Burundi
Practice Relating to Rule 93. Rape and Other Forms of Sexual Violence
Burundi’s Regulations on International Humanitarian Law (2007) lists “rape” as a “crime against humanity”.
Burundi’s Law on Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes (2003) states:
[The following are] considered as war crimes:
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B. Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflicts, within the established framework of international law, namely, any of the following acts:
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u) committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions;
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D. Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflicts not of an international character, within the established framework of international law, namely, any of the following acts:
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f) committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, and any other form of sexual violence also constituting a serious violation of Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions.
Burundi’s Penal Code (2009) states:
“War crimes” means crimes which are committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes, in particular:
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2. … [S]erious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict, within the established framework of international law, namely, any of the following acts:
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22°. Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, as defined in article 197(6°), enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave breach of the [1949] Geneva Conventions;
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5. … [S]erious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflicts not of an international character, within the established framework of international law, namely, any of the following acts:
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6°. Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, as defined in article 197(6°), enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave breach of the [1949] Geneva Conventions.
The Code also states: “‘Forced pregnancy’ means the unlawful confinement of a woman forcibly made pregnant, with the intent of affecting the ethnic composition of any population or carrying out other grave violations of international law.”