The First Rape Conviction at the ICC: An Analysis of the Bemba Judgment

On 21 March 2016, the International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, a Congolese politician, of crimes against humanity (rape and murder) and war crimes (rape, murder and pillage). Specifically, the Trial Chamber found Bemba, the leader of the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC), to be responsible under Article 28 of the ICC Statute for crimes committed by MLC soldiers in the Central African Republic. Bemba was the first defendant to be convicted of rape at the ICC, and the aim of this article is to explore how the judgment contributes to existing international jurisprudence on this crime. It focuses on the Trial Chamber's definition of rape, its discussion of the effects of rape and its reflections on the perpetrators' motives for committing rape.