The Women's Caucus's for Gender Justice, New York interviews two human rights legal experts. Zieba Shorish-Shamley, Director of Women's Alliance for Peace and
Human Rights in Afghanistan, who speaks about war crimes committed by the Taliban, and the status of women in Afghanistan. She says that women in Afghanistan are prisoners in their home, denied
the most basic of human rights.
She talks about the forced marriages and prostitution, ethnic cleansing, and abductions which have happened since the Taliban has come into power.
She states that the ICC will be able to help by giving people a place to seek redress, as the country has no acceptable court of its own.
She asserts that the Taliban's actions are committing atrocities in the name of religion, but that their actions are essentially un-Islamic.
She concludes with a rally for all women to join the fight for freedom, as what is happening in Afghanistan to women could happen anywhere.
Rashida Manjoo of South Africa talks about the influence that the ICC concepts of individual accountability and responsibility will have on domestic policy
in South Africa, and legislation to protect victims and witnesses.
[Interviews with Zieba Shorish-Shamley and Rashida Manjoo]
Abstract:
The Women's Caucus's for Gender Justice, New York interviews two human rights legal experts. Zieba Shorish-Shamley, Director of Women's Alliance for Peace and Human Rights in Afghanistan, who speaks about war crimes committed by the Taliban, and the status of women in Afghanistan. She says that women in Afghanistan are prisoners in their home, denied the most basic of human rights. She talks about the forced marriages and prostitution, ethnic cleansing, and abductions which have happened since the Taliban has come into power. She states that the ICC will be able to help by giving people a place to seek redress, as the country has no acceptable court of its own. She asserts that the Taliban's actions are committing atrocities in the name of religion, but that their actions are essentially un-Islamic. She concludes with a rally for all women to join the fight for freedom, as what is happening in Afghanistan to women could happen anywhere. Rashida Manjoo of South Africa talks about the influence that the ICC concepts of individual accountability and responsibility will have on domestic policy in South Africa, and legislation to protect victims and witnesses.
Sequence:
1 of 3
Creators:
WITNESSRole: Creator
Women's Caucus for Gender JusticeRole: Creator
Publisher:
WITNESS; Women's Caucus for Gender Justice; University of Texas Libraries
Date Created:
2000/06/30
Topics:
civil and political rights--women's rights
advocacy, activism, and responses to persecution--activists
armed conflict and persecution--war crimes
armed conflict and persecution--genocide
laws, justice, and judicial proceedings--witnesses
laws, justice, and judicial proceedings--accountability
Named Entities:
United Nations
Intl Criminal Court (ICC)
Taliban
Zieba Shorish-Shamley
Rashida Manjoo
Languages:
eng
Geographic Focuses:
Africa--South Africa
Asia--Afghanistan
North and Central America--United States--New York--New York
Geographic Base:
North and Central America--United States--New York--Brooklyn
Type of Resource:
Moving image
Genre:
Unedited
Notes:
The Women's Caucus was formed in February 1997, to intervene in the ongoing Preparatory Committee meetings for the establishment of an International Criminal Court at the United Nations. Women realized that without an organized caucus, women's concerns would not be actively defended in the documents and process of creation of an International Criminal Court. The legal issues in the ICC are complex and sensitive. They require people from different legal systems and cultures to arrive at a consensus on specific issues that may challenge local traditions or beliefs. The gender-related issues are particularly sensitive, as they are not as well understood. Gender-related crimes are often perceived to be private or individual crimes that do not rise to the level of international human rights law, or that are perceived to be taken care of by a "neutral" statute. However, the experience of women has been that neutrality usually results in leaving out crimes against women and the ways that women, because of their socially constructed roles in society, are disproportionately affected. It was these concerns that the Women's Caucus sought to address in the process of creation of an International Criminal Court. By advocating the codification of crimes of sexual, reproductive and gender violence, and inclusion of gender sensitive processes and criteria for personnel, the Caucus tried to ensure that the Court has capacity to implement justice for women.
Identifier:
B01432-0_00_02_16
Rights:
This electronic resource is made available by the University of Texas Libraries solely for the purposes of research, teaching and private study. All intellectual property rights are retained by the legal copyright holders. The University of Texas does not hold the copyright to the content of this file. Formal permission to reuse or republish this content must be obtained from the copyright holder.
