Judge Romano, who had much more experience in this international court than most of the lawyers, pointed out that Article 5 did not require the prosecution to prove that the rapes were widespread but to prove that armed conflict against the civilian population was widespread.

Steyn and Karla had discussed this over and over as they looked for the connections.

Steyn answered, Absolutely. Rape is a constituent element in the widespread or systematic attack against civilians meant to destroy a people.

All three judges, Romano, Smith and Banda, saw the connection.

With these words, the law could change.

An individual woman was no longer a spoil of war.

Monumental jurisprudence. A new way of thinking. Nine months of exploring the way the rapes had taken place and the effects of those rapes had shown that rape is an attack on human dignity. Sexual integrity and human dignity are too tightly intertwined to be separable. To violate one violates the other. Rape is an attack on our shared human condition. A crime against humanity.

I watched Steyn sit down and raise his eyebrows to share the moment of victory with Karla. In this brief and complex moment their team had not fallen short.

—

The cornerstone of the defence lawyer’s strategy had been that Dragić had no authority over the men in his unit once they had returned to Foča from active duty. In this way, the assaults in town could not be considered systematic or widespread. They were the chaotic actions of depraved men. Mataruga brought in a retired general, now a professor, and for three days the general argued that command responsibility is only when men are functionally engaged in a mission. For three days he also said that the interpreters were not doing a good job and confused the interpretations of the words for command and direction and control, komandovanje, rukovodjenje and kontrola. I looked up to see the usually cool-headed professionals in the interpreters’ booth occasionally tighten their lips at his accusations.

—

On the last scheduled day with the general, William and Karla decided to question him together, hoping he would underestimate a woman. William began in the morning.

General, he said, do military regulations state that the responsibility of a commander includes the conduct of his subordinates?

Yes.

The regulations say that this includes undertaking all the necessary steps to prevent the perpetration of war crimes or crimes against humanity?

Yes, yes.

Professor, are there any exceptions?

No.

Can you point to any section in the regulations that says functional commanders are not responsible for the actions of their subordinates?

I cannot point to that. But the fine point is that the responsibility is temporary because the group itself is temporary. And the Foča units were informal.

In the afternoon, Karla picked up the questioning.

She said, General, the accused said, quote, I lined up my men and told them whoever raped one of the women I was personally going to execute them. This is consistent with someone who is in charge. In another part of his statement he said, quote, I issued him an order to not let anyone in the house. Is this not the clear language of someone in charge?