Warning: The complaint and exhibits contain information that is graphic and that readers may find shocking or disturbing concerning acts of sexual violence, especially for survivors of sexual violence. Reading these files may trigger intense emotional reactions. If you are a survivor and would like assistance, you can contact a survivor advocate through the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) at: http://www.snapnetwork.org/need_help_now.
Clergy Victims File International Criminal Court Complaint: Case Charges Vatican Officials with ‘Crimes Against Humanity’
At The Hague, Survivors and Leading Human Rights Group Issue Ground-Breaking Request for the Assertion of Jurisdiction by an International Court over Church Officials for Rape, Sexual Violence, and Torture by Clergy
September 13, 2011 – A survivor-led support group for clergy sex abuse victims today formally urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to investigate the Vatican for crimes against humanity. Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, together with their attorneys from the human rights organization the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), filed a lengthy and detailed complaint charging that Vatican officials tolerate and enable the systematic and widespread concealing of rape and child sex crimes throughout the world. Together with the complaint, they submitted more than 20,000 pages of supporting materials consisting of reports, policy papers, and evidence of the crimes by Catholic clergy committed against children and vulnerable adults.
SNAP members from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the U.S. traveled to The Hague to insist that the ICC take action and prosecute the Pope and three other high-ranking Vatican officials for their direct and superior responsibility for the crimes against humanity of rape and other sexual violence committed around the world.
View the filing, press releases, and all documents below. And also directly via Document Cloud
Access the April 11, 2012 supplemental information sent to the ICC Office of the Prosecutor and the new evidence in the appendix.
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