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They expected, they hoped, they trusted us to bring justice. And one of the biggest fears I had was: what if we lost? – Pierre-Richard Prosper, former United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues

The 1994 Rwandan genocide resulted in nearly 1 million deaths in the course of just 100 days. In those horrific three months, hundreds of thousands of Rwandan women were systematically subjected to sexual violence and raped. Sexual violence has been used as a strategic weapon of war throughout history, but it wasn’t until 1998 that the first man stood trial for genocide before the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and sexual violence was recognized as an international war crime and a crime against humanity. 

The story of the historic conviction of Jean-Paul Akayesu and the novice lawyers, investigators, activists, and brave Rwandan women behind the case is the subject of  a new documentary by Michele MitchellÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýNick Louvel. Part court-room thriller, part personal drama, the filmmakers give voice to the silenced victims through interviews with the three instrumental witnesses who reveal their faces and identities for the first time in the film.

´³´Ç¾±²ÔÌý¹ú²úÊÓƵ NYC for a screening of The Uncondemned, winner of the  Conflict & Resolution Award, and a conversation with the filmmaker and leading human rights activists on how the landmark trial set the global stage for how rape and other crimes against humanity are being recognized and responded to today.

PARTICIPANTS

Michele Mitchell 

Co-director, Producer, and Writer, The Uncondemned

Sara Darehshori 
Senior Counsel, US Program, Human Rights Watch
°ä´Ç-°ä´Ç³Ü²Ô²õ±ð±ô,ÌýOffice of the Prosecutor vs. Jean-Paul Akayesu

Consolee Nishimwe 
´¡³Ü³Ù³ó´Ç°ù,ÌýTested to the Limit: A Genocide Survivor’s Story of Pain, Resilience And Hope

Karen Naimer 
Director, Program on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones, Physicians for Human Rights

Ellen Chilemba 
Founder and Director, Tiwale