Sociolinguistic Challenges of Prosecuting Rape as Genocide at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda: the Trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu

Fletcher, N

Sociolinguistic Challenges of Prosecuting Rape as Genocide at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda: the Trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu

Fletcher, N

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Publisher:: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, 2021, pp. 1-18
Issue Date:: 2021-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Fletcher, N https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2092-0640
dc.date.accessioned	2021-04-29T23:47:04Z
dc.date.available	2021-04-29T23:47:04Z
dc.date.issued	2021-01-01
dc.identifier.citation	International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, 2021, pp. 1-18
dc.identifier.issn	0952-8059
dc.identifier.issn	1572-8722
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/148546
dc.description.abstract	The trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu is by far the most well known and widely discussed case at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), a distinction that can be attributed to the fact that it was groundbreaking for several reasons. However, with regard to the importance of this trial both as a precedent for subsequent ICTR cases and within the broader context of international jurisprudence, its most significant contribution has undoubtedly been the recognition and prosecution of rape as a means of perpetrating genocide. The task of collecting admissible evidence to that end was heavily impacted by the necessity of interpreting and translating witness testimonies from their original language of expression, Kinyarwanda, into the working languages of the Tribunal, French and English. The multiple challenges associated with this translation process concerned not only questions of semantic equivalence of specific lexical terms. They also highlighted the considerable ‘cultural collision’ that occurred in the courtroom between the Rwandan witnesses and the international judiciary. This article elucidates the complex task faced by the courtroom interpreters in navigating these linguistic and sociocultural considerations underpinning the evocations of rape within the evidentiary framework of the Akayesu trial.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Springer Science and Business Media LLC
dc.relation.ispartof	International Journal for the Semiotics of Law
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1007/s11196-020-09810-w
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess
dc.subject	1801 Law
dc.subject.classification	Criminology
dc.title	Sociolinguistic Challenges of Prosecuting Rape as Genocide at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda: the Trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.for	1801 Law
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/e-Press
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
utslib.copyright.embargo	2022-01-01T00:00:00+1000Z
dc.date.updated	2021-04-29T23:47:04Z
pubs.publication-status	Published

Abstract:

The trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu is by far the most well known and widely discussed case at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), a distinction that can be attributed to the fact that it was groundbreaking for several reasons. However, with regard to the importance of this trial both as a precedent for subsequent ICTR cases and within the broader context of international jurisprudence, its most significant contribution has undoubtedly been the recognition and prosecution of rape as a means of perpetrating genocide. The task of collecting admissible evidence to that end was heavily impacted by the necessity of interpreting and translating witness testimonies from their original language of expression, Kinyarwanda, into the working languages of the Tribunal, French and English. The multiple challenges associated with this translation process concerned not only questions of semantic equivalence of specific lexical terms. They also highlighted the considerable ‘cultural collision’ that occurred in the courtroom between the Rwandan witnesses and the international judiciary. This article elucidates the complex task faced by the courtroom interpreters in navigating these linguistic and sociocultural considerations underpinning the evocations of rape within the evidentiary framework of the Akayesu trial.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/148546