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Targeting of Women in Conflict a Global Issue That Demands Action

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Targeting of Women in Conflict a Global Issue That Demands Action FEMICIDE TARGETING OF WOMEN IN CONFLICT A GLOBAL ISSUE THAT DEMANDS ACTION VOLUME III “Conflict-related sexual violence is an issue of pressing importance. This grave human rights abuse is as destructive as any bomb or bullet. It inflicts unimaginable suffering on women and men, girls and boys. It destroys families and communities and tears the social fabric of nations. […] Prevention is our collective responsibility.” Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations The Thailand Institute of Justice’s (TIJ) mission is to promote the culture of justice, the rule of law and human rights in the administration of justice within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) community and beyond. Under its mandate, TIJ undertakes research, capacity building and regional and international cooperation in the areas of crime and justice, and gears towards important cross-cutting issues on the UN agenda such as the rule of law, development, human rights, peace and security. One of TIJ’s primary objectives is to support the implementation of United Nations standards and norms in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice. The promotion and protection of human rights of vulnerable groups, especially women and children, in the criminal justice system is one of TIJ’s priorities. The sub-themes under this issue include child justice, women’s corrections and the implementation of the Bangkok Rules, gender justice, particularly violence against women and femicide. With regard to femicide, TIJ has attached great importance to this global issue and organized a number of activities related to this. One of them was a high-level panel discussion entitled ‘Taking Action against the Gender-related Killings of Women and Girls,’ which TIJ co-hosted together with the Permanent Missions of Thailand, Argentina and Austria and the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) in New York on 18 October 2013. The panel discussion drew attention to the landmark resolution passed by the Third Committee on the same day and then subsequently adopted by the General Assembly in December 2013. The Thailand Institute of Justice also hosted, in Bangkok, the Expert Group on Gender-Related Killings of Women and Girls, which was called for in the resolution. The background paper, the NGO paper and the conclusions and recommendations are contained in this publication in Part 3. The Thailand Institute of Justice and the Academic Council will co-sponsor an ancillary meeting at the Thirteenth UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Doha, Qatar. i FOREWORD We take great pride in sharing with you the third volume of our Femicide Publication which we have been releasing annually since the first Femicide symposium in November 2012. Each year, on the occasion of the International Day on the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Vienna Liaison Office of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) has organized a symposium on a different theme related to the most extreme forms of violence. On 25 November 2014, ACUNS, together with the Governments of Austria, Croatia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Norway, Philippines and Thailand, sponsored a symposium on ‘Targeting of Women in War’, which brought together panels of experts to address the various challenges that need to be tackled with great urgency to curb the scourge of sexual violence in conflict. A series of recommendations were made, pointing out that existing legal instruments have proven to be ineffective in addressing this global problem. Perpetrators should be prosecuted and military units must be held to high standards of conduct vis-à-vis civilians. Strict compliance with military and criminal codes must be pursued by the responsible government institutions, while complementary efforts must be undertaken by civil society to ensure proper respect for women and girls in conflict zones. Once again, we are standing as silent witnesses to the mass killings of women in several places around the world. It is imperative to take concrete steps to stop these unspeakable crimes and ensure that these monstrous rapists and killers are not given impunity. Speakers at the ACUNS conference identified what was done – or not done – after the mass killings in Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Guatemala, Rwanda and Sri Lanka. In his annual Report on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, highlights the ongoing challenges faced by individual States in conflict and post-conflict situations to protect women and girls. Reports published in 2014 and early 2015 by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch contain detailed accounts of sexual slavery in Islamic State captivity, Boko Haram’s acts of sexual violence in north-eastern Nigeria and mass rapes in Darfur. The sheer brutality of these acts and the feelings of desperation that are reflected in victims’ testimonies fill us with disgust and shame. These barbarities which one would have thought belonged to past centuries have reared their heads again in the new millennium. The latest figures on mass rapes and incidents of sexual slavery across the world are discouraging. The international community should not stand idly by while these atrocious crimes are being committed. It is essential for the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to give a strong signal that crimes of sexual violence are not to be tolerated, and that the perpetrators will be brought to justice. This publication explores the topic of ‘Targeting women in Conflict’ in depth, through a series of strong statements delivered by Secretary-General, the Director of UN Women, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, a prosecutor from the International Tribunal for former Yugoslavia and reports from other UN bodies, as well as academic articles addressing the cross- cutting topics of violence against women, femicide and sexual violence. The ACUNS-Vienna Femicide Team has committed itself over the past three years to disseminating knowledge on the cross-cutting issue of femicide and engaging with UN practitioners, academics and NGO representatives in order to raise this matter of great importance higher on the international agenda. We continue to encourage UN bodies and national governments to improve efforts in tackling femicide and the most serious forms of sexual violence against women. Andrada Filip, Michael Platzer and the ACUNS Vienna Femicide Team March 2015 ii PREFACE Sexual violence in situations of conflict is one of the most persistent crimes in the world. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most ignored. It affects particularly women and girls and is regularly used by armed groups as a deliberate strategy to humiliate their opponents and intimidate the population. This crime exacerbates conflicts and affects the re-construction of the social fabric. According to the United Nations, between 2011 and 2013, more than 37, 000 victims were sexually abused for the purpose of terrorizing civilian populations in situations of conflict and almost all of them were women and children. Most of these cases are unpunished. This is unacceptable. The acts of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict are serious violations of the most basic human rights and of international humanitarian law. One of the main challenges for the international community is both to bring to justice those responsible in order to end the culture of impunity and to provide justice, support and recognition to the victims, since they are often rejected and stigmatized. We need to strengthen our efforts and measures orientated to promote gender equality and the elimination of gender violence, to eliminate discriminatory practices and foster a culture of equality with the inclusion and participation of men and boys to achieve positive results. We also need a greater coordination among United Nations organizations, entities and specialized agencies with the wide and strong participation of civil society, academia, parliamentarians, indigenous peoples, and the private sector, among others. A joint strategy would contribute to the actions against impunity and ensure the full inclusion of women as key players in maintaining international peace and security. There cannot be lasting peace without justice. This is a matter of global responsibility. I am thankful for the efforts made by the Academic Council on the United Nations System, the Vienna Liaison, for organizing the Femicide symposium since, November 2012, on the occasion of the International Day on the Elimination of Violence against Women. Those efforts are now reflected in the present publication as an outcome of the last symposium ‘Targeting of Women in War’ (Vienna, 25 November 2014) aimed at analyzing the important challenges that we face as a community to urgently address this urgent problem. H.E. Luis Alfonso de Alba Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Mexico Chair of the 24th session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice iii TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWARD ....................................................................................................................................................................... ii PREFACE ........................................................................................................................................................................... iii PART I: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS STATEMENTS AND INSTRUMENTS .................................................................................
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