The Special Court for Sierra Leone’s Consideration of Gender-based Violence: Contributing to Transitional Justice?

Serious gender-based crimes were committed against women and girls during Sierra Leone’s decade-long armed conflict. This article examines how the Special Court for Sierra Leone has approached these crimes in its first four judgments. The June 20, 2007 trial judgment in the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council case assists international criminal law’s limited understanding of the crime against humanity of forced marriage, but also collapses evidence of that crime into the war crime of outrages upon personal dignity. The February 22, 2008 appeals judgment attempts to correct this misstep. In contrast, the August 2, 2007 trial judgment in the Civil Defence Forces case is virtually silent on crimes committed against women and girls, although the May 28, 2008 appeals judgment attempts to partially redress this silence. This article concludes that the four judgments, considered together, raise the specter that the Special Court could potentially fail to make a significant progressive contribution to gender-sensitive transitional justice.

Commission newsletter: Winter 1982

W?adys?aw Czapliński (ed): The Polish Parliament at the Summit of Its Development (16th ‐ 17th Centuries): Anthologies (Polish Historical Library, no. 6, Marian Biskup ed.). (Zaklad Narodowy imienia Ossolińskich, Wroc?aw, 1985; pp. 214; ISBN 83 04 01861 6; pb, z? 200).

Ulrich Lange: Landtag und Ausschuß. Zum Problem der Handlungsfähigkeit landständischer Versammlungen im Zeitalter der Entstehung des frühmodernen Staates. Die weifischen Territorien als Beispiel (1500–1629). (Hildesheim: Lax, 1986). 278 pp. (Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Niedersachsen und Bremen XXIV: Untersuchungen zur Ständegeschichte Niedersachscns. Bd. 6. DM.68).

Gerhard A. Ritter (Transl. Kim Traynor): Social Welfare in Germany and Britain: Origins and Development, (Berg Publishers, Leamington Spa and New York, ISBN 0–907582–49–4 xi, 300pp. £30; 1986).     

The German solidarity pact: A case study in the politics of the Unified Germany

The political process in the old Federal Republic was distinguished by all‐pervasive negotiations and an orientation towards consensus, as indicated by the concepts of ‘co‐operative federalism’, ‘co‐operative opposition’ and ‘neo‐corporatism’ frequently used to describe relations between the federation and the state governments, between the federal government and opposition, and between the federal government and organised economic interests. Some observers expected German unification to lead to fundamental changes in these traits. This study of the negotiations which took place over a ‘Solidarity Pact’ between September 1992 and March 1993 concludes that, far from the political process of the old Federal Republic having been transformed by unification, its distinguishing traits appear rather to have been reinforced. It argues that, whilst there will be no second Solidarity Pact, cooperation and compromise will remain more pervasive in the politics of the unified Germany than confrontation and polarisation.     

Social support as a moderator for alcohol-related partner aggression during the transition to parenthood

Alcohol-related partner aggression is a pervasive social problem throughout various life stages, including the transition to parenthood. Previous research shows that alcohol use is associated with partner aggression perpetration for both men and women; however, not all individuals who consume alcohol act aggressively. In this study, the moderating effects of general social support and partner-specific support on the association between prepregnancy alcohol use and recent partner physical aggression are investigated using a community sample of 98 pregnant couples. For men, high levels of general appraisal social support (i.e., someone to talk to about one's problems) increases the strength of the association between alcohol use and aggression perpetration, whereas partner-specific emotional support serves as a buffer. For women, general social support is not a significant moderator, but high levels of partner-specific instrumental support strengthens the association between alcohol use and aggression. These results can be applied to prevention and treatment programs for alcohol-related partner aggression.     

Consideration of the probative value of single donor 15-plex STR profiles in UK populations and its presentation in UK courts

The adoption of new 15 locus STR multiplex systems into UK forensic science would be facilitated by agreed guidelines for reporting the strength of DNA evidence using likelihood ratios. To facilitate such an agreement, we present an analysis of previously published UK allele frequencies for white Caucasian, Afro-Caribbean and Indo-Pakistani populations and investigate their effect on likelihood ratios for single donor profiles. We consider the implication of the five additional loci and suggest a procedure for reporting likelihood ratios for 15-plex STR profiles.     

Developmental validation of the PowerPlex ESX 16 and PowerPlex ESX 17 Systems

We describe the developmental validation study performed on the PowerPlex^® ESX 16 (European Standard Extended 16) and the PowerPlex^® ESX 17 Systems, part of a suite of four new DNA profiling kits developed by Promega in response to the ENFSI and EDNAP groups’ call for new STR multiplexes for Europe. The PowerPlex^® ESX 16 System combines the 11 loci compatible with the UK National DNA Database, contained within the AmpFlSTR^® SGM Plus^® PCR Amplification Kit, with five additional loci: D2S441, D10S1248, D22S1045, D1S1656 and D12S391. The multiplex was designed to incorporate these five new loci as mini- and midi-STRs while maintaining the loci found in the AmpFlSTR^® SGM Plus^® kit as standard size. The PowerPlex^® ESX 17 System amplifies the same loci as the PowerPlex^® ESX 16 System, but with the addition of a primer pair for the SE33 locus. Tests were designed to address the developmental validation guidelines issued by the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM), and those of the DNA Advisory Board (DAB). Samples processed include DNA mixtures, PCR reactions spiked with inhibitors, a sensitivity series, and 306 United Kingdom donor samples to determine concordance with data generated with the AmpFlSTR^® SGM Plus^® kit. Allele frequencies from 242 white Caucasian samples collected in the United Kingdom are also presented. The PowerPlex^® ESX 16 and ESX 17 Systems are robust and sensitive tools, suitable for the analysis of forensic DNA samples. Full profiles were routinely observed with 62.5 pg of a fully heterozygous single source DNA template. In mixture analysis, a range of 52-95% of unique minor contributor alleles was observed at 19:1 mixture ratios where only 25 pg of the minor component was present. Improved sensitivity combined with the robustness afforded by smaller amplicons has substantially improved the quantity of information obtained from degraded samples, and the improved chemistry confers exceptional tolerance to high levels of laboratory prepared inhibitors.     

Evaluation of Degradation in DNA from Males with a Quantitative Gender Typing,Endpoint PCR Multiplex

Evidentiary samples submitted to a forensic DNA laboratory occasionally yield DNA that is degraded. Samples of intact chromosomal DNA (both nuclear and mitochondrial) were subjected to a heating protocol to induce DNA degradation. The DNAs were then analyzed using a multiplex PCR assay that amplifies targets of low and high molecular weight on the X/Y and mitochondrial chromosomes. If degradation is random, the amplification of larger DNA targets should be more adversely affected by degradation than smaller targets. In nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from a male donor, exhibiting degradation, DNA quantity estimates based upon higher molecular weight amplicons (HMW) are significantly lower than estimates made using low molecular weight (LMW) Q‐TAT amplicons. DNA degradation estimated using this approach correlated well with actual fluorescence associated with HMW and LMW STR alleles amplified from the same genomic DNA templates. Q‐TAT is thus useful not only as a quantitation tool, but also as an indicator of template degradation.