Fall 16 MAKING THE NORMATIVE CASE: IMPLEMENTING SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1325 AS PART OF A LEGAL FRAMEWORK ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY AUTHORS AND STRUCTURE OF THIS SUBMISSION: This submission has been prepared by the London School of Economics Pro Bono Matters (LSE Pro Bono Matters) a postgraduate pro bono group based at the LSE Law L Department, together with the LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security. S Project Supervisor - Emeritus Professor Christine Chinkin, E Director of the LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security Lead author - Natasha Lewis, LLM candidate 2014/15, LSE P Section 1 authors - Natasha Lewis, Roopa Mathews and R Yasmin Butlin, LLM candidates 2014/15, LSE O Section 2 authors - Eliza Bechtold, Tania Marcello, Marina Velickovic, Anita Clifford and Salwa Marsh, LLM candidates 2014/15, LSE; Constanza Fernandez-Danceanu, MSc B International Relations Theory candidate 2014/15, LSE O Section 3 authors – Aileen Kreyden and Freya Dinshaw, LLM N candidates 2014/15, LSE O Editors - Anthony Kennelly and Barbara Kammerman, LLM candidates 2014/15, LSE M For more information on the submission please contact LSE A Pro Bono Matters at: T [email protected] T E April 2015 R S 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS AUTHORS AND STRUCTURE OF THIS SUBMISSION: ............................................................................. 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND KEY RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................... 3 SECTION 1: MAKING THE NORMATIVE CASE TO READ SCR 1325 TOGETHER WITH CEDAW, ITS GENERAL RECOMMENDATION NO. 30 AND THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY ................................................................................................................................. 8 SCR 1325: REFLECTING INTERNATIONAL LAW, ESPECIALLY CEDAW, OBLIGATIONS .............. 13 UNDERSTANDING SCR 1325 IN AN INTEGRATED WAY WITH THE CEDAW GENERAL RECOMMENDATION NO. 30 ............................................................................................................... 29 BEYOND CEDAW: SCR 1325 AND ‘SOFT LAW’ IN THE WIDER LEGAL FRAMEWORK ................ 34 SECTION 1 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION ............................................................. 39 SECTION 2: IMPLEMENTING SCR 1325 VIA NATIONAL ACTION PLANS .................................... 42 AFRICA .................................................................................................................................................... 45 THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (DRC) – A NEED TO ADDRESS CONFLICT- RELATED SEXUAL AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE ........................................................................ 45 ASIA ......................................................................................................................................................... 52 NEPAL– WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION AND CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERSHIP IN A POST-CONFLICT NAP .......................................................................................................................................................... 52 ASIA ......................................................................................................................................................... 57 MYANMAR – A JOURNEY TOWARDS A NAP THAT DRAWS ON THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK ...... 57 EUROPE ................................................................................................................................................... 61 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – AN OLD NAP FEATURING FRAGMENTATION, A NEW NAP THAT DRAWS ON THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................................... 61 LATIN AMERICA ..................................................................................................................................... 65 CHILE – A NAP FOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ....................................... 65 THE MIDDLE EAST ................................................................................................................................. 70 IRAQ – A NAP AMIDST CURRENT CONFLICT, FOLLOWING WAR AND OCCUPATION ............... 70 SECTION 2 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................... 75 SECTION 3: RE-ENVISIONING REMEDIES – IMPROVING EXISTING UN MONITORING AND ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESSES AND PROVIDING TRANSFORMATIVE REMEDIES ..................... 77 SCR 1325 AND UN MONITORING AND ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESSES ....................................... 79 SCR 1325 AND TRANSFORMATIVE REMEDIES FOR VICTIMS OF RIGHTS VIOLATIONS ............ 84 SECTION 3 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................... 87 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND KEY RECOMMENDATIONS This submission makes the normative case for understanding Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR 1325) and related resolutions on women, peace and security (WPS) as an integrated part of an established and growing framework of international and regional law that upholds the rights of women and girls1 in relation to conflict (the legal framework).2 This legal framework is grounded in international and regional human rights law, international humanitarian law (IHL) international criminal law and international refugee law.3 These sources of law are reflected in the commitments in the Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security (WPS) to uphold the rights of women and girls, and men and boys, in relation to conflict. The legal framework places binding obligations on states, non-state actors, the United Nations (UN) and other organizations, and is sourced from treaties and customary international law. Situating SCR 1325 and its following resolutions on WPS as part of this legal framework, rather than seeing them as isolated political statements, allows them to be understood a part of a body of obligations that uphold human rights at all stages of conflict, from prevention to resolution to transitions towards peace. This submission makes the following five recommendations: Recommendation 1: Understand the obligations in SCR 1325 as an integrated part of the legal framework on women, peace and security (the legal framework) SCR 1325 and subsequent Security Council resolutions on WPS should be understood in light of the binding obligations and commitments reflected in their contents. This understanding of the Resolutions should integrate both the Security Council’s political commitment to act on women’s rights in conflict, and obligations from the legal framework. The key elements of the legal framework that uphold commitments held by all parties involved in conflicts include: 4 The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); 1 In this submission, the human rights of women refer to the rights of both women and girls. 2 See Christine Chinkin and Hilary Charlesworth, ‘Building Women into Peace: the international legal framework’ (2006) 27(5) Third World Quarterly, pp. 937-57. 3 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) ‘General Recommendation No. 30 on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations’ (adopted on 18 October 2013) CEDAW/C/GC/30 (CEDAW GR No. 30). See also Security Council Report, Cross Cutting Report on Women, Peace and Security (New York, October 2010). 4 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (adopted on 18 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981) 1249 UNTS 13 (CEDAW); CEDAW GR No. 30; United Nations, Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women, 27 October 1995 (BPfA); UNGA, Further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 16 November 2000, A/RES/S-23-3 (UNGA Outcome Document); and UN Commission on the Status of Women, Agreed Conclusions on the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls, 15 March 2013, E/CN/6/2013/11 (CSW Agreed Conclusions 2013). 3 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) General Recommendation No. 30 on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations (CEDAW GR No. 30); The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 1995 (BPfA) notably its two critical areas of concern on Violence against Women and Women in Armed Conflict; The UN General Assembly Outcome Document of its 23rd Special on Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st Century 2000 (UNGA Outcome Document); The UN Commission on the Status of Women Agreed Conclusions on the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls 2013 (CSW Agreed Conclusions 2013). Recommendation 2: Implement SCR 1325 and the legal framework by increasing women and girls’ meaningful participation and inclusion in the National Action Plan (NAP) process (design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation) SCR 1325 National Action Plans (NAPs) must be created with the meaningful participation and inclusion of women and girls and their non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and allies. Women and girls, and their civil society organizations, should be empowered to jointly design, implement, monitor and evaluate NAPs together with governments, development partners, and other stakeholders, including private actors (especially non-state actors involved in post-conflict reconstruction and transitional justice situations). An active and engaged civil society plays a key role in ensuring that NAPs are substantively implemented. States