The first part of the video is an interview with Indai Sajor, Executive Director of Asian Centre for Women's Human Rights (ASCENT). She talks about the potential
of the ICC to address the issues of survivors and victims of war and armed conflict.
She hopes that domestic laws will reform on the basis of ICC standards to address crimes such as genocide on a national level. She notes that while the
women's rights movement is stronger now and can encourage women victims to speak out, the national and international justice systems are not sensitive enough to address their violations and
give them justice.
She says that the ICC is still becoming established, so national courts must quickly adapt to serve the millions of victims of war and violence.
She explains that the human rights movement must find creative ways to motivate domestic governments and to educate the public about gender-based
persecution.
Finally, she talks about the need for mechanisms to protect witnesses and victims, citing the example of the witness and victim protection unit in
Indonesia.
The second part is footage of Women's Caucus members talking and using computers outside a conference room at the UN. There are then shots of people sitting
at tables in a conference room, walking through a hallway, and eating at a cafeteria.
[Interview with Indai Sajor / Women's Caucus b-roll / Interview with Donald Piragoff]
Abstract:
The first part of the video is an interview with Indai Sajor, Executive Director of Asian Centre for Women's Human Rights (ASCENT). She talks about the potential of the ICC to address the issues of survivors and victims of war and armed conflict. She hopes that domestic laws will reform on the basis of ICC standards to address crimes such as genocide on a national level. She notes that while the women's rights movement is stronger now and can encourage women victims to speak out, the national and international justice systems are not sensitive enough to address their violations and give them justice. She says that the ICC is still becoming established, so national courts must quickly adapt to serve the millions of victims of war and violence. She explains that the human rights movement must find creative ways to motivate domestic governments and to educate the public about gender-based persecution. Finally, she talks about the need for mechanisms to protect witnesses and victims, citing the example of the witness and victim protection unit in Indonesia. The second part is footage of Women's Caucus members talking and using computers outside a conference room at the UN. There are then shots of people sitting at tables in a conference room, walking through a hallway, and eating at a cafeteria. Next is footage of the Women's Caucus office, including shots of a hand-drawn comic and some footage where the cameraperson plays with camera settings. The video continues with more shots in a hallway where Women's Caucus members wearing t-shirts reading "Gender Justice NOW!" are gathered, then inside a large hall where an event is about to take place. The third portion of the tape is an interview with Donald Piragoff, from the Department of Justice Canada. Piragoff talks about how the ICC statute has defined gender violence and how it will take the needs of victims into consideration. He explains the concept of complementarity, which is the principle that states have the right to prosecute first; the ICC will only step in if courts refuse or are unable to try the crimes. He says that the primary obligation for prosecution should be with the states, and talks about how Canada has passed legislation that goes beyond the Rome Statute. The interview is followed by b-roll of the interviewer walking with Piragoff.
Sequence:
1 of 4
Creators:
WITNESSRole: Creator
Women's Caucus for Gender JusticeRole: Creator
Publisher:
WITNESS; Women's Caucus for Gender Justice; University of Texas Libraries
Date Created:
2000/06/20 - 2000/06/29
Topics:
armed conflict and persecution--war crimes
advocacy, activism, and responses to persecution--activists
laws, justice, and judicial proceedings--laws and legislation
armed conflict and persecution--sexual violence
Named Entities:
Miho Tsuiji
Pam Spees
Rhonda Copelon
Donald Piragoff
Intl Criminal Court (ICC)
Languages:
eng
Geographic Focuses:
Asia--Indonesia
North and Central America--Canada
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:
B01548-0_00_03_22
Rights:
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