Panel Discussion: Reparation for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Africa
Briefing Paper
by Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), FIDA Uganda, Independent
Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), Kenyan Section of International Commission of Jurists
(ICJ Kenya), Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), Refugee Law Project (RLP), and
The REDRESS Trust
October 2016
The undersigned organisations prepared this Briefing Paper to provide background
information to the Panel Discussion on Reparation for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in
Africa which will be held in the margins of the 59th Ordinary Session of the African Commission
for Human and People’s Rights (‘African Commission’). The objective of the Panel Discussion is
to advocate for the rights of victims of sexual violence by sharing their expressed immediate
and long term needs for comprehensive reparation and by identifying measures that the
African Commission and State Parties to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights
(‘African Charter’) should undertake to meet these demands.
Underlying Issues
Sexual violence committed during conflict against females and males is rampant in many states,
including in Uganda and Kenya. This suggests the existence of systemic problems in a number
of State Parties to the African Charter.
In Uganda, during the war waged between government and rebel forces from 1986 to 2006,
rape and other forms of sexual violence were committed on a large scale. The main rebel force,
the Lord’s Resistance Army, abducted young girls to serve as “wives” for combatants on a
massive scale.1 Members of the government armed forces were also responsible for various
forms of sexual violence.2
1 Human Rights Center, Universtiy of Berkeley,
Abducted: The Lord’s Resistance Army and Forced Conscription in Northern Uganda, June 2007.
2Justice and Reconciliation Project, My Body, A Battlefield – Survivors’ Experiences of Conflict Sexual Violence in Koch Ongako, Nov 2015.
1
In Kenya, different actors, including police, special forces as well as private actors committed
sexual violence against women and men during the 2007/2008 post-election violence,
including different forms of rape, such as anal and gang rape.3 Men belonging to a certain
ethnic group were forcibly circumcised.
In Sudan, Government forces and allied militia have been implicated in widespread levels of
sexual violence in the conflict areas of Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.4 Sudanese
government forces continue to attack villages and bomb civilian areas indiscriminately, and to
block humanitarian aid groups and other independent bodies from accessing affected areas,
seriously impairing any efforts by civil society groups to verify incidents and support
reparation measures. Authorities denied peacekeepers from the African Union-United Nations
Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) appropriate access to verify reports of the mass rape in October
2014 of more than 200 women and girls by Sudanese armed forces in Tabit, North Darfur.i
Shortly after, Sudan asked UNAMID to close its office in Khartoum.
The impact of this violence, and the government’s on-going reluctance in these countries to
recognise and respond to these violations, continue to have a devastating effect on victims.
Many of the victims we support in these countries continue to suffer from the consequences of
serious injuries to their reproductive organs, infections with HIV/Aids and other sexually
transmitted diseases, and a range of related sexual and reproductive health challenges. Many
have suicidal thoughts or tried to commit suicide or show other symptoms of mental health
problems. The majority are struggling to financially support their families, especially women
with children born of rape or forced marriage/conjugation during captivity. Their overall
situation is exacerbated by the hostility and stigma they often face from their communities as a
result of the sexual violence they suffered.
There are virtually no government programs to assist victims with their socio-economic
recovery, medical and psychosocial care and parental responsibilities. Victims are seeking
different forms of reparation, including financial compensation, free medical treatment and
counselling, as well as livelihood assistance. Some of these services are now being provided to
the victims of sexual violence by civil society and in Uganda also by the Trust Fund for Victims
of the International Criminal Court.
In Sudan, deep-seated stigma associated with sexual violence crimes and a lack of political will
to acknowledge these crimes, together with a woefully inadequate legal framework for their
prosecution, result in a lack or reporting or prosecution. Legal immunities for officials
including members of the police, National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) and armed
forces prevent the investigation or prosecution of crimes committed by officials.
The Governments of Uganda, Kenya and Sudan have not sufficiently responded to the needs of
the victims despite victims’ right to reparation under international law, including for instance
Articles 1, 5 and 7 of the African Charter as well as Article 2(f) of the Protocol to the African
3Anastario MP et al., Time Series Analysis of Sexual Assault Case Characteristics and the 2007-2008 Period of Post-Election Violence in Kenya,
PLoS ONE 9(8): e106443.
4
Coalition of NGOs, “Sudan: Joint Civil Society Statement regarding Sexual Violence in Conflict”, 20 June 2016.
2
Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol). This right obligates State Parties
to provide comprehensive, effective, adequate and accessible reparation in consultation and
with the participation of victims. Their inadequate response is also contrary to the
Commission’s Resolution on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Women and Girls
Victims of Sexual Violence (Resolution on Sexual Violence) in which the Commission urges
State Parties to, amongst other things, put in place efficient and accessible reparation
programmes and to ensure that victims have access to medical assistance and psychological
support.5
Recommendations to State Parties









Prioritise and adopt the necessary legal frameworks for the establishment of
comprehensive and effective investigation, prosecution and reparation programmes,
which are gender-sensitive and victim-centred, in consultation with victims and civil
society, in line with the African Commission’s Resolution on Sexual Violence.
Link any adopted reparation frameworks to existing transitional justice structures and
processes.
Ensure implementation of such reparation programmes by setting up necessary entities
and allocating the funds required.
Create an interim reparation fund to remedy urgent needs of victims of conflict-related
sexual violence.
Put in place measures to change negative attitudes and discrimination towards victims
of sexual violence, such as education and awareness raising campaigns, in line with
Article 5(a) of the Maputo Protocol.
Vet and train law enforcement officers and members of the armed forces with a view to
prevent the commission of sexual violence in the future, in line with the African
Commission’s Resolution on Sexual Violence.
Provide effective legal and policy frameworks, adequate resources and infrastructure,
and capacity development to enhance care and treatment of victims, to investigate and
prosecute of sexual violence, to protect victims and witnesses both during peace times
and conflict situations.
Put in place measures that guarantee non-repetition of and effective responses in the
event of conflict-related sexual violence.
Include in Periodic Reports submitted to the African Commission under Article 62 of the
African Charter, detailed information on the steps taken to implement the measures
highlighted in the African Commission’s Resolution on Sexual Violence.
African Commission, Resolution 111 on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Women and Girls Victims of
Sexual Violence, November 2007, at http://www.achpr.org/sessions/42nd/resolutions/111/.
5
3
Recommendations to the African Commission

Use the opportunity of promotional, fact-finding and special mechanism visits to call on
Member States to provide comprehensive, effective and adequate reparation for victims
of conflict-related sexual violence.

Commission the Special Rapporteur on Rights of Women to conduct a study on
reparation programs for victims of conflict-related sexual violence.

Based on the study, adopt a General Comment on Article 4(2)(f) of the Maputo Protocol
to provide guidance to states on reparation for victims of violence against women.
Systematically monitor the establishment and implementation of reparation
programmes during the state reporting procedure and during promotional, fact-finding
and special mechanism visits.


In respect of Sudan, consider urgently dispatching an investigation team, with expertise
in sexual and gender-based violence, to investigate crimes under international law and
serious violations and abuses of human rights in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile,
and provide recommendations for effective remedies and reparations for victims.
Information on Organisations
FIDA Uganda is a Ugandan human rights organisation which uses a feminist and rights based
approach in order to address the underlying causes of abuse, including patriarchy, injustice
and exclusion.
Refugee Law Project is an outreach project of the School of Law, Makerere University, which
pursues justice for forced migrants.
REDRESS is an international non-governmental human rights organisation that helps
survivors of torture and other international crimes obtain justice and reparation.
In Kenya, Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), Physicians for Human Rights
(PHR), Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), and the Kenyan Section of International
Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya) are supporting litigation by victims of conflict-related
sexual violence seeking orders from the Constitutional Court that the Government must
investigate and prosecute the perpetrators and provide reparations to the victims.
The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) is a non-profit, non-governmental
organization working to monitor and promote respect for human rights and legal reform in
Sudan.
i
UN News Centre, “‘Deeply troubled’ by Darfur rape allegations, Ban urges ‘unfettered’ access to town”, 17 November 2014; Human
Rights Watch, “Mass Rape in Darfur,” 11 February 2015.
4