[women-rights] Women's GlobalNet #209: Women on the ICC

IWTC WOMEN'S GLOBALNET #209
Initiatives and Activities of Women Worldwide
By Anne S. Walker

September 23, 2002

SUPPORT THE NOMINATION OF WOMEN JUDGES ON THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL
COURT (ICC)

BACKGROUND: ICC COMES INTO FORCE
Over the last five years, women from different parts of the world have
come together through the Women's Caucus for Gender Justice to influence
the negotiations toward the creation of the International Criminal Court
(ICC) from a gender perspective. On Monday, July 1, 2002, the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force marking
the moment at which the future Court's jurisdiction over genocide, war
crimes and crimes against humanity took effect.

Women's groups have applauded this historic development as the Rome
Statute has dramatically raised the standard for recognizing crimes of
sexual and gender violence as among the gravest when historically they
had not been treated as such in humanitarian law.

"Women will not be forgotten as war victims anymore," said Asma Khader,
a lawyer and activist from Jordan which was among 10 countries that
ratified the Rome Statute in April, 2002.

TWELVE WEEK WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY TO GET WOMEN ON THE ICC
Now, we are entering the establishment phase of the process and one of
the first major acts of the Assembly of States Parties is to elect the
judges, prosecutor and deputy prosecutor. ONCE AGAIN we need the
combined efforts and actions of the international women's human rights
movement and other civil society actors during this critical phase.

NOMINATION PERIOD 9 SEPTEMBER TO 30 NOVEMBER 2002
The nomination period for judges and the prosecutor opened on 9
September and will close on 30 November 2002.  The elections will be
held from February 3-7, 2002.  Of the nine countries that have announced
their candidates so far, only one has put forward a woman (Switzerland).

Eighteen judges will be elected in February 2003 and the voting
procedure is such that each country must vote for at least six women and
men.  However, to maintain this minimum voting requirement for women,
there must be at least nine women nominated to begin with.

PROSECUTOR AND DEPUTY PROSECUTORS OF MAJOR IMPORTANCE
There has been little noticeable effort to identify qualified candidates
for the position of Prosecutor and this is alarming as the Prosecutor
will be the public face of the Court and much of the direction the Court
takes will depend on him or her. Women's groups must advocate that
countries seek out, identify and nominate qualified women for this
position as well as that of the deputy prosecutors who will be elected
later next year.

If you feel you can help to lobby for the nomination of qualified women
in your country, please contact the Women's Caucus for Gender Justice
and request that they send you the following:

I. Draft letter that could be adapted and sent out to all state parties
or directed to one state party at the national level;

II. Information sheet containing basic information such as criteria for
candidates and relevant rules governing the nomination and election
process;

HOW TO CONTACT THE WOMEN'S CAUCUS
The Women's Caucus for Gender Justice can be contacted at:
P.O. Box 3541 Grand Central P.O., New York, New York 10163 (USA)
Tel. (1-718) 626-2681 / Fax (1-718) 626-3528
Email: <caucus@iccwomen.org>
Web: <http://www.iccwomen.org>

STATE PARTIES TO THE ROME STATUTE AS OF 9 SEPTEMBER 2002
Countries that have ratified the ICC statute are known as State Parties,
and only State Parties can nominate their own nationals or nationals
from other state parties. Here is a list of States Parties to the Rome
Statute (79) - as of 9 September 2002

Andorra, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium,
Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Ireland, Jordan, Mongolia, Niger, Romania
and Slovakia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Central African Republic,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominica, East Timor,
Ecuador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana,
Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lesotho,
Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, FYR Macedonia, Mali, Marshall Islands,
Mauritius, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway,
Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Senegal, Sierra
Leone, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan,
Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom, Uruguay,
Venezuela, Yugoslavia.

This issue of IWTC Women's GlobalNet has been adapted from Campaign
Communique No. 1 (17 September 2002) of the Women's Caucus for Gender
Justice.)

IWTC Women's GlobalNet is a production of:

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