Justice for Women. Searching for post-conflict accountability for sexual crimes
Hotel Crowne PlazaBrussels, Belgium 13/05/2008 to 14/05/2008
Description
Sexual crimes against women have become a common war weapon in armed conflict. Hundreds of thousands of women have suffered, and are still suffering from constant sexual violence acts in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda or Colombia.
Since the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 1998, the advances in bringing perpetrators to justice have been significant, albeit insufficient. Have we achieved full participation of these women in justice processes? Can they easily access justice and reparation? Which opportunities does the ICC offer to bring perpetrators to justice and reparation to the victims?
These and other important questions will be debated during the two-day seminar Justice for Women, searching for post-conflict accountability for sexual crimes, organised by FRIDE and LolaMora/WorldCom Foundation.
Members of the ICC and the European Union, activists from Africa, America and Europe, and representatives from international development cooperation organisations will discuss the access to justice for women that suffer these crimes. Women from the DRC and Darfur will analyse the crises of the justice systems in their respective countries and its relationship to international justice.
The overarching objective is to promote joint lines of action that will guarantee that participation and access to justice for women be regarded as a priority in the development cooperation agenda with countries in post-conflict situations.
Documents:
Dossier: Justice for women (PDF, English, 88 KB)
Dossier: justice pour les femmes (PDF, French, 129 KB)
See the current debate on Europe-Latin America Forum: JUSTICE WITHOUT GENDER (in Spanish)
Program
Tuesday, 13th of May
Paul-Henri Spaak P7C050 Room, European Parliament, Brussels
09h30 - Welcome and registration
09h45 - Seminar inauguration and introduction
10h00 - Panel one
International justice, a way out for fragile states? Complementarity. The ICC and its instruments.
Speakers:
Ms. Gloria Atiba Davies (Head, Gender and Children's Unit of the Office of the Prosecutor, ICC, The Netherlands)
Ms. Janet Benshoof (President, Global Justice Center, USA)
Comments:
Ms. Sonia Herrero (Researcher, ICTJ International Center Transitional Justice, Belgium)
Ms. Gaby Oré, (Lawyer and International Consultant, Spain)
Moderator:
Mr. Vidal Martín (Researcher, FRIDE, Spain)
11h30 - Coffee break
11h45 - Panel two
Victims’ participation in judicial processes and Women’s participation in a post-conflict process.
Speakers:
Ms. Cecilia Moller (Human Rights Officer and Women's Rights, OHCHR, Geneva)
Ms. Luz Piedad Caicedo (Corporación Humanas, Colombia)
Comments:
Ms. Giji Gya (Director, Responding to Conflict and Gender & Security programmes, ISIS)
Ms. Mónica Roa (Lawyer, Women’s Link Worldwide, Colombia)
Moderator:
Ms. Gilma Andrade (Worldcom-LolaMora, The Netherlands)
13h00 - Lunch break
15h00 - Panel three
The Rwandan case.
Speakers:
Mr. Rety Hamuli (President, Association of Defence Council, ICTR)
Mr. Raúl Romeva i Rueda (Vice-chairman, Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality European Parliament)
Comments:
Representative from Trocaire (Ireland)
Ms. Martien Schotsmans (University of Ghent)
Moderator:
Ms. Julia Schünemann (Eurolatin Forum Coordinator, FRIDE, Spain)
16h30 - Coffee break
16h45 - Panel four
The Congolese case.
Speakers:
Ms. Jeannine Mukanirwa (Gender and Women Rights and Sexual crimes denounces, CENADEP, DRC)
Mr. André Laperrierre (Executive Director, ICC’s Trust Fund for Victims, The Netherlands) (invited)
Comments:
Ms. Jolly Kamuntu (Lawyer and journalist, Caucus Women for Peace, DRC)
Ms. Florence Liégeois (RCN Justice & Démocratie, Belgium)
Moderator:
Mr. Rene Roemersma (Worldcom-LolaMora, The Netherlands)
18h00 - End of day
Wednesday, 14th of May
Hotel Crowne Plaza, rue de la Loi 107 Wetstraat, Brussels
09h00 - Panel five
Lessons learned from Rwanda and DRC. How to apply them to the Sudanese case?
Speakers:
Ms. Mariana Goetz (ICC Programme Adviser, REDRESS,UK)
Mrs. Ruth Abril (Public Law teacher, School of Social and Law Sciences, CEU Cardenal Herrera university, Valencia, Spain)
Moderator:
Ms. Gaby Oré (Lawyer and International Consultant, Spain)
10h30 - Panel six
Strategic guidelines requiered to influence on the agendas of international institutions and organizations. Proposals.
Speakers:
Ms. Jeannine Mukanirwa (Gender, Women Rights, Sexual crimes, CENADEP, DRC)
Ms. Safaa Elagib Adam (Community development Association Secretary General and Gender Advisor, Sudan)
Ms. Luz Piedad Caicedo (Corporación Humanas, Colombia)
Ms. Gaby Oré (Lawyer and International Consultant, Spain)
Mr. Vidal Martin (FRIDE, Spain)
Ms. Tatiana Miralles (Worldcom-LolaMora, The Netherlands)
Moderator:
Mr. Rene Roemersma (Worldcom-LolaMora, The Netherlands)
12h00 - Coffee break
12h30 - Participants contributions and proposals.
Conclusions and guidelines for the future.
13h30 - End of the Seminar
