This is the first part of footage from a panel discussion organized by the Women's Caucus for Gender Justice on crimes against humanity, held during of the 3rd Preparatory Commission of the International Criminal Court in New York City in December 1999. Four panelists - Vahida Nainar, of the Women's Caucus; Hawa Ghaus, associate for Global Programs at the Feminist Majority Foundation; Giti, a woman from Afghanistan, who is translated by Zieba Shorish-Shanley of the Women's Caucus; Asma Khader, the president of MIZAN, a law group on human rights in Jordan; and Jan Perlin, of the International Human Rights Law Clinic and the Guatemala Truth Commission, present and discuss the issue of crimes against women, giving various examples, and explain that and why crimes against women have to be considered as crimes against humanity. All footage of this video take place within a conference room.
After Vahida Nainar makes an introduction, Hawa Ghaus discusses the situation in Afghanistan, describing the abuse that women suffer at the hands of the Taliban. She calls for international support of these women as well as for pressure to be put on Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates for supporting the Taliban.
Asma Khader explains about the democratization of Jordan, mentioning that there are still significant difficulties facing the women there; for example, while they do have political freedoms, such as the right to to vote, Khader states that they are still prisoners in their homes, too afraid of social or familial reject to defend or assert themselves.
Nainar cautions participants to take care that statutes have verbiage in them to actively support women.
[3rd Preparatory Commission of the International Criminal Court (ICC Prepcom), Crimes Against Humanity Panel, part 1]
Abstract:
This is the first part of footage from a panel discussion organized by the Women's Caucus for Gender Justice on crimes against humanity, held during of the 3rd Preparatory Commission of the International Criminal Court in New York City in December 1999. Four panelists - Vahida Nainar, of the Women's Caucus; Hawa Ghaus, associate for Global Programs at the Feminist Majority Foundation; Giti, a woman from Afghanistan, who is translated by Zieba Shorish-Shanley of the Women's Caucus; Asma Khader, the president of MIZAN, a law group on human rights in Jordan; and Jan Perlin, of the International Human Rights Law Clinic and the Guatemala Truth Commission, present and discuss the issue of crimes against women, giving various examples, and explain that and why crimes against women have to be considered as crimes against humanity. All footage of this video take place within a conference room. After Vahida Nainar makes an introduction, Hawa Ghaus discusses the situation in Afghanistan, describing the abuse that women suffer at the hands of the Taliban. She calls for international support of these women as well as for pressure to be put on Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates for supporting the Taliban. Asma Khader explains about the democratization of Jordan, mentioning that there are still significant difficulties facing the women there; for example, while they do have political freedoms, such as the right to to vote, Khader states that they are still prisoners in their homes, too afraid of social or familial reject to defend or assert themselves. Nainar cautions participants to take care that statutes have verbiage in them to actively support women.
Sequence:
1 of 1
Creators:
WITNESSRole: Creator
Women's Caucus for Gender JusticeRole: Creator
Publisher:
WITNESS; Women's Caucus for Gender Justice; University of Texas Libraries
Date Created:
1999/12/15
Topics:
civil and political rights--women's rights
armed conflict and persecution--crimes against humanity
advocacy, activism, and responses to persecution--activists
armed conflict and persecution--domestic violence
armed conflict and persecution--honor crimes
armed conflict and persecution--sexual violence
Named Entities:
Vahida Nainar
Hawa Ghaus
Zieba Shorish-Shanley
Asma Khader
Jan Perlin
Taliban
Intl Criminal Court (ICC)
Languages:
eng
Geographic Focuses:
Asia--Afghanistan
Asia--Jordan; Middle East
Asia--Pakistan
North and Central America--United States--New York--New York
Geographic Base:
North America 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:
B01423-0_00_00_29
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.
