In an historic step towards justice, a new international convention focused on crimes against humanity is in its final draft stages.
GJC is working to ensure that gender justice is at the forefront of this effort, particularly when it comes to forced pregnancy, the right to abortion, and the definition of gender.
GJC President Akila Radhakrishnan was profiled in Atlas Women, a community of female-identifying lawyers with expertise in international law.
What drew you to working in international law? And what were your first steps?
I knew from a young age that I wanted to work on issues affecting the rights of women. I was born and spent my early life in India where I saw a different world to that I would see after my family moved to the United States. My mother was widowed with two children before she was 30 years old. She made the decision to move to the States by herself - a tremendous act of bravery and a leap of faith in her own abilities to create a new life for her and her children. I am very fortunate to have a strong female mentor in my mother. Through her, I developed a keen understanding of the particular challenges that women face, and why it is important to empower and support women as they move through the world.
In college, I specialised in political science and international affairs, which gave me the opportunity to go abroad to study as part of my degree. I spent a year at Sciences Po in Lyon, which exposed me to a range of ideas, to a non-US focused world, and to different conceptions of the role that governments, and political life more broadly, could play. I had already decided to go to law school, but gradually my attention was turned to the international dimensions of law.
At the time I applied to law school, I had already worked for two years in a corporate law firm as a paralegal and I knew that wasn't for me. I applied to University of California at Hastings because it offered a concentration in international law and would allow me to study abroad and to take specialised courses in various facets of public international law. As part of my degree, I spent a semester at the University of Leiden in The Netherlands and while there, I undertook an internship at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. It was a privilege to be able to go abroad and have that experience.
Earlier this month, our partners Nadia Murad and Dr. Denis Mukwege were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to end sexual violence in conflict. Sexual and gender-based crimes are in the international spotlight, and GJC is working overtime to make sure that these crimes are investigated and punished.
We just sent ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda our analysis of the crimes committed against the Rohingya, along with a letter urging her to prioritize sexual and gender based violence in the Court's investigation.
Not a single ISIS fighter has been prosecuted for gender-based crimes despite mountains of evidence of rape and sexual slavery. As GJC President Akila Radhakrishnan explained to Emily Feldman of Elle UK, membership is a terrorist organization is much easier to prove than participation in gender-based crimes.
One of the benefits of ISIS’s diverse membership—fighters joined the group from countries around the world—is that many governments have an interest in going after ISIS suspects.
By 2015, countries like Iraq, Germany and even the U.K. already had ISIS suspects in their prisons. Frustratingly, every government that has arrested ISIS members has only prosecuted them for the crime of being a 'member of a terrorist organisation'—not even murder or rape.
And none of the Yazidi survivors has been informed about their detention and aren’t sure if the men who enslaved them are living or dead, imprisoned or walking free.
Akila Radhakrishnan, the president of the Global Justice Center who has advised Ibrahim, explains that it is simply much easier for prosecutors to prove membership in a terrorist organisation than it is to prove mass atrocities or gender-based crimes, like rape.
And although penalties for terrorism crimes are often severe—Iraq sentences terrorism convicts to death after hasty and widely criticised trials—the cases fail to acknowledge all the other crimes that took place.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 5, 2018
The Global Justice Center commends the Nobel Committee’s decision to award Nadia Murad and Dr. Denis Mukwege with the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, honoring their work to end rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war. Ms. Murad and Dr. Mukwege have each displayed remarkable bravery and determination, risking their safety and wellbeing in the struggle to end to sexual violence in conflict. This award shines an international spotlight on this widespread and horrific tactic that continues to be used to destroy communities both physically and emotionally, breaking apart the social fabric of society.
Despite the widespread use of rape as a weapon, no state has ever been held accountable for the use of rape as a prohibited tactic of war. To date, there have been no successful convictions for sexual violence at the International Criminal Court (after the acquittal of Jean-Pierre Bemba this June), despite the prevalence of sexual violence in many of the cases under the Court’s jurisdiction. As the perpetrators of crimes against the Yazidis and the Rohingya face justice, they must be held accountable for their horrendous acts of sexual violence, rape, and other gender-based crimes. This year’s Nobel Prize recognized the importance of addressing sexual violence in conflict. The next step is to ensure justice.
For more information contact:
Liz Olson, Communications Manager at Global Justice Center, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (212) 725-6530 ext. 217
