UC Berkeley War Crimes Studies Center

Silencing Sexual Violence - Recent Developments in the CDF Case at the Special Court for Sierra Leone

This report addresses the body of evidence pertaining to sexual violence recently excluded by Trial Chamber I of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) in the Civilian Defense Force (CDF) Case. Following a series of rulings by the Chamber, all considerations of serious allegations of systematic sexual violence on the part of one of the main parties to the Sierra Leone conflict have been excluded by the Special Court. Based on a court observer's notes, this report charts the history of the exclusion of sexual violence evidence in the trial of three members of the CDF.