Critiquing the impact of the Bemba acquittal for CRSV jurisprudence and the doctrine of command responsibility.

On June 8, 2018, a majority of the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) reversed the conviction of former military commander Jean-Pierre Bemba for the crimes against humanity of rape and murder and the war crimes of rape, murder, and pillaging committed by his troops in the Central African Republic (CAR) between October 2002, and March 2003. The decision was clearly a disappointment for the victims of the crimes committed by Bemba’s troops, who have been waiting for more than fifteen years for a measure of justice. Significantly, the acquittal also means that sixteen years after the Rome Statute came into force, and despite increasing recognition of the prevalence of sexual violence in the situations under the jurisdiction of the court, the ICC has yet to issue a single, final conviction for the crime of sexual violence.

A number of commentators have critiqued various aspects of the judgment, including the standard of review used by the Appeals Chamber. However, with few exceptions, little of this commentary has focused on the impact of the Appeals Chamber’s analysis of command responsibility under Article 28 of the Rome Statute on sexual and gender-based crimes. This Article aims to fill that gap.