International Criminal Tribunal Research Articles

Defining an International Crime: Historical and Contemporary Developments

Despite the desirability of the identity of crimes being specific, the category of conduct constituting international crimes remains blurry. In consequence, the controversy over what is, or is not, an international crime has continued to rage on. Different criteria have been used to classify a specific conduct as an international crime. As a source of authority, some authorities point to the works of scholars, treaties, legal systems, the statutes of international criminal courts, or even works of the International Law Commission, to identify an international crime. Nevertheless, unanimity in identification remains elusive. Thus, this article examines differing perspectives on the constituents of international crimes. The analysis is relevant because the definition of crime forms the bedrock of international criminal justice. However, the paper finds that leaving the category of conducts constituting an international crime open, facilitates the inclusion of other grave or emerging forms of criminality, which may also rise to the threshold of the crimes within the jurisdiction of international criminal tribunals. Although this may appear advantageous, the need for predictability, consistency and uniformity in the categorization of an international crime cannot be overemphasized

Crimes against humanity: concepts and signs

The relevance of the article is obvious because the terrible crimes committed by the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine shook not only Ukrainian society but also the whole world. Russian military personnel and their command commit large-scale and systematic attacks on the civilian population - brutal murders, torture, torture, rape, enslavement, extermination, deportations, imprisonment, the crime of apartheid and other illegal acts of a cruel nature directed against the people of Ukraine.
 The relevance of the study is also related to the fact that the Criminal Code of Ukraine (hereinafter - the Criminal Code of Ukraine) does not contain a definition of crimes against humanity, unlike other crimes such as military or war crimes. We will try to figure out how the actions of criminals will be qualified by Ukrainian courts and who will be held criminally responsible at the international level in the event that crimes against humanity are committed in Ukraine.
 «Crimes against humanity» as a separate group of crimes in international law was first reflected in the joint declaration of the governments of France, Great Britain and Russia on May 28, 1915 as a protest against the genocide committed by Turkey against the Armenian population. The result of the criminal events was the killing of more than a million people, prompting the international community to label this shameful act as a «crime against civilization and humanity» for which the leaders of the Turkish government should be held accountable.
 Crimes against humanity are crimes designed to destroy the very nature of man. These crimes are considered the most heinous crimes, because they mean deliberate mass killings either by the fact of the very existence of people (crimes against humanity) or by the fact of belonging to an ethnic or national group (genocide).
 In a number of international documents, such as: the Statute of the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal, article 6c; Charter of the International Military Tribunal in Tokyo, Article 5c; Law No. 10, adopted by the Control Council of the Allied Powers in Germany in 1945, Article II, 1c; UN Convention of December 9, 1948 on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide and its Punishment; Statutes of international criminal tribunals for Yugoslavia, Art. 3-5 and Rwanda Art. 2-3; Statute of the International Criminal Court, Art. 7, such international crimes as crimes against humanity are reflected, from this it follows that universal jurisdiction extends to crimes against humanity.

Acceptance of international criminal justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina

When the XIV Winter Olympic Games took place in Sarajevo in 1984, nobody expected that war would begin only seven years later and kill hundreds of thousands of people living in the former Yugoslavia. That millions of them would be ethnically cleansed and displaced, most of them for good. That hundreds of mass graves would be scattered around, and that war crimes unseen in Europe since the Second World War would be repeated. That severe crimes like systematic rape, torture, and massive destruction of cultural heritage and property would finally culminate with genocide. Consequently, Bosnia and Herzegovina (and the countries of the former Yugoslavia) triggered an immense boost in international criminal law and international criminal justice. That experience, during and after the war that took place from 1992 to 1995, can offer lots of valuable input. Not everything that had been done was good or perfect, but it was of great importance for the further development of international criminal law and international criminal justice in a world that is still searching for appropriate responses to the grave war crimes that occur every day, and for the development of mechanisms and practices that will ensure justice for victims and society and be perceived as such. The atrocities of the Bosnian War served as a wake-up call for the international community, highlighting the urgent need for mechanisms to hold perpetrators of such heinous crimes accountable. The establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia marked a significant milestone in this regard, pioneering the prosecution of individuals responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed during the conflict. However, challenges persist in ensuring access to justice for all victims and addressing the root causes of conflict to prevent future atrocities. The lessons learned in Bosnia and Herzegovina remain crucial in shaping efforts to achieve lasting peace and accountability worldwide.

Justice in the Practice of International Criminal Tribunals, in the Context of the Tasks of Contemporary International Humanitarian Law

Transitional justice, which today has become a widespread and very useful concept, which allows the transition from an authoritarian system to the rule of law, which aims to establish a democratic regime that respects human rights - and what is important not at the level of declarations and applicable methods, but, first of all, this must become the philosophical basis of his daily life. The purpose of transitional justice is to restore the dignity of the victims, to establish mutual trust between the antagonistic groups, to favor the institutional exchange necessary for a new relationship within the population that will allow the establishment of a state of law, including through an effective control of the practice of total or partial impunity. The various constitutive elements of transitional justice generally combine reparative measures of restorative justice (Truth and Reconciliation Commissions), meanwhile establishing parallel mechanisms of punitive justice (especially in relation to the main responsible or direct executors of the most serious crimes).2 On the other hand, transitional justice claims to reform the institutional system, restoring the primacy of law and ensuring the functioning of judicial institutions for the future, fighting in the meantime against impunity for the crimes committed during the previous period. In this sense, transitional justice pursues a multiple goal within the framework of an end to a conflict, in which other imperatives are imposed on government officials - the disarmament of combatant forces, the restoration of citizens' security, the compensation of victims and the restoration of the economy of devastated societies. After being neglected for a long time, the victim is at the center of current political concerns and is the object of a constantly growing interest, mainly in the criminal field and not in social discourses.3 But this phenomenon, positive from some aspects, is not without problems and arouses controversial debates among researchers and actors of the criminal world. This imposition of the victim seems to exist not only in the criminal system, but also in the current socio-political terrain. This predominance is observed in many Western states, lately becoming dominant to some extent both in international criminal law and in international humanitarian law, being taken into consideration the burden of victims in the status granted to them in armed conflicts. The participation of victims in the criminal procedure is generally a recent phenomenon, which seems to be far from being accepted. Victims played and play a secondary role in the tribunals previously established by the International Criminal Court (ICC).4 They were considered only as a means in the de facto absence of a participation or compensation system. Under the influence of strong pressures, the tendency to take into account the opinions and concerns of the victims, including admission in the criminal procedure, became visible in national and international law, and with the involvement of non-governmental organizations and states, the basis of a system was laid that provides for a relatively broad participation of victims in ICC trials. Even if its modalities are still the subject of harsh discussions, it is generally recognized that it is an important and useful tool that would allow victims of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law to be heard and to hope for possible reconciliation.5 The evolution of the process of increasing interest in victims is the result of political, social and legal tensions that started in the 1960s, with the implementation of state policies regarding victim compensation and the development of victim defense associations, being influenced by the social movement that opted for civil and women's rights. We find that taking the victim into consideration in social and penal policies has progressed in a meteorological manner. National and international investigations allowed taking into account the victims' dissatisfaction with the criminal system, which led to a genuine experience of secondary victimization, which has as a general consequence the tendency of a weak denunciation of the criminal acts to which they were subjected. They also emphasized the diversity and extent of trauma suffered by some victims, especially after going through interpersonal violence, such as rape or family violence. In addition, towards 1950, a new discipline had developed, a component of criminology, but which very quickly became autonomous - victimology. This field of research focuses on the study of the victim, on his psychological and physical reactions to the sustained achievement, but also on his experience of relying on the act of justice and society in general. These various findings gave rise to state structures to help victims, which have spread throughout the world. The victim thus became a political stake.

Review of Fidahić (2021): Linguistic Justice at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Review of Fidahić (2021): Linguistic Justice at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Haunting justice: queer bodies, ghosts, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

This article was named the winner of the 2022 Enloe Award. The committee commented:   Using a queer hauntological approach to read queer bodies in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the seemingly innocuous language of judges, legal counsels, and witnesses, the author illuminates the ways in which queer lives are made absent in international law and in experiences of war, peace, and justice. By rendering queer lives as “ghosts,” the author shows how the “straight, binary, and cisgender subject,” be it victim or perpetrator, is maintained in international criminal justice. Going beyond critique by centering a queer archive created by queer people about their experiences of the war, the article stood out to the committee as an important contribution to international law and beyond. By rendering queer lives “intelligible and grievable and as lives that matter,” it continues Cynthia Enloe’s legacy of finding sex and gender where it has been hidden. Ultimately, the author does not call for the inclusion or assimilation of queer experiences into liberal international criminal justice discourses, which co-opt and empty radical politics. Successfully showing how “haunting” represents a radical call for “alternative worlds,” the article provides an original challenge to move beyond mere inclusion. The committee commends the author for their careful scholarship and deep theorization.

Gravity of the crime and early release: A comparative study of early release practices in international tribunals

Abstract The gravity of the crime committed has been considered ‘a factor of fundamental importance’ when deciding the early release of a person convicted by the ad hoc tribunals. Hence, most of the decisions rendered by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, for Rwanda and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals include this factor and determine whether it weighs in favour of or against early release. Conversely, when deciding the reduction of the sentence in the case of Thomas Lubanga, the International Criminal Court Panel stated in 2015 that ‘unlike at other international criminal tribunals, the gravity of the crime committed is not a factor that in itself weighs for or against reduction of sentence’. In fact, none of the decisions delivered by the International Criminal Court to date mention gravity. This drastic change reflects the differences in the corresponding statutes and rules of procedure and evidence and ultimately seeks to avoid a double count since the gravity of the crime committed is arguably the most important factor in the determination of the sentence. This divergence is examined in greater detail in this article, drawing on comparative, empirical research to establish the role played by gravity in early release decisions. Ultimately, it is argued that although the explanatory power generally attributed to gravity is often overrated, it is essential to a thorough early release assessment, whether included as a prerequisite per se or indirectly integrated into a wider prognosis of the risk of recidivism.

Pain as the Essence of Torture: Exploring the Characteristics and Requirements of the Element of “Pain or Suffering” in the Crime Against Humanity of Torture

Abstract Pain is the very essence of torture. This article explores the element of “pain or suffering” in the crime against humanity of torture and contributes to the existing literature by identifying the characteristics and requirements of such element within international criminal law. In particular, it examines, discusses and compares the case law of the International Criminal Tribunals in order to determine the specific characteristics that pain must possess for the mistreatment to qualify as torture as well as the required level of severity of pain and the subjective and objective criteria used for the assessment of such severity. At the same time, it also explores the case law of the echr on torture and compares the approach of this Court towards this crime with the approach of the International Criminal Tribunals to determine the extent of the echr’s contribution to the definition of torture in international criminal law.

The Prosecution of Atrocity Crimes in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, between Accountability Logic and Political Strategies

Abstract Several efforts have been undertaken to uphold the liability for atrocity crimes in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Even though the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and domestic courts opened proceedings against alleged perpetrators of atrocity crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa Republic, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, Burundi, and Rwanda, these prosecuting efforts are viewed as pursuing political strategies. Based on documentary analysis and an online research survey, this research paper shows evidence of accountability logic and political strategies. Although the undertaken efforts are in line with the logic of accountability, they remain under the influence of political strategies. The research findings highlight that political strategies have been influencing criminal law codification and its enforcement.

Advancing European Integration in Central and Eastern Europe: A Comprehensive Examination of Reconciliation and Collaborative Progress in the Western Balkans

This article examines the European Union’s integration efforts in the Western Balkans within the broader context of Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on the challenges and strategies post-Yugoslavia. It outlines the EU’s application of “conditionality” in guiding candidate countries towards democratic governance and market-oriented economies, emphasizing the Copenhagen Criteria for accession. The text explores the unique challenges faced by the Western Balkans, including historical conflicts and political turbulence, and discusses the EU’s Stabilization and Association Process (SAP) as a mechanism for facilitating integration. Additionally, it highlights the importance of legal reforms, cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and the advancement of ethnic harmony and minority rights as prerequisites for EU membership. The article concludes with an assessment of regional cooperation and the progress towards reconciliation, underscoring the EU’s role in promoting stability and development in the region.

Criminological specificity of war crimes, their difference from crimes against humanity and genocide

At the present day sometimes crime of genocide is practically described as a crime against humanity, and the latter is characterized as war crimes. Although some similarity does exist between these kinds of crimes, they have different peculiarities by their constituent elements. These peculiarities possibly may be linked with warfare, but it wouldn’t be correct to bind them entirely with warfare. This difference can be found even in the charters of international criminal tribunals, particularly in various articles of Statute of the International Criminal Court: crime of genocide in Article 6, crimes against humanity in Article 7, and war crimes in Article 8 respectively. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity and crime of genocide can be perpetrated both in times of warfare and peace. It’s always important to distinguish the latter from war crimes.

Ethical challenges of using trial transcripts for research purposes: A case study of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Abstract Drawing on three years of empirical research, the article explores four ethical challenges of working with trial transcripts: lack of participant consent; impossibility of research reciprocity; the risk that one’s use of these materials can be harmful to the local communities, and the risk that this use might be harmful to the researchers themselves.

Ethnic Tensions and Global Response: Disentangling the Complexities of the Bosnian War

This article critically examines the Bosnian War within the broader framework of international law, with a specific focus on understanding its role in managing ethnic conflicts. The aim is to analyze the effectiveness of international law in addressing the complex dynamics of ethnic strife, particularly in the context of post-Cold War Yugoslavia. The key hypothesis guiding this research posits that international legal mechanisms, while crucial, faced significant challenges and limitations in effectively resolving the ethnic conflicts that characterized the Bosnian War. The study delves into the historical and socio-political factors fueling ethnic tensions in Yugoslavia, highlighting how nationalism and ethnic separatism culminated in widespread violence. The article critically evaluates the international response to the conflict, including the effectiveness of UN Peacekeeping Forces and the Dayton Peace Agreement, and discusses the broader implications for global peace and security. Furthermore, the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is explored as a key development in international law. The study assesses the impact of the ICTY on promoting accountability and justice, and its role in facilitating reconciliation efforts post-conflict. The findings of this study have significant relevance for contemporary international law, offering insights into its potential in preventing and resolving ethnic conflicts in a rapidly changing global landscape.

Agresija NATO-a na SRJ 1999. godine - provera efikasnosti novih borbenih sredstava

Introduction/purpose: During the 1999 NATO attack on Yugoslavia, three new weapons were used and tested for the first time. The first is the strategically invisible B-2 bomber, the second is the new JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Ammunition) and the third is the "soft bomb", or the blackout bomb, made of thin electrically conductive fibers. The aim of the paper is to present the new combat devices used during the aggression on the FRY and to quantitatively detect the elements of electrically conductive fibers. The paper also presents the lawsuit of the Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. The lawsuit was rejected Methods: Physical and chemical analyzes of the fibers were performed. An electron microscope, SEM JSM Jeol 6610LV, was used to analyze the physicochemical characteristics of electrically conductive fibers. It provides the information on the morphology of the sample surface, resulting in a high-resolution image. The microscope is equipped with an X-ray detector (Oxford Instrumets X-Max 20 mm2) for EDS analysis (Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy). It enables the determination of the chemical composition of the material in the analyzed sample volume, based on the interaction between the directed electron beam and the sample atom. Results: The characteristics of the B-2 stealth aircraft used to bomb the FRY are shown. The JDAM bomb is an improved ordinary MK bomb with electronic devices added to guide the bomb via satellites. A semiquantitative analysis of the fibers was performed on the SEM, confirming that the metal layer of the fiber predominantly consists of aluminum, and the non-metallic layer has the highest proportion of silicon dioxide. The fiber is carcinogenic. Conclusion: In 1999, the territory of Yugoslavia was a testing ground for new combat weapons of NATO aviation - B-2 and JDAM guided bombs. Blackout bombs were dropped on the electrical power systems of Yugoslavia leaving the whole Serbia without electricity for hours. Not only was the bombing-caused environmental pollution radiological and chemical but it was also caused by glass-aluminum electrically conductive fibers as pollutants.

Constricted rights and imagined identities: Peace and accountability processes and constitution-making in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract This article takes an interdisciplinary law-in-context approach to examine the nature of constitutionalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We argue that while the new constitution was necessary for implementing the postwar democratic transition and rebuilding processes, its fixed ethno-religious collective political identities achieved between 1992 and 1995 by forceful means have further reinforced ethno-territorial divisions in a multicultural society. As a consequence,the individual and state accountability for mass atrocities and genocide before the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia and theInternational Court of Justice have become secondary to the postwar power-sharing arrangement, thus perpetuating inter-ethnic tensions. The dominant focus on a social order that reasserts citizenship and constitutional rights based on ethnic identities has created an enduring deadlock for the Bosnian transition. This article reimagines a citizen-based constitution generated by political participation for those in and outside of Bosnia and Herzegovina that safeguards the principles of non-discrimination and equal civil, political, socio-economic, and cultural rights, and encourages citizens’ education and democratic participation to shape the future of democracy.

International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Tribunals

International humanitarian law is the branch of customary and treaty-based international positive law whose purposes are to limit the methods and means of warfare and to protect the victims of armed conflicts. Grave breaches of its rules constitute war crimes for which individuals may be held directly accountable and which it is up to the sovereign states to prosecute. However, should a state not wish to, or not be in a position to prosecute, the crimes can be tried by international criminal tribunals instituted by treaty or by binding decision of the United Nations Security Council. This brief description of the current legal and political situation reflects the state of the law at the dawn of the twenty-first century. It does not, however, describe the work of a single day or the fruit of a single endeavor. Quite the contrary, it is the outcome of the international community’s growing awareness, in the face of the horrors of war and the indescribable suffering inflicted on humanity throughout the ages, that there must be limits to violence and that those limits must be established by the law and those responsible punished so as to discourage future perpetrators from exceeding them.

Assessing the International Criminal Court’s response to genocide: a reference to the case of Al-Bashir

ABSTRACT On the 75th anniversary of the Genocide Convention, the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC), as constituted under the Rome Statute, in responding to genocide is worth evaluating. This article assesses the effectiveness of the ICC in addressing genocide, with a focus on the Al-Bashir Case (case concerning genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur, Sudan) - the first ICC proceeding against a sitting Head of State charged with genocide. It first singles out the ICC’s role in promoting international solidarity to prevent genocide, break cycles of violence, and enhance the likelihood of prosecution. It also discusses the legal obligation to strengthen international cooperation for the Al-Bashir Case, under the Genocide Convention, and considers the relevant contexts of the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The analysis has incorporated legal and criminological literature, alongside scholarship of international relations from voluminous resources. This article emphasises the ongoing necessity for international cooperation within the ICC to effectively implement its mechanisms: investigation, prosecution, principle of complementarity, and deterrence. It suggests that this aim can be attained through encouraging Member States of both the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention to actively participate in responding to genocide.

The Content and Function of Cosmopolitanism in a Selection of International Criminal Law Tribunals

Reasoning and justifications before the international criminal tribunals and courts (ICTs) have not always strictly kept to legal rules and/or legal standards. At times, philosophical structures were used directly in argument. Consequently, this article is, in particular, concerned with cosmopolitanism in arguments and judgments from a selection of counsel and judges emanating from the Nuremberg and Tokyo International Military Tribunals as well as the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).  It aims to provide an analysis of how the different generations of ICT and the different role-players therein used cosmopolitanism in their arguments. While not a treatise on cosmopolitanism as such, the article will identify and consider several broad cosmopolitan strands relevant to the selected arguments. The ensuing analysis will propose a taxonomy of specific arguments from the selected role-players addressing (1) the existence of a homogeneous civilisation and/or common morality as a descriptive truth or falsity, (2) the progressive realisation of the international society as a normative aspiration and (3) the relationship of the duty to the international community versus that owed to the domestic community of birth. Thereafter, the article will discuss plausible functions, in addition to persuasion, served by these arguments (including winning the case, undermining or supporting the legitimacy of the ICL proceedings in their entirety and/or controlling the subsequent historical narrative). Finally, the article will situate these investigations within the broader study of philosophy at the selected ICTs.

ZLOČIN GENOCIDA U PRAVU O ODGOVORNOSTI / THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE IN LAW OF RESPONSIBILITY

The paper deals with the issue of the responsibility of the main subjects of international law for grave breaches of obligations arising from the imperative norms of general international law in relation to the commission of the crime of genocide. The focus of this paper is in certain aspects of the relationship between individual criminal responsibility and the international responsibility of States and international organizations, which should be interpreted as two separate systems of responsibility in international law. Each system has its own special fundaments, features and characteristics. Consequently, the starting point is that the responsibility of States for genocide does not depend on the responsibility of individuals for the crime, although the International Court of Justice has made extensive use of the conclusions of the chambers of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. (Judgment from 2007). The paper therefore analyzes the question of the existence of a theoretical legal possibility for the so-called indirectly proving the responsibility of States (and international organizations) for genocide through a prior examination of the criminal responsibility of leaders, but also through proving a joint criminal enterprise for the purposes of committing the crime, or do these conceptions represent a starting point for the responsibility of the main subjects of international law or they are simply "proof" of the attribution of the act to a State? In this paper, we examine whether a joint criminal enterprise could be a reflection of a State plan and/or policy for committing the crime of genocide and how a collective plan or policy for committing that crime could be interpreted. After all, are they actually a dolus specialis of this crime, that is, whether a genocidal intent is manifested in a State precisely in a plan or policy?

Some characteristics of the perpetrators and victims of war rape prosecuted before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina

During the international armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995, numerous crimes were committed, among which crimes of rape are at the top of the scale of brutality. It is estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 women and girls were raped in the aforementioned conflict, of which the largest number of these atrocities were committed by members of the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS (MUP RS) and related paramilitary formations against Bosniak (muslim) women. It is to be assumed that an extremely large number of perpetrators were involved in the commission of the crimes in question, but unfortunately, a relatively modest number of suspects were prosecuted before the competent courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the neighboring Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Serbia. Within the framework of this work, the research focus is on the prosecution of war rapes before the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the beginning of the work of the mentioned court until today (2005-2023). In the indicated period, 70 wartime rape cases involving 109 defendants were processed before this judicial forum. Out of that number, 55 cases were finally concluded, with convictions in 41 cases and acquittals in 14 cases. The subject of the research was some individual characteristics of perpetrators and victims of war rape. The research sample consisted exclusively of cases in which a final conviction was passed (N=41), in which 51 defendants were declared guilty of war rape and 80 victims of this crime were identified. The research established that all the convicts were male. In addition, 72% of those convicted were members of the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), 16% of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (RBiH Army) and 12% of the Croatian Defense Council (HVO). All members of the RBiH Army were convicted of war rape which is legally qualified as a war crime against the civilian population, which is a criminal offense that, according to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CC BiH), does not include the existence of a widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population. On the other hand, the largest number of members of the VRS and four members of the HVO who were prosecuted for wartime rape were convicted of having committed that crime as a crime against humanity, which included a campaign of widespread, massive and systematic criminal activity connected with other crimes (murder , torture, imprisonment, deportation of the population, enforced disappearance, etc.). About half of those legally convicted of war rape before the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina were convicted for crimes committed in eastern Bosnia (Foča 24%, Višegrad 16%, Vlasenica 6% and Rogatica 2%). At the same time, approximately 1/3 of wartime rapes (31%) were committed in a camp, 10% in a public place, and the largest number in a private house or apartment (59%). A significant number of those convicted of these crimes had been convicted before (35%) and were married (78%). Ninety-eight percent (98%) of war rape victims were female and 2% were male. The vast majority of victims (87%) were Bosniaks, while 8% were Serbs and 5% were Croats. However, the fact that almost every fifth victim of war rape (21%) was a minor at the time of committing the crime is particularly striking. The research established that most of the rapes of minors during the international armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina were carried out by members of the Serbian (para)military and police forces in Bosnia nad Herzegovina, as well as a few members of the HVO.