Iraqi Women’s Rights and International Law
The Women’s Alliance for a Democratic Iraq (WAFDI) and the Global Justice Center (GJC) jointly organized a three-day conference on women’s rights and international law November 13th – 15th at the Dead Sea, Jordan. Attendees included twenty members of the Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT) and representatives from the President’s office, the Prime Minister’s office, the Parliament, the Ministry of Human Rights as well as prominent members of civil society. The conference addressed a crucial subject for women in Iraq: sexual violence, as a war crime, a crime against humanity and an instrument of genocide, and its drastic impact on the victims. This issue was addressed in the context of international law and its role in the IHT, with an eye towards having the IHT address these crimes in its upcoming indictments and judgments.