UN orders Bosnia to compensate woman raped by soldier during war

Campaigners said the complaint by the Bosnian Muslim woman, who was raped by a Bosnian Serb soldier in 1993, could serve as a precedent, allowing sexual violence victims to demand compensation globally under international laws on torture.

The Committee’s decision was reached in early August and has been reviewed by Reuters but not yet officially published.

The woman, whose identity has been protected throughout the process, was raped in 1993 near Sarajevo. Her rapist was convicted and ordered to pay her 15,000 euros in compensation, but was unable to do so because he did not have the money.

The Committee found that the state must pay her instead, and set up a scheme so that other victims owed similar compensation could also receive it. The case was brought by the woman with the support of Trial International, a non-governmental organisation helping victims of sexual violence.

The United Nations estimates that at least 20,000 women were subjected to sexual violence as a tool of warfare during the Bosnian war in the 1990s in which more than 100,000 people died.

Via Reuters / Euronews