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	Babies as young as six months victims of rape in war says U.N. envoy by Michelle Nichols Reuters & agencies   In her first seven months as U.N. envoy on sexual violence in conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura has visited a Congolese district where rebels raped babies, and Somalia where a woman was paid $150 restitution for the rape of her 4-year-old daughter.   She met a refugee at a camp in Kenya who had been raped at gunpoint when she was eight-months-pregnant while gathering firewood and a Somali father who was fighting for justice for his daughters, aged 4 and 6, who had both been raped.   "The stories are horrific and heartbreaking and when these survivors tell you what they endured, and continue to endure, you know that one person raped in war is one too many," said Bangura, who briefed the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday.   She told the 15-member council it was still largely "cost-free" to rape a woman, child or man in conflict and that this must be reversed to make it a "massive liability to commit, command or condone sexual violence in conflict."   Any future peace and ceasefire deals in conflicts like Syria and Mali must include sexual violence prevention, Bangura said. Bangura, a former health minister of Sierra Leone, said she plans to visit Syria, Mali and South Sudan as soon as possible.   "I visited a community where last year 11 babies, between 6 and 12 months old, were raped by elements of Mai Mai Morgan," she said, referring to a rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo. "It is unimaginable that anyone could have committed such an atrocity."   Bangura also told reporters that in the same community - the Ituri district in turbulent eastern Congo on its border with Uganda - 59 children aged between 1 and 3, and 182 children between 5 and 15 years old had been raped last year.   "Under the cold light of strategy and tactics, the rationale and purpose is clear. What more effective way can there be to destroy a community than to target and devastate its children?" she told the Security Council.   Bangura said Congolese President Joseph Kabila had pledged to prosecute crimes of sexual violence more effectively and that the country"s parliament had said it would establish a working group on the issue.   A written report to the Security Council from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, based on Bangura"s work, named 14 armed groups along with the Congolese army and police that it said used sexual violence in conflict.   The report also lists groups in Central African Republic and groups and government forces in Ivory Coast, Syria and Mali.   Since January 2012, there have been 211 cases of sexual violence reported in Mali, including rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage and gang rape, according to the report.   "The majority of women and girls refused to report for fear of retribution and banishment by their spouses and the community," Ban"s report said. "In rebel-controlled zones, rape was used as a tactic of war."   Bangura told reporters the insecurity and lack of access in Syria meant it was hard to determine the scale of the problem.   Bangura described sexual violence in conflict as "war"s oldest and least condemned crime."   "Sexual violence has been used throughout the ages because it"s such a cheap and devastating weapon," she told the Security Council. "The perpetrators must understand that there can be no hiding place, no amnesty, no safe harbour."   * Access the report of the U.N. envoy on sexual violence in conflict via the link below. Visit the related web page
	The Long March towards the Abolition of War by Nobel Women"s Initiative 2013 & agencies   May 2013   The world is over-armed and peace is underfunded, writes Thalif Deen.   Slavery. Colonialism. Apartheid. Gender discrimination in voting. All were abolished in most places after longstanding battles – largely in bygone eras.   Now a high-level panel is scheduled to meet next month to discuss another politically sensitive issue: Should the institution of war be abolished?   Asked if this would be just an exercise in futility, Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and chair of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, told IPS, “I don’t think that working toward ending war is an exercise in futility.   “I think there is little consistent effort to challenge the view that war is inevitable and to begin serious education from the time children enter school about conflict resolution and the actions we all need to take to create a global culture of sustainable peace,” said Williams, who led the highly successful global campaign to ban anti-personnel landmines.   Asked if the concept of eliminating wars should begin in the minds of politicians and decision-makers or with the leaders of the global arms industry, she said: “I think the work to ending wars must begin at all levels.”   Williams said it should extend from educating children about the horrors of war – “and not pretending it is all heroic and patriotic” – to pressuring policy and decision makers to change their thinking about war as a solution to problems.   “Tackling the arms industry directly would likely not be as fruitful and they stand to lose the most,” she added.   Williams will be one of the participants, along with diplomats, former senior U.N. officials and anti-war activists, at a briefing co-sponsored by a coalition of non-governmental (NGOs) organizations and Switzerland, a country which has not been in a state of war since 1815.   Scheduled to take place Jun. 6, the briefing will focus on the topic “Determined to Save Succeeding Generations from the Scourge of War.”   The speakers will also include Ambassador Paul Seger of Switzerland, Ralph Zacklin, former U.N. assistant-secretary-general for legal affairs, and Nounou Booto Meeti, program manager, Center for Peace, Security and Armed Violence Prevention.   Cora Weiss, president of The Hague Appeal for Peace, one of the NGOs promoting the event, told IPS, “There will always be war, some say, just as many said there will always be slavery, colonialism and apartheid and women will never vote.   “Maybe if more women were at all decision making tables and at all levels of governance (per Security Council resolution 1325), we would see less violence,” she added.   Asked for his take, Siddharth Chatterjee, chief diplomat at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told IPS, “If the world cannot find a way out of war, then we may well be defeated as a civilization.”   Asked about the role of politicians, decision-makers and the global arms industry in preventing wars, Chatterjee said, “Simple economics. Once the demand for war stops, the tools that supply it to wage the war will also stop”.   He said it goes beyond politicians and policy makers. And civil society can actually play a strong role in preventing wars.   A backgrounder to the briefing released here points out that since the U.N.’s creation, the international community has not seen a conflict with the same level of globally widespread catastrophe as the Second World War, which motivated governments toward the creation of the world body.   “Unfortunately, the scourge of war has not disappeared. Now, nearly 70 years after the U.N. Charter’s signing, ongoing violent conflicts continue to inflict unimaginable suffering around the world,” it says.   The current crisis in Syria, for example, has resulted in over 70,000 deaths so far, with no end in sight.   According to the latest statistics, over 1.7 trillion dollars is spent globally on armaments, making up about 2.5 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).   U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the world is over-armed and peace is underfunded.   Asked about the validity of the view that the fear of nuclear weapons has done more for global peace than any other threat, Williams told IPS: “No, it is not valid. You cannot prove a negative.”   She said it is a claim easy to make because there is no real answer.   Growing up under the threat of nuclear war, however, has marked people for life, she added.   “I had to practice curling up in a ball under my desk in grade school to know how to protect myself during nuclear attack. I was totally terrified. It most definitely did not feel like a peaceful world,” she added.   Weiss said the secretary-general has been a champion for disarmament, asserting that nuclear disarmament in particular “is critical to global peace and security”.   “Increasingly I find people talking about the immorality, illegality and glorification of war and the militarization of society,” she said, adding that the 1999 Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice for the 21st Century said: ‘Peace is a Human Right and Time to Abolish War’. It was endorsed by 10,000 people from over 100 countries.   The nature of war has changed. Weiss said the journalist Jeremy Scahill has just published “Dirty Wars” documenting armed violence in half the world.   “As long as there are nuclear bombs and nuclear wanna-bees, global security is threatened,” Weiss said.   “If we could abolish apartheid,” she quoted Bishop Desmond Tutu as saying, “why not war?”   Chatterjee told IPS the toll that war takes on a soldier is clear, but what sort of toll does it take on a community?   “What does this say about a community that not only do we send people out to a war that leaves them permanently scarred at the age of 21 or 22, but we also do not help them ease back into civilian life so that they can have a shot at a normal life?   “Doesn’t it affect the future of a country and a people when hundreds of thousands of young people are asked to put their life at risk to defend its borders, only to be told their well-being is not of concern to the very people who would ask this sacrifice of them?” asked Chatterjee, who has overseen U.N. relief missions in several of the world’s battle zones.   May 2013   What unites people"s movements from the Arab "spring" to Occupy, is a new consciousness that a good life, with dignity, freedom, fairness and human security, is their right - and by the law of love and logic, the right of every man and woman, says Nobel laureate Mairead Maguire.   I passionately believe peace is possible, and that it is possible for the human family to move beyond militarism and war. Indeed, it is already happening because millions of us have already rejected the ‘bomb and the bullet’ and all the techniques of violence and are working to build a world based on the values of love, equality and dignity for all.   People of the world do not want war. We have had enough of this wastage of human resources and intelligence in feeding the death machinery of militarism while children die of starvation and poverty. These are not the ‘values’ we want to live by, and the human family, particularly women, are uniting our voices as a powerful force to say ‘no’ no more of these destructive policies of bad governance and governments not acting in good faith.   Ten years ago, in February 2003, millions of people around the world said ‘no’ to the Iraqi war and occupation, and since then millions around the world have protested against unjust government regimes, demanding dignity, demilitarization, development, and democracy.   These massive peoples movements, for the most part peaceful, are being repressed by government forces whose policies of ongoing militarism, war, inequality and injustice, are being challenged by courageous individuals and global protests of solidarity by civil community, both locally and internationally.   What unites these people"s movements is a new ‘consciousness’ that a good life, with dignity, freedom, fairness and human security, is their right - and by the law of love and logic, the right of every man and woman.   There is more awareness in the age of increased education and advanced communications that we live in a very rich world with enough for everyone"s need, but not for everyone"s greed. This increased awareness of social, economic and political injustice which is destroying so many people"s lives, is creating deep anger and frustration resulting in non-violent revolution and protest movements to change repressive and unjust systems.   We have seen the Arab "spring" in the Middle East, but also the rise of the ‘Occupy movements’ protesting the quest for profit and perpetual financial growth which has enriched a tiny minority, while causing hardships, despair and devastation particularly amongst the marginalized and poor.   The quest for perpetual financial growth and profit has ravaged the earth, so that today we face unprecedented threats to the possibility of sustaining a liveable habitat for future generations. The dominance of the corporate media and the power of the military industrial complex to drive and control government policies is dominating our lives everywhere. It is colossal task to try to change it, but try we must if there is to be a future for our children.   The latest figure for world military expenditure is well over £l,082 billion, with the United Kingdom coming fourth in spending £39 billion. The British government plans to spend over £100 billion on renewal of Nuclear trident, whilst announcing strict austerity measures causing real hardship with many people unemployed - particularly young people - in Northern Ireland and elsewhere forced to reluctantly leave their homes to seek employment in other countries.   There is a real sense of powerlessness and hopelessness amongst many young people which governments must address by diverting military funding into job creation and education, to give hope and dignity to people.   And hope too, comes from people and their awakening and empowerment, as they work against violence and for social justice and change. This movement is exciting and inspiring. Many women know the pain of losing a child, they know the pain of war, and that ‘violence is not a solution, it is part of the problem’. They know that there will not be paramilitary or military solutions to their problems, only peaceful dialogue and talking amongst all the parties to the conflict will bring the much needed peace, which is a right of all the peoples, and necessary if there is to be development.   A demilitarized, peaceful nonviolent world, is not a utopian dream it is a right for all. Most people have never killed anyone, but have struggled to live out their lives as joyfully and peacefully as possible.   Most people know that human beings were not made for hatred and violence, but were made to love and be loved. We all know in our hearts that it is not permitted to kill or be killed. So too for political activists who choose to work for change through peaceful resistance, it is important to remember that peaceful resistance means we do not resist injustice with death, either our own, or others, but rather through respect of life.   Building a culture of love and compassion is the culture of accepting the other and recognizing their right to dignity. I believe that if governments allowed people to grow up respecting human life, respecting women, and respecting all people from all religions and from all countries, it would then be difficult to send out soldiers to kill others. This would end the arms trade, armies and militarism.   I hope that we can all work together to abolish armed forces, weapons research, manufacturing and trading of weapons. We can do this by building a culture of love, replacing a culture of violence and death. The great hope lies in the fact that human beings are continually evolving in their thinking, and we can replace military mindsets, with creative ways of conflict prevention, unarmed civilian peacekeeping, We are becoming more enlightened, and as we abolished slavery so too we can abolish armies and base our human security not on force, or threat of force, but on compassion, human rights and international law.   At the heart of international law is the principle of good faith. Governments have a legal responsibility to uphold all international law and to do so in good faith.   Many government not only refuse to meet their obligations under the international treaties which they have signed - such as the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but they are allowing a glorification of militarism, and in all our cultures we see a creeping militarization of society.   In the UK we are, through the media and many other ways, being conditioned to see armies and militarism as acceptable, and offering ‘good career’ choices, instead of the truth that they are training grounds to teach people how to kill other people.   Within the military there is too much violence against women, including sexual violence, and it is to be hoped that women will challenge this culture of violence and militarism, which armed with weapons of mass destruction, is a danger to civilians rather than their protector.   However, I believe that more than anything ‘the world needs love’ particularly the young people in whom we can place our trust, and believe in them and in the goodness of men and women and their potential to be truly magnificent human beings.   * Nobel Peace laureate, Mairead Maguire, will be atttending the Nobel Women"s Initiative"s fourth international conference Beyond Militarism and War: women driven solutions for a nonviolent world in Belfast May 28-31. openDemocracy 5050 will be reporting from the conference. http://nobelwomensinitiative.org/   http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/nobel-womens-initiative/nobel-womens-initiative-2013
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