For those interested in the Dominic Ongwen case, or issues relating to evidence and prosecuting sexual and gender-based crimes at the International Criminal Court, my new article has recently been published online by the International Criminal Law Review. The article examines how the testimony of 7 alleged “forced wives” to Dominic Ongwen was preserved in the pre-trial phase, before the trial proper actually began. Here is the abstract:

 Article 56 of the Rome Statute allows for the preservation of evidence that may not be available at trial. In 2015, this provision was invoked to record the testimony of seven vulnerable victims of sexual and gender-based crimes in the Dominic Ongwen case. Occurring in the pre-trial phase of the case, before charges were pleaded or even confirmed, this overlooked development sets an important judicial precedent at the International Criminal Court (ICC). It represents a milestone precedent for future cases, not just in terms of circumventing situations of witness interference, but more importantly, in safeguarding vulnerable victims and witnesses, and preserving their evidence for any eventual trial.