************************************************** June 2002 !!! ROME STATUTE ENTERS INTO FORCE Since the 60th ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in a special ratification event in April 2002, the Statute will enter into force on 1 July 2002. This is a historic moment as it marks the end of the culture of impunity which has been present throughout our histories and the beginning of a new era of deterrence and accountability. There is still one negotiating session remaining where UN delegates will deal with some of the last-minute issues prior to the first meeting of the Assembly of States Parties and the Court’s establishment. In this issue, we provide an update on the 10th and Final Session of the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court and a timeline for the establishment of the Court in addition to news items and announcements from those in our networks. ----------------------------------- I. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will enter into force on 1 July 2002 at which time the Court’s jurisdiction will take effect. Acts of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity occurring as of this date could be subject to the jurisdiction of the future ICC. It is anticipated that the Court will be set up and fully functioning by mid-2003. Entry into force of the Rome Statute was set in motion when the 60th ratification was deposited at the UN in a special treaty ratification event on 11 April 2002. On that day, 10 countries simultaneously deposited their instruments of ratification and brought the total number of ratifications to 66. In a special arrangement, the UN Treaty Office will consider all of those which ratified together on that day as among the ‘first 60.’ The countries that took part in this historic event included Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ireland, Jordan, Mongolia, Niger, Romania and Slovakia. Since then, Greece, Uganda and Brazil have completed their ratifications bringing the current number of States Parties to 69, as of 24 June 2002. In a transcontinental press conference following the ratification ceremony, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke from Rome about the significance of the event. Vahida Nainar of the Women’s Caucus and William Pace of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court participated in the press conference from New York as non-governmental representatives and commended these countries and heralded the development as historic. “With the imminent entry into force of the International Criminal Court set in motion by the incredible course of events of the day, the challenge has only begun,” Nainar said. “While the mundane task of establishing the Court needs to be done quickly, it is important not to lose sight of the purpose of the court - to keep in mind the people, the victims, the women who have waited long enough to have access to secure, safe and accessible mechanisms of justice.” This moment is especially historic for women as some of the crimes included in the Rome Statute have never been included in prior humanitarian law. In addition, some of these crimes have never been criminalized in domestic laws. Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization and sexual violence will be prosecutable as war crimes or crimes against humanity. The ratification event took place during the Ninth Session of the ICC Preparatory Commission where many NGO’s had gathered once again to monitor the ongoing negotiations. NGO representatives attending the session as part of the Women’s Caucus held up signs immediately after the formal ceremony which said: “WOMEN WELCOME THE ICC!” The 10th and final session of the ICC Preparatory
Commission will take place from 1-12 July 2002. At this session delegates will
finalize discussion on remaining issues and prepare to give way to the Assembly
of States Parties which will convene in early September 2002. PRIORITY ISSUES The issues identified as priority concerns for the Women’s Caucus at the Ninth Session of the ICC Preparatory Commission included the rules relating to the nomination and election of judges, prosecutor and deputy prosecutor and the Trust Fund for Victims. Both of these issues were discussed at the Ninth Session and are still pending for further discussion at the Tenth Session. In addition to these issues, the negotiations on the crime of aggression will continue as will negotiations toward the Court’s first-year budget. * Rules Relating to the Nomination and Election * Delegates began discussing the rules which would govern the Assembly of States Parties in the nomination and election process for judges, prosecutor and deputy prosecutor. Some governments, such as the UK and Canada, expressed their desire to avoid any voting requirements that would help ensure the Statute’s mandates concerning fair gender and geographical representation are met. Other governments such as Belgium, Hungary and Liechtenstein, began looking for ways to build procedures into the rules that would help ensure that the statute’s mandates are taken into account in the voting process. Some issues relating to the nomination and elections were resolved at the ninth session. The working group agreed that the nomination period will open during or immediately following the first meeting of the Assembly of States Parties in September with the closing date set for sometime in mid-November. In addition, the group agreed that States which have not completed their ratification process but who are in the later stages may submit nominations. However, in order for their candidate to stand for election, the ratification process must have been completed prior to the election. The exact time frame has yet to be decided. Hungary and Liechtenstein informally introduced a proposal which would require each representative to vote for at least two candidates from each region and a set number male and female candidates. Those ballots not conforming to the voting requirements would be invalidated. It is expected that Hungary and Liechtenstein will formally submit a revised proposal setting out a similar method of voting. Other delegates sought ways to ensure fairness and transparency. Switzerland submitted a proposal which would require that information on candidates be posted on the internet as soon as the nominations were received. Belgium also submitted a proposal which would require that the statements of governments accompanying the nominations follow a standard format. The Women's Caucus advocated that "fair representation" in article 36(8) of the Rome Statute be understood as parity of women and men, meaning a margin of 45-55 percent either way. The Caucus also advocated that there is an obligation to develop mechanisms in the election process that ensure parity in the outcome of the elections. While a parity of women and men on the Court is an overarching principle and a critical part of a full-fledged commitment to non-discrimination on the basis of gender, the Statute also mandates the presence of judges, male or female, with legal expertise on specific issues including violence against women and children. The Women’s Caucus has circulated an Action Request to
our network asking that organizations and individuals contact their relevant
ministries (Foreign, Justice and Women) and urge that their governments take
positions in the negotiations in favor of voting requirements for gender and
geographical representation. In addition, we urge organizations and individuals
to contact their governments who are States Parties to the Rome Statute and urge
that they make good-faith efforts to seek out and nominate qualified women
candidates for the future Court. For a copy of this Action Request and Sample
letter, send an email to the Women’s Caucus at caucus@iccwomen.org. Article 79 of the Rome Statute mandates that the Assembly of States Parties create a Trust Fund for the benefit of victims. This issue had received little discussion previously but has arisen in the context of the working group on Financial Issues to be addressed before the first meeting of the Assembly of States Parties. Discussions in the working group on the First-Year Budget also had significant implications for the trust fund. Among the concerns identified by the NGO Victims Rights Working Group were to ensure that the fund be set apart from the Registry so as to avoid conflicts of interest and under-resourcing of the fund, that the fund be overseen by a board of trustees or which would be comprised of experts and that the fund be managed by an Executive Director. The French delegation presented a proposal during the Ninth Session outlined a structure for the fund which would be comprised of a 12-member Board of Directors made up of persons with experience in working with survivors of serious human rights abuses. The proposal also suggested that the Board would be responsible to the ASP but with the Registry of the Court serving as secretariat of the Board. The proposal was largely accepted by other delegations as
a workable basis upon which to proceed with further discussions at the 10th
Session. WOMEN’S CAUCUS ACTIVITIES The Women’s Caucus was present with a delegation of seven women including Loeky Droesen of the Netherlands, Livia Aninosanu of Romania, Aigul Alymkulova of Krygyzstan, Marta Benavides of El Salvador, Maria Solis of Guatemala, Ana Lucia Herrera of Ecuador, Lorena Fries of Chile in addition to the New York staff and interns. Caucus participants made several interventions throughout the course of the prepcom as members of various working group teams as well as in regional and sub-regional roundtables with government delegations. On Tuesday, 9 April, Lorena Fries participated in a panel discussion hosted by the Australian delegation on the negotiations of the rules of procedure for the nomination and election of judges, prosecutor and deputy prosecutors. Other panelists included Thordis Ingadottir of the Project on International Courts and Tribunals, Christopher Hall of Amnesty International and Caroline Baudot of the CICC. Also on Tuesday, the Women’s Caucus and the CICC presented the video “If Hope Were Enough,” which documents some of the ways in which women have worked to bring accountability for crimes of sexual and gender violence in conflict and non-conflict situations around the world. The Spanish production company Canal+ attended the screening and interviewed persons afterward about the video and its effectiveness as an advocacy tool. On Wednesday, 10 April, Maria Solis participated in a press conference organized by the CICC in advance of the 60th ratification event and spoke about the need for developing a transparent and effective process for nominating and electing judges to the Court and the significance of this mechanism to reconciliation efforts around the world. On Thursday, 11 April, Rhonda Copelon, Maria Solis and Pam Spees participated in a panel discussion on the International Criminal Court which was part of an all-day “Dialogue Between Activists, Academics and UN Officials.” The ICC panel discussion was chaired by Felicity Hill of Unifem. Other panels during the day included discussions related to Women, Peace and Security and Disarmament. The event was sponsored by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and Peacewomen.org. On Friday, 12 April, Rhonda Copelon was featured in a live radio interview on “Democracy Now” hosted by Amy Goodman about the ICC and the U.S. opposition to the future Court. Also, Lorena Fries, Ana Lucia Herrera and Maria Solis were interviewed by UN Radio about the developments in the ICC process and significance for women in their countries and regions. On Thursday, 18 April, Pam Spees presented a briefing on
the ICC ratifications, imminent entry into force and timeline for the Court’s
establishment to the Conference of Nongovernmental Organizations (CONGO) at the
Church Center, 777 UN Plaza. Also on that day, she also addressed a meeting
hosted by the United Nations Presbyterian Office on the U.S. opposition to the
ICC. III. ---------------------------------------------- * International Consultative Meeting on United Nations Resolution 1325 A regional consultation on UN Resolution 1325 was held in Kampala Uganda on Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th March 2002. The meeting was organised by Betty Murungi, Chair of the Women’s Caucus Executive Committee and director of the Africa office of Urgent Action Fund in collaboration with Isha Dyfan of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and was hosted by Kituo Cha Katiba, the Ugandan-based East African Centre for Constitutional Development. The meeting was facilitated by WILPF and International Alert. A report of the meeting can be found at http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ngo/ngopub/kampala.html. The meeting brought together 21 participants comprised of peace, refugee and human rights activists from Zanzibar, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, New South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Also represented were NGO leaders, the media and representatives of legal and health institutions from the region. Three international organisations working within Africa were also represented. * Arria Formula Meeting of the UN Security Council and Women from the Middle East On Tuesday, 7 May 2002 the United Nations Security Council held an Arria Formula meeting requested by Equality Now, an international women’s rights organization, with Palestinian Maha Abu-Dayyeh Shamas and Israeli Terry Greenblatt. The two women, accompanied by Gloria Steinem and other supporters, jointly addressed the Security Council urging the immediate deployment of an international peacekeeping force to the region and calling for a greater role for women, and for civil society, in the peace process. Chairing the closed session, the Norwegian Ambassador to the United Nations, H.E. Mr. Ole Peter Kolby, welcomed the initiative, noting that in their extensive recent discussions on the Middle East this was the first opportunity the Security Council had had to hear the views of women from the region. The meeting was an effort to bring meaning to Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women and Peace and Security, adopted in October 2000, which affirms the importance of equal participation and the full involvement of women in all efforts in the maintenance of peace. Ms. Abu-Dayyeh Shamas and Ms. Greenblatt called for equal (50%) representation of women on all sides in the planned upcoming peace negotiations organized by the so-called Quartet (the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia). The women also urged the Security Council to take the next step and rise to the challenge of creating a means through which women can contribute formally and integrally to Middle East conflict resolution efforts, for example by creating a women’s commission of peace activists from both countries and third parties. * Gender Trainings for Peacekeepers The Canadian Government has started a project to train peacekeepers on gender issues. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which provides civilian police officers to peacekeeping missions around the world, has included a session on gender and international humanitarian law as part of its pre-deployment training. The project puts into practice a Gender Training Initiative that was developed by the Canadian and UK government last year for personnel in peace support operations. Former Legal Text Coordinator of the Women’s Caucus, Barbara Bedont, worked on the Gender Training Initiative, and now conducts the gender training sessions for the Canadian peacekeepers. For more information about the gender trainings, see: www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/genderandpeacekeeping * Canada Hosts 1325 Roundtables on Afghanistan As part of its implementation of Security Council
Resolution 1325, the Canadian Committee on Women, Peace and Security will hold a
series of Roundtables ------------------------- On 12 May, Rhonda Copelon, legal advisor to the women’s Caucus, and Mira Sun, a recent law graduate who assisted the Legal Secretariat of the Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery, took part in a panel discussion organized by VAWWNet-Japan in Tokyo. Mira presented an overview of the Tokyo Tribunal Judgement which was issued in December 2000 and Rhonda discussed the relationship between the efforts to ensure accountability and reparations for the former comfort women and women’s advances Patricia Sellers, Gender Advisor in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, also participated on the panel and discussed the significance of the judgement. ------------------------- On 24 May, the Hon. Arline Pacht, Executive Director of the International Association of Women Judges, addressed the conference of judges assembled in Dublin for the organization’s 10th Anniversary conference entitled “Creative Justice”. Judge Pacht spoke about the International Criminal Court, its imminent establishment and the history of gross under-representation of women in similar posts at the international level. Approximately 230 people attended the conference from 23-26 May. ------------------------ Lorena Fries of La Morada and Ximena Rojas conducted a training on the ICC with a focus on the gender achievements of the Rome Statute and participation and protection of victims and witnesses on 14 June in Santiago, Chile. The training was attended by 25 people from NGO’s from the violence against women network in Chile. ------------------------- On 24-25 February 2002, the Women Resource Centre held an intensive 2-day training on the International Criminal Court and Gender Justice as part of the Winter Gender School. The event was organized by Aigul Alymkulova of the Women Resource Centre and facilitated by Loeky Droesen, professor of international law at the Institute of Higher European Studies based in the Hague, the Netherlands, both of whom had participated in the Trainers’ School on Gender and International Justice Mechanisms in July 2001 which was organized by the Women’s Caucus. The session drew interest from Kyrgyz NGO’s and local media. The NGO’s afterward recommended the formation of a coalition. In preparing for the training, the Women Resource Centre translated the video, “If Hope Were Enough” and other resources and materials into Russian. For more information, contact: Ms. Aigul Alymkulova, MD, MS (Economics) Executive Director, Women Support Center, Pr. Mira 80-14, Bishkek 720044, KYRGYZSTAN, Ph/fax +996(312)546614, email: roza@ns2.kynet.kg, aigul_alymkulova@hotmail.com. ----------------------------- At a Stakeholders Meeting on the International Criminal
Court organized by the International Human Rights Law Group (IHRLG) in
collaboration with the Centre for In addition, the meeting recommended the proper domestication of the Rome Statute in Nigerian law; that the federal government initiate an open process for the nomination of judicial candidates and that it ensure equal and fair representation of women. For more information, please contact Mr. Benson Olugbuo (email: lawgroup@mail.skannet.com), or Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim, Country Director, IHRLG, Nigeria. ------------------------------- In May, 16 civil society organizations with the assistance of the Fundaciòn Friedrich Ebert and the Human Rights Committee of Honduras (CODEH) launched the Honduran Coalition for the ICC. These organizations include: College of Lawyers of Honduras, the United Confederation of Workers, Casa Alianza (Covenent House), Confederation of Native Peoples of Honduras, the Public Ministry, the School of Journalism, of the UNAH, the Popular Block, CARITAS, Women for Peace, the Episcopal Church, the theological community, Interforos, CODEH and others. The groups includes social justice and welfare advocates, church, government and professional associations. An executive commission for defining the strategies was named by CODEH - Women for Peace, a representative of the Churches, the School of Lawyers, the Public Ministry, the School of Journalism and others will serve as the links between the Honduran Coalition and the CICC. For more information, please contact: Vernice Castillo at castilloverenice@hotmail.com. --------------------------------- In May, NGO’s in El Salvador formed the Salvadoran Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CSCPI). The effort grew out of the Central American Meeting for the ICC which was held in Guatemala City, Guatemala from 12-15 March and which was organized by the Guatemalan Coalition for the ICC and Human Rights Watch. The coalition will focus on two aspects: dissemination of information about the Court and advocacy on ratification. The coalition was formed by the Centro para la Promocion de los Derechos Humanos, the Comision de Derechos Humanos de El Salvador, the Instituto de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Centroamericana and Paz Sustenable Siglo Veintitres. It was also signed by the Oficina de Tutela Legal del Arzobispado. According to Marta Benavides who is associated with Paz Sustenable Siglo Veintitres and who participated in the Training of Trainers organized by the Women’s Caucus last year, the coalition is important because it “affords us with the possibility of uniting efforts and commitments to bring about an instrument that has been badly needed by all peace loving people on earth. Now we must make sure we all work in a broad process to promote and support the full enactment and implications of this court and we must celebrate.” ------------------- On 7 May, Rhonda Copelon participated in a panel discussion on Humanitarian Law in an event the Women’s Media Collective organized with the International Committee of the Red Cross to discuss ways of strengthening humanitarian law as regards war-time violence against women. She discussed the way in which the advocacy of women and gender concerns had brought about transformation of humanitarian law with a focus on the codification of these developments in the International Criminal Court negotiations. The event was geared to lawyers and individuals and NGO’s working around armed conflict. ---------------------- Pam Spees, Program Director of the Women’s Caucus for
Gender Justice, authored a chapter for the forthcoming book, “Rule of Power or
Rule of Law? An Assessment of U.S. Policies and Actions Regarding
Security-Related Treaties.” The chapter details the strategies and tactics
used by successive U.S. governments in opposing the establishment of the ICC.
The initial assessment was released on 4 April 2002. The entire report can be
obtained at the website of the Institute for Environmental and Energy Research,
www.ieer.org. IV. * ICTY Appeals Chamber Upholds Foca Judgement *
By Sheena Kaliisa, Internews ARUSHA 20 June 2002 - The Gacaca court session in Cyambogo cellule, Kibuye Province, opened Wednesday, 19 June, with a woman accusing one of the judges of raping someone during the 1994 genocide. The woman stunned the crowd when she stood up to accuse Martin Hitimana, one of the 19 judges, of having chased away his wife and forcing a 17-year-old girl who had sought refuge in his house to marry him. "He raped the girl and stayed with her by force during the war," Bernadette Mukamihigo, claimed. "Every time we are in a bar, my friends [giving their names] always ask you [Hitimana] what happened to the clothes full of blood that you were washing at the well," Mukamihigo told the judges. Charles Kagenza, one of those who testified during the session, suggested that Mukamihigo's friends be called to give the details of the allegations against Hitimana. Another woman in the crowd was forced to testify when she whispered to those near her that she also knew something about Hitimana. "I heard the girl who Hitimana raped saying that he cut her thigh with a machete when she refused to sleep with him," the woman claimed. Mukamihigo told the judges that the girl Hitimana raped now lives in the Rwandan capital, Kigali. The government of Rwanda established Gacaca, a justice process modeled on a traditional justice system, to speed up genocide trials in the country. Gacaca courts are convened at a central place in the cellules -- the smallest administrative unit -- and people are asked to speak about what they know about the genocide; confessions are encouraged and those who know the alleged killers are urged to name them. Rwandans elected more than 260,000 Gacaca judges in October last year. The criterion for election was integrity and moral standing in society. Hitimana, dressed in a white shirt and a blue coat, remained seated in front of the people, writing on a piece of paper as Mukamihigo made the accusation against him. He did not look up. All the judges sat on wooden chairs, while the rest of the people sat on the grass. "I am so optimistic about Gacaca because people are saying the truth. What they said about me is true, but she agreed to live with me. And the court should look for her in order to get her to testify I am an opinion leader and it is these people who elected me," Hitimana told Internews after the court proceedings. Jannette Mukakimenyi, President of the Cyambogo Gacaca panel, told Internews that Gacaca law stipulates that if a judge is found responsible for massacres, then the rest of the judges must study the case in isolation and come up with a solution. "Nobody is going to escape the law," Mukakimenyi
stressed. V. 25 June 1-26 June 27-28 June ------------ 30 June-July 26 1-26 July 1-19 July 2002 1-12 July 4-7 July 5 21 July 3-7 July 4-7 July 8-26 July 13-17 July 14 - 19 July 2002 15-19 July 20 July-17 August 20-26 July 21-26 July ---------------- 3-10 August 9-13 August August 12-16, 2002 5- 30 August 20-26 August .................................................... Andorra, 30 April 2001
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