Verdict due in Bosnia rape trial

Dragoljub Kunarac and co-defendants pleaded not guilty

By Geraldine Coughlan in The Hague

The International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague is to give its judgement on Thursday in the case of three Bosnian Serbs accused of forcing Muslim women into sexual slavery in the town of Foca during the first months of the conflict in Bosnia Hercegovina.

The case marks the first time that the tribunal has considered rape as a crime against humanity.

Zoran Vukovic: Could face life in prison if guilty

In 1992 and 1993, when the events occurred, human rights groups named Foca, in the south-east of the country, as the heart of darkness, where the women and girls, some as young as 12, were kept at a school, a sports hall, a motel and private homes.

The indictment alleges that they were subjected to a pattern of sexual assault by Bosnian Serb soldiers, and the prosecution argued that the Bosnian Serb army used systematic rape as a weapon of war in a state policy of ethnic cleansing.

But the defence says there is no evidence to prove this, and the accused deny the charges against them.

During the trial, Muslim women testified behind screens against Dragoljub Kunarac, Radomir Kovac and Zoran Vukovic.

Some of the women allegedly suffered gynaecological damage or had to give birth after being raped at Foca.

In 1993, there were reports of rape from all sides in the Bosnian conflict.

A European commission estimated there had been 20,000 rape victims.

The three men on trial face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Four other men indicted for rape crimes at Foca are still at large.