Abuse Victims Accuse Pope, Vatican Officials of Crimes Against Humanity
Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests have asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican leaders for crimes against humanity.
Two victims' groups Tuesday filed more than 20,000 pages to support allegations that the pope and three top Vatican officials abetted and covered up the rape and sexual assault of children.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) filed an 84-page complaint with the assistance of lawyers from the U.S. Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) with the international court in The Hague, Netherlands.
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The groups urged the court to "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," according to documents on SNAP's website and made available to the media.
The pope and other Vatican leaders "tolerate and enable the systematic and widespread concealing of rape and child sex crimes throughout the world," SNAP and CCR said in a joint statement.
The complaint claims that former Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano; current Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone; and Cardinal William Levada are "responsible for rape and other sexual violence and for the physical and psychological torture of victims around the world both through command responsibility and direct cover up of crime."
Experts on international law said the complaint will not have much success in the ICC and was filed as an effort to attract publicity. However, the victims said the complaint is not a publicity stunt.
Mark Ellis, the executive director of the International Bar Association, suggests the allegations do not rise to the level of crimes against humanity, according to CNN.
Reports indicate that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over the alleged acts of sexual abuse.
The complaint cites fives incidents of abuse that occurred in the U.S. and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to CNN.
The Republic of Congo is a party to the Rome Statute, which created the Hague court, but the U.S. and Vatican are not within the court's jurisdiction.
SNAP and CCR contend that the complaint does fall with the territorial jurisdiction of the ICC.
The ICC has not commented on the issue.
