40 190. The IACHR has consistently held that rape committed by members of the security forces of a state against the civilian population constitutes, in any situation, a serious violation of the human 174 rights protected by Articles 5 and 11 of the American Convention. Such illicit acts impose severe and long-lasting physical and mental suffering, due to their nonconsensual and invasive nature, affecting the victim, her family, and the community. That is aggravated when the perpetrator is a state agent, because of the aggressor’s position of authority and because of the physical and psychological power he can 175 exercise over the victim. 191. The Inter-American Court has said that sexual violence against women has physical, 176 emotional, and psychological consequences that are devastating for the victims and it has also ruled that the sexual rape of a detainee by a state agent is an especially gross and reprehensible act, taking 177 into account the victim’s vulnerability and the abuse of power displayed by the agent. In addition, it has 178 held it to be an extremely traumatic experience that can have serious consequences and that causes great physical and psychological damage, which leaves the victim “physically and emotionally humiliated” 179 – a situation that, in contrast to other traumatic experiences, is difficult to overcome with time. 192. In its final verdict in the Čelebići case, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) held that “there can be no doubt that rape and other forms of sexual assault are 180 expressly prohibited under international humanitarian law.” The concept of rape as torture has undergone development in recent years, particularly by the aforesaid International Criminal Tribunal. As evidenced by international case law, the reports of the United Nations Human Rights Committee and the United Nations Committee Against Torture, those of the Special Rapporteur, and the public statements of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, this vicious and ignominious practice can take on various forms. International case law, and the reports of the United Nations Special Rapporteur evince a momentum towards addressing, through legal process, the use of rape in the course of detention and interrogation as a means of torture and, therefore, as a violation of international law. Rape is resorted to either by the interrogator himself or by other persons associated with the interrogation of a detainee, as a means of punishing, intimidating, coercing or 181 humiliating the victim, or obtaining information, or a confession, from the victim or a third person. 174 IACHR, Application to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case 12.579, Valentina Rosendo Cantú et al., Mexico, August 2, 2009, para. 60; Application to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case 12.580, Inés Fernández Ortega, Mexico, May 7, 2009, para. 88; Report No. 53/01, Case 11.565, Merits, Ana, Beatriz, and Celia González Pérez, Mexico, April 4, 2001, para. 45. 175 IACHR, Application to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case 12.579, Valentina Rosendo Cantú et al., Mexico, August 2, 2009, para. 90; Application to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case 12.580, Inés Fernández Ortega, Mexico, May 7, 2009, para. 117. 176 I/A Court H. R., Case of the Miguel Castro Castro Prison, Merits, Reparations, and Costs, Judgment of November 25, 2006, Series C No. 160, para. 313, citing: United Nations Commission on Human Rights, 54th Session, Report presented by Mrs. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, with the inclusion of its causes and consequence, pursuant to resolution 1997/44 of the Commission, E/CN.4/1998/54 of January 26, 1998, para. 14. 177 I/A Court H. R., Case of the Miguel Castro Castro Prison, Merits, Reparations, and Costs, Judgment of November 25, 2006, Series C No. 160, para. 311. 178 I/A Court H. R., Case of the Miguel Castro Castro Prison, Merits, Reparations, and Costs, Judgment of November 25, 2006, Series C No. 160, para. 311, citing: Report of the UN Commission on Human Rights, 50th Session, Matter of the human rights of all persons submitted to any form of detention or imprisonment, and especially torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatments or punishments, Report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Nigel S. Rodley, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1992/32, E/CN.4/1995/34 of January 12, 1995, para. 19. 179 I/A Court H. R., Case of the Miguel Castro Castro Prison, Merits, Reparations, and Costs, Judgment of November 25, 2006, Series C No. 160, para. 311, citing: ECHR, Case of Aydin v. Turkey (GC), Judgment of September 25, 1997, App. No. 57/1996/676/866, para. 83. 180 Case No. IT-96-21-T, Judgment, para. 476, November 16, 1998. From Louis Henkin et al., Human Rights, Foundation Press, New York, 1999, pp. 380 and 381. 181 ICTY, Prosecutor v. Anto Furundžija, Judgment of December 10, 1998, para. 163; upheld on appeal by the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY in a judgment of July 21, 2000.