity Related Sexual Violence Crimes in CAR, Iraq, Myanmar and Sri Lanka: Country Supplements to the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict

CILRAP held the side-event ‘Documenting Conflict and Atrocity Related Sexual Violence Crimes in CAR, Iraq, Myanmar and Sri Lanka: Country Supplements to the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict’ at the 17th Session of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court. It was co-hosted by CILRAP, the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (‘CIJA’), the Institute for International Criminal Investigation (‘IICI’) and REDRESS, and sponsored by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (‘FCO’). The event was chaired by Dr. Emilie Hunter (Case Matrix Network), with the panellists Ms. Stephanie Barbour (CIJA), Dr. Ingrid Elliott MBE (Team of Experts, Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative and ICII expert), Ms. Priya Gopalan (IICI expert) and Mr. Andrew Murdoch (Legal Director, FCO). The aim of the side-event was to review the efforts to strengthen the pedagogical foundations of documentation for conflict and atrocity related sexual violence crimes.

The panel highlighted the importance of each of the four country-specific supplements to the International Protocol to ensure best documentation practices in national institutions. Panelists agreed that while international protocols are useful, they are generic. The four country-specific supplements help the contextualisation of sexual violence within each country. The discussion affirmed that a contextualised approach tends to support local actors in identifying gaps in their national law, assist practitioners in adapting their domestic efforts, raise awareness about the specificity of sexual violence, and contribute towards more accountability through improved documentation.

The panel identified some challenges facing documentation, including over-documentation, inadequate co-ordination, weak practitioner competences, flawed evidence processes, and inadequate legal frameworks in some countries. While the importance of documentation for the investigation process was acknowledged by the panellists, they highlighted the need to approach it with caution, as in some cases documentation may lead to reprisals against and intimidation of victims. Thus, the panellists stressed the significance of awareness of the local context for adequate documentation and investigation processes. 

The panel identified several actions points as we go forward: a) developing models and systems to facilitate co-ordination between different institutions and organisations; b) creating a toolkit to address structural stigmas in justice systems, to be used at both international and national levels; and c) creating more rehabilitation and trauma counselling programmes for survivors and victims.