Most of the groundbreaking international jurisprudence on sexual violence has been generated by ad-hoc tribunals. But now, by acting on the letter sent to him by lawmakers, Biden can initiate a course correction. Though rape and sexual assault committed during conflict are legally considered atrocity crimes, they are rarely prosecuted by international and national courts. Regrettably, this only follows more general trends. Last year, the first sex crime verdict against a Serbian police officer was handed down in Pristina. Local courts in Kosovo are just beginning their own war crimes prosecutions. And the body has completely failed to prosecute perpetrators of sexual violence from that conflict. The letter also addressed other alleged crimes against humanity perpetrated during the conflict, including the case of three Kosovar Americans who were executed in Serbia in 1999.ĭespite its well documented human rights abuses and staggering death toll, only six men have been found guilty of crimes committed during the Kosovo War by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Goodman, the first woman to go public about her rape in Kosovo, testified before Congress in 2019, emotionally detailing her abuse. citizen born in Kosovo who was raped by a Serbian police officer as a 16-year-old girl in her village in 1999. According to Human Rights Watch, the assaults may have served as a means “to discourage women from reproducing in the future,” which indicates genocidal intent.Ī letter sent to Biden by Democratic Congressman Adriano Espaillat of New York and 15 of his colleagues in December requested the administration to urge Serbian President Aleksander Vucic to bring justice to the perpetrators who raped and tortured Kosovar women, citing the case of Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman, a U.S. ![]() An estimated 20,000 rapes of Kosovar women were carried out by Serbian soldiers and police during the conflict but, to date, only one has been prosecuted by a court of law, and it is now on appeal. President Joe Biden to seek redress and accountability from the government of Serbia. Following many years of organizing within the United States, Kosovar survivors of conflict-related sexual violence that occurred during the 1998 to 1999 Kosovo War are now pressing U.S.
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