The 1997 genocide case at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was prosecuted by a 31-year-old former LA deputy district attorney and a 27-year-old Columbia Law School graduate. The trial was plagued by a lack of supplies and guidelines, and was also disrupted by international activists pushing for the first-ever charges of rape as a war crime. Despite setbacks and false starts, the prosecution finally gained momentum when a crucial piece of evidence was discovered the night before a key witness testified. Meanwhile, four courageous women in rural Rwanda were quietly making history.
The Uncondemned
In 1997, a pioneering team of lawyers and activists achieved a historic milestone by securing the first-ever conviction of rape as a crime against humanity.
