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	Closing the justice gap for women by Mary Robinson Chair of The Elders, agencies   Justice is the foundation for building a better, fairer world. It is also a framework that protects societal progress and individual rights. The inability to access justice diminishes access to economic opportunity, reinforces structures that keep people poor, undermines human potential and inhibits inclusive growth.   COVID-19 has had a damaging effect on the progress made over the past 25 years towards   realising the goals of the Beijing Declaration. In 2021, 47 million more women and girls were pushed into extreme poverty, bringing the total number of women living on USD 1.90 or less to   435 million. Extreme poverty is a form of injustice, which compounds other forms and practices of discrimination.   Even under "normal" conditions, access to justice for many women is limited, if not unavailable. The pandemic has brought with it new challenges to legal institutions, highlighting concerns for women's ability to access justice safely, promptly and efficiently.   The impact of lockdowns and isolation has meant that women vulnerable to domestic violence have been further at risk of reprisals while living with their abusive partners. The situation has worsened because support services for women experiencing violence and with psychosocial needs have experienced protracted disruptions and delays due to COVID-related restrictions.   This has also resulted in delays in providing justice for survivors of gender-based violence, due to stalled investigations and court processes.   Women in prison, already marginalised and very often themselves victims of domestic violence and other forms of abuse, have also faced further hardships due to COVID-19, as a result of changes to prison regimes that do not take account of their specific needs.   In terms of the economy, industries in which women serve on the frontlines, including healthcare, hospitality, and retail, have either suffered layoffs or become overwhelmed.   The informal economy, on which many women rely, has faced severe obstructions with successive lockdowns impairing women’s livelihoods and financial security. UN Women reported the income of women working in the informal economy fell by around 60 percent during the first months of the pandemic.   The rule of law should be an emancipatory, empowering principle that helps women in their fight for equality and justice. Yet in practice, often the reverse is true, as patriarchal structures, institutions and psychologies within the justice system conspire to keep women and their justice needs ignored or demeaned.   There are three fundamental ways in which women face barriers to accessing justice: discriminatory laws; discrimination in the application of laws; deliberately complex, obtuse and inaccessible justice systems.   Mary Robinson, Chair of The Elders:   “The experience of the last two years has shown that COVID-19 has compounded injustice, particularly for women who were already in vulnerable situations. The rule of law remains an essential bulwark against abuse and discrimination but much more needs to be done to make it more robust, respected, and accessible. The Elders are deeply concerned that women will continue to be denied their rights as we move into the next stage of the pandemic unless leaders, legislators and lawyers take proactive steps to strengthen justice systems and make them more responsive to women’s specific needs. We hope this paper will catalyse conversations and help set a clear agenda for reform and progress in 2022.”   http://theelders.org/news/closing-justice-gap-women-post-covid-19-elders-launch-new-policy-paper http://theelders.org/news/we-must-strengthen-past-victories-ensure-access-justice-women-and-girls http://stateofhope.live/state-of-hope-gatherings/elders-access-to-justice-for-women-and-girls/ http://theelders.org/programmes/access-justice http://theelders.org/news-insight   June 2022    International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict - Statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres:   Sexual violence in conflict is a cruel tactic of war, torture, terror and repression. It reverberates down generations, and threatens both human and international security.   In places affected by conflict, the turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has made it even more difficult to hold perpetrators of sexual violence to account.   At the same time, survivors face new obstacles to reporting crimes and accessing support services.   Even as we respond to the pandemic, we must investigate every case, and maintain essential services for every survivor. We cannot allow this already underreported crime to slip further into the shadows. Perpetrators must be punished.   Investment in recovery from the pandemic must tackle the root causes of sexual and gender-based violence.   On this International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, let’s resolve to uphold the rights and meet the needs of all survivors, as we work to prevent and end these horrific crimes.   “Conflict-related sexual violence” refers to rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced sterilization, forced marriage and any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity perpetrated against women, men, girls or boys that is directly or indirectly linked to a conflict. The term also encompasses trafficking in persons when committed in situations of conflict for the purpose of sexual violence or exploitation.   A consistent concern is that fear and cultural stigma converge to prevent the vast majority of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence from coming forward to report such violence. Practitioners in the field estimate that for each rape reported in connection with a conflict, 10 to 20 cases go undocumented.   UN Women expresses its grave concern at the continued use of sexual violence as a tactic of war, terrorism and political repression and calls on all parties to conflicts to commit to ceasing such acts.   Sexual violence in conflict disproportionately impacts women and girls and causes grave and lasting harm to survivors, their families and their communities, posing major barriers to peace and development.   The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed women and girls in conflict and crisis settings to sexual violence and has exacerbated existing barriers to survivors’ access to multisectoral services and justice.   This makes our efforts to promote gender equality and achieve peace, as well as just and inclusive societies, all the more urgent and relevant.   The best way to address any type of human rights violation, including sexual violence in conflict, is to prevent it from happening in the first place, which is why it is crucial to address gender inequality as a root cause of this scourge.   As the world plans its recovery from the pandemic, we need to take an inclusive, intersectional and informed approach, one that recognizes that achieving durable peace and prosperous societies is not possible without women’s expertise, meaningful participation and leadership.   http://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/ http://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/report/conflict-related-sexual-violence-report-of-the-united-nations-secretary-general/SG-Report-2020editedsmall.pdf http://www.stoprapenow.org/digital-library/ http://bit.ly/2URrMVo http://kvinnatillkvinna.org/2022/06/19/we-must-keep-talking-about-rape-in-war/ http://panzifoundation.org/the-crisis/ http://www.msf.org/sexual-violence   Apr. 2022   Justice critical to fighting sexual violence in conflict. (UN News, agencies)   Pramila Patten, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative working to end rape as a weapon of war in a UN council meeting, underscored how prosecution for the crimes of sexual violence in conflict is critical to deliver justice for survivors and prevent future violence.   She recalled that the UN Security Council has passed 10 resolutions on Women, Peace and Security, five of which focus on preventing and addressing conflict-related sexual violence. Ms. Patten questioned what such declarations mean right now for women in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Myanmar or Tigray in northern Ethiopia.   “Every new wave of warfare brings with it a rising tide of human tragedy, including new waves of war’s oldest, most silenced, and least-condemned crime - rape and sexual violence,” she said.   Ms. Patten presented horrifying cases of rape and other violations included in her latest report, revealing what she called “the emboldening effects of impunity”. The report covers some 18 country situations and documents thousands of UN-verified cases committed last year.   Ms. Patten underscored how prosecution is critical, and a form of prevention, as it can help turn the culture of impunity for these crimes, towards a culture of deterrence.   “Whereas impunity normalizes violence, justice reinforces global norms. It is time to move from visibility to accountability, and to ensure that today’s documentation translates into tomorrow’s prosecutions,” she said.   Regarding the way forward, her report calls for targeted action to reinforce prevention, the use of early warning indicators of sexual violence as well as threat analysis, curtailing the flow of small arms, gender-responsive justice and security sector reform, together with amplifying the voices of survivors.   Justice and accountability   Nobel laureate Nadia Murad was among thousands of women from the Yazidi minority group in northern Iraq who were sold into sexual slavery and raped by ISIL terrorists, the group officially known now as Da’esh, in 2014.   Eight years on, some 2,800 women and children remain in the hands of the terrorist group, she said. “The pursuit of justice is one of the most visible forms of accountability,” she told the Council, citing the historic genocide conviction of an ISIL fighter by a German court last year. She wondered if the international community will do more.   Action, not pity   “As survivors of sexual violence, it is not easy for us to tell our stories. But we do it to prevent what happened to us from happening to others,” said Ms. Murad. “We are called brave, but the courage we really want to see is from leaders in a position to do something, whether they are Heads of State, Member States here at the UN, or corporate leaders. We need more than moral outrage; we need action.”   Ms. Murad called for the Council to refer the ISIL case to the International Criminal Court, or to establish a hybrid court that will prosecute the group’s crimes. She also urged other nations to follow Germany’s example.   Survivors have found the strength to rebuild their lives and help their families, communities, and countries, she said, so surely the world can find the strength to take meaningful steps to end sexual violence in conflict.   “As survivors, we look to you, the leaders in this room, to act with the same courage we have shown. Survivors do not want pity; we want justice.”   During the debate, Ms. Murad announced the launch of a new initiative for collecting evidence of rape in war. The Murad Code is a set of guidelines for investigators and others documenting and investigating conflict-related sexual violence. The guidelines were shaped by feedback from survivors around the globe, she said, and aim to promote greater respect, understanding, transparency, and healing.   Two civil society representatives from Syria and Ethiopia also briefed ambassadors.   Legal investigator Mariana Karkoutly said although the Syrian war has been on the Security Council agenda for more than a decade, no action has been taken to hold perpetrators accountable for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.   She reported that at least 150,000 people are estimated to have been arbitrarily arrested, detained or disappeared since the war began. Nearly 10,000 women are among the scores of Syrians being held in detention centres, where sexual violence is used as a tool to humiliate, punish and force confessions.   Ms. Karkoutly, co-founder of an organization for women lawyers called Huquqyat, outlined a list of actions for the Council that included referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, adopting a resolution on detainees and missing persons, investigating and prosecuting perpetrators of sexual violence, and ensuring women’s rights are at the heart of accountability efforts.   “When people in Syria watch conflicts rage in Ukraine and other parts of the world today, we are reminded of our own suffering, and the abject failure of this body to stop the violence,” she said. “I join my voice with those of the millions of girls and women from Syria who are not here with me today and call on you to take action. There can be no peace without justice.”   Hilina Berhanu from Ethiopia spoke of her visits to the Tigray region, where rape has been used as a tactic of war or means of reprisal.   This violence is ethnically motivated, she said, and used to humiliate survivors and their communities. Men and boys have also been victims, while women with disabilities, and those from minority and indigenous communities, have been particularly at risk.   Ms. Berhanu urged the Security Council to demand that all efforts towards documenting, investigating and preventing sexual violence in conflict are centred around survivors. Ambassadors must also demand that warring parties allow safe humanitarian access to people in need in Tigray and elsewhere, and that aid includes comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare.   "Lack of access to psychosocial support services also means that the mental health of survivors hangs in the balance. Many have already died by suicide," she said.   Ms. Berhanu had a special request for the three African countries on the Council – Gabon, Ghana and Kenya -- urging them to work both at the UN and in the Africa Union to drive forward action on women, peace and security.   These countries were also asked “to take a harder look at the prevailing view that supporting investigations of conflict -elated sexual violence in Ethiopia could somehow derail the proposed reform agenda of the current government.”   http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/04/1116192 http://www.nadiasinitiative.org/news/nadia-murad-delivers-speech-at-un-security-council-open-debate-on-sexual-violence-in-conflict http://www.fidh.org/en/issues/international-justice/universal-jurisdiction/universal-jurisdiction-review-2022-conflict-related-sexual-violence   * The Murad Code: Is a global, voluntary code of conduct for those collecting information from survivors of systematic and conflict-related sexual violence. The Murad Code’s full title is the “Global Code of Conduct for Gathering and Using Information about Systematic and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence”.   The Code is named after the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Nadia Murad, which reflects its objective to place survivors’ rights and well-being at its heart. The Murad Code project key objective is to respect and support survivors’ rights and to ensure work with survivors to investigate, document and record their experiences is safer, more ethical and more effective in upholding their human rights.   http://www.muradcode.com/murad-code Visit the related web page
	The failure to respect human rights and IHL in Syria has eroded respect for fundamental norms by OHCHR, UN News, news agencies   Mar. 2022   Remarks by Mr. Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic at press conference in Geneva 9 March 2021 for the launch of the latest report:   "We are here to present to you our latest report on the human rights situation in Syria covering the last six months of 2021.   Some of you may be asking what lessons can be learnt from the Syria crisis – in particular the role of Russia – when we look at what is happening in Ukraine today.   The failure to respect human rights and IHL in Syria has eroded respect for fundamental norms and exposed a deadly cynicism by armed actors, where might makes right and denial and obfuscation are employed to deflect blame or criticism and undermine accountability.   Just look at the situation today for Syrians who have lived through a devastating ten years of conflict: Hundreds of thousands have been killed. More than half of the pre-war population have been displaced. More than 100,000 are missing or forcibly disappeared. Syria’s cities and infrastructure have been destroyed. Today the poverty rate in Syria is an unprecedented 90 percent. 14.6 million people in Syria depend on humanitarian aid.   Warring parties’ attempts to resolve the Syrian conflict militarily over the past decade have enabled the violation of nearly every core human right, the commission of almost every crime against humanity listed in the Rome statute and nearly every war crime. We can only hope that world leaders are doing everything they can to avoid a similar fate for Ukraine.   In a continuing pattern documented by the Commission for years, pro-Government forces - including Syrian and, since September 2015 also Russian forces, operating side by side – have continued to indiscriminately bomb densely populated areas in the northwest. Their attacks killed and injured civilians, also where Russian fixed-wing aircraft were observed over the targeted areas. Civilians were also targeted and killed by sophisticated Krasnopol-type precision-guided artillery attacks.   In the 14 attacks by Syrian and Russian forces that we detailed in the northwest [see annex IV of the report] over these past few months, scores of children were killed, including on their way to school; and the last functional medical centre in Jabal al Zawiya was rendered inoperable.   At the same time as Russia and Syria are insisting on humanitarian aid being delivered from Damascus rather than cross-border, their attacks in the northwest occur along the very road where such “cross-line” humanitarian aid would travel.   Many Syrian IDPs in the northwest are still living in flimsy tents, stuck in snow, rain, mud – and yet, some actors seem to spend more energy on preventing aid to get to them rather than facilitating it.   We worry too about the negative consequences of the Ukraine crisis ON Syria. Inflation is already skyrocketing, and the government has begun rationing essential commodities including fuel. Prices of imports have shot up and we should remember that most of Syria’s wheat import comes from Ukraine or Russia.   We have also been concerned by recent reporting on systemic failures in investigations into possible war crimes and other incidents causing civilian harm in Syria in 2018-2019 by the United States-led coalition. We repeat our recommendation to the United States and to all parties to conduct credible, independent and impartial investigations into incidents entailing civilian casualties in which their forces are implicated to ensure those responsible for violations are held accountable, to ensure non-repetition, and to make their findings public.   In our investigations we also found that Government forces and other parties to the conflict continue to arbitrarily detain and torture perceived political opponents or those who speak out – including to their death.   They also continue to deliberately conceal the fate and whereabouts of detainees, in many case leaving family members exposed to extortion for information or in danger of arrest or physical risks when searching for missing loved ones. We have commended the UN General Assembly for adopting resolution 76/228, requesting the Secretary General to study this issue and have lent our voice to those of the families of missing and disappeared in Syria in calling for the creation of an independent, international mandate to coordinate and consolidate claims regarding those missing, including people subjected to enforced disappearance.   Gender-based discrimination and violence continues in Syria. Internally displaced women more often lack necessary civil documentation and struggle to access their legal rights. Girls are increasingly forced into early marriages and boys are sent to do child labour or recruited into the conflict. The Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS) group controlling the Idlib pocket enforce so-called morality codes which amounts to gender-based discrimination.   In the report we also note a small but increasing repatriation by Member States of their citizens detained in the notorious Al Hol and Al Roj camps in northeast Syria. But close to 60,000 internees, 40,000 of them children and most others women, are still unlawfully held in the camps in appalling conditions, amounting to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.   The camp residents are under constant risk of being injured, killed, or trafficked. More than 90 murders and 40 attempted murders have occurred in Al Hol alone in the past year. We are repeating our call for Member States to bring home their women and children from the camps.   The recent heavy fighting in and around the SDF-run al-Sina prison in the Ghwayran neighbourhood of Hasakah city in the northeast, in which hundreds were killed and thousands displaced, highlighted the plight of hundreds of teenage boys, detained together with around 12,000 men suspected of links with ISIL in the SDF-controlled detention centres.   Finally we have welcomed the important ruling this January by the Koblenz Court in Germany against a former Syrian intelligence officer active in the notorious Branch 251, who was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment. There has been small but welcome progress on accountability. In the report, we again recommend Member States to redouble their efforts in this regard.   The plight of the Syrian people is not only a cautionary tale for other conflicts as it is often being framed in the media now, but a situation that still requires concerted diplomatic focus, humanitarian action, and compassion for all Syrians, whether inside Syria or as refugees or asylum seekers abroad".   http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2022/03/opening-remarks-mr-paulo-sergio-pinheiro-chair-independent http://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/iici-syria/independent-international-commission http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/04/update-general-assembly-missing-persons-syria   14 Jan. 2022   German court finds Syrian ex-colonel guilty of crimes against humanity. (DW, AFP, agencies)   A German court has found a Syrian former army colonel guilty of crimes against humanity, handing him a life sentence. It was a landmark trial to examine state-sponsored torture during the Syrian civil war.   Anwar Raslan was found guilty of 27 counts of murder, rape and sexual assault carried out at the Al-Khatib detention center near Damascus.   The former intelligence officer was tried under the legal principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows the prosecution of crimes in one country even if they happened elsewhere.   He is the highest-ranking Syrian officer so far convicted of crimes against humanity.   "This trial cast a much-needed, renewed spotlight on the kinds of sickening torture, cruel and truly inhuman treatment — including abject sexual violence — that countless Syrians were subjected to in detention facilities," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said. She urged other states to prosecute international crimes using universal jurisdiction.   What was Raslan accused of?   The 58-year-old former colonel had denied committing torture or giving instructions for others to commit torture.   Prosecutors said Raslan was responsible for the torture of at least 4,000 people in the notorious Al-Khatib prison in the Syrian city of Douma, in 2011 and 2012 — during the early stages of the Syrian Civil War.   They said he supervised interrogations including "electric shocks," beatings with "fists, wires and whips," rape and sexual abuse, and sleep deprivation. The mistreatment had served to coerce confessions and obtain information, the prosecution said.   The court sentenced him to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 15 years. Raslan's lawyer said he would appeal the verdict.   More than 80 witnesses testified during the trial about the "catastrophic conditions" in the detention center.   They took the stand despite "great fear of the Syrian regime, whether for themselves or for their families," said judge Anne Kerber. "I owe them my full respect."   The trial could set a precedent for future proceedings against Syrian officials who committed crimes during the war in Syria.   "Despite all the shortcomings of international criminal justice, Anwar Raslan's conviction shows what the principle of universal jurisdiction can achieve and that such trials are in fact feasible in Germany and Europe," said Wolfgang Kaleck, general secretary of the independent rights group the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.   Whitney-Martina Nosakhare of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch (HRW), told DW that Thursday's conviction was "a watershed moment for survivors of torture."   "This is a moment that means so much for torture survivors because it's one of the few tools that is left to see some justice happen."   Nosakhare noted that "courageous and determined victims have been the cornerstone of making this trial happen."   She added another trial would take place in Frankfurt next week involving a Syrian doctor accused of torturing people at a hospital in Damascus.   Germany's justice minister, Marco Buschmann, called on other countries to follow what he called the "pioneering work'" performed by his country's legal system.   "Crimes against humanity must not remain unpunished. No matter where they are committed, no matter by whom," said Buschmann.   Executive Director for Human Rights Watch Kenneth Roth told DW that Raslan's sentencing under universal jurisdiction was a 'truly historic moment.'   "The Assad government in Syria has pursued this war really through a war crimes strategy," Roth said.   "They have deliberately bombed hospitals, schools and marketplaces, they've used chemical weapons against their own people, they've used starvation as a method of war."   "The issue here in this trial was the pervasive use of arbitrary detention, torture and thousands of executions."   Roth told DW that Syria never joined the International Criminal Court, and China and Russia have "blocked" access to the court through the UN Security Council through their veto.   For this reason, "a number of governments, Germany included, helped to circumvent the veto in the UN Security Council by going to the UN General Assembly and getting it to create what's known as the International Independent Impartial Mechanism [IIIM]."   Last February the same court in Koblenz sentenced a former low-ranking Syrian intelligence officer, Eyad A., to four and a half years in prison for aiding and abetting a crime against humanity.   He was found guilty of helping to bring 30 anti-government demonstrators to the al-Khatib prison.   Raslan and Eyad belonged to Bashar Assad's regime and were arrested in Germany in 2019 after fleeing Syria.   At the UN Security Council, Russia and China have vetoed attempts by Western powers to refer the Syrian crisis to the International Criminal Court.   The result is that survivors of torture and chemical weapons attacks have been left with limited options to seek justice until now.   According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, at least 60,000 people have been killed under torture or as a result of the terrible conditions in Syrian detention centers.   http://www.dw.com/en/german-court-finds-syrian-ex-colonel-guilty-of-crimes-against-humanity/a-60407021 http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/01/1109682 http://www.hrw.org/news/2022/01/13/germany-conviction-state-torture-syria http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/01/germany-syria-conviction-of-syrian-official-for-crimes-against-humanity-a-historic-win-for-justice/ http://www.icj.org/syria-german-courts-decision-a-momentous-step-in-the-fight-against-impunity/ http://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/1/13/we-need-better-laws-to-prosecute-atrocities-in-syria Visit the related web page
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