Press Releases

Ruling in Case Against Dominic Ongwen Sets Historic Precedent on Reproductive Autonomy NEW YORK/THE HAGUE  — The International Criminal Court today upheld the conviction of Dominic Ongwen, a former commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel force that operated in Uganda for decades. In 2021, Ongwen was found guilty of 61 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Northern Uganda between 2002 and 2005. This included many sexual and gender-based crimes such as forced marriage and forced pregnancy, neither of which had previously tried at the ICC. The Global Justice Center, Amnesty International, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, and Dr. Rosemary Grey filed an amicus brief on the crime of forced pregnancy in the case in December of 2021. They presented this analysis to the court during appeal hearings in February of this year. In its ruling today, the court affirmed this analysis and found that the legal interest behind the crime of forced pregnancy is “woman’s reproductive health and autonomy and the right to family planning,” and that national abortion laws are irrelevant to the court’s analysis of the crime. Akila Radhakrishnan, President of the Global Justice Center, issued the following statement: “Today’s ruling is a victory not only for the victims of Dominic Ongwen, but for all victims of sexual and gender-based violence that come to the ICC for justice. This is especially true for victims of forced pregnancy, whose human rights are now further protected by the creation of a historic precedent on reproductive autonomy in international law.”  Alix Vuillemin, Advocacy Director at Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, issued the following statement: “Today, the crime of ‘forced pregnancy’ was recognized by the ICC as the incomparable violence done to women who are raped, forcibly made pregnant, and confined with the intent to keep them pregnant. As we said in the 1990s in pushing for the criminalisation of these acts, with forced pregnancy, the invasion of the body and self is total. Women are being treated as chattel for the purpose of reproduction, which is another form of gender enslavement. Decades later, with this judgment, the ICC has given us sharper tools to advance the recognition, accountability and prevention of this violence.” Matt Cannock, Amnesty International's Center for International Justice, issued the following statement: “The Appeals Chamber's decision will doubtless prove critical for the future of the International Criminal Court's consideration of the crime of forced pregnancy, and it firmly holds the door open to victims of this horrendous crime to access justice before the court and beyond. “In particular we welcome the court's crucial finding, centered around human rights considerations, that the crime of forced pregnancy seeks to protect women’s ‘reproductive health and autonomy and the right to family planning’ - an absence of which can cause severe physical and psychological harms and lasting personal, social and economic consequences.” Dr. Rosemary Grey, Lecturer at Sydney Law School, issued the following statement: “Today, the value of reproductive autonomy was recognised by the International Criminal Court’s highest chamber. The decision affirms that forced pregnancy is among the most serious crimes of international concern, regardless of whether reproductive rights are protected under national law. It’s inspiring — and long overdue — to see the court taking this strong stance on reproductive rights under international law. And inspiring to see the strength of the two women whose evidence supported this historic conviction for forced pregnancy.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 13, 2018 [New York] – The Global Justice Center (GJC) applauds the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the charging of Al-Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud for persecution on the grounds of gender. This potentially groundbreaking case could be the first time that the Court will consider the crime of gender-based persecution and has the potential to define the Court’s jurisprudence around gender. In a statement following Al-Hassan’s arrest, Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced that, “Mr. Al-Hassan is allegedly responsible for the crimes against humanity of persecution on both religious and gender grounds; rape and sexual slavery committed in the context of forced marriages; torture and other inhuman acts intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.” The inclusion of the crime of gender-based persecution in Al-Hassan’s case is a promising indication of Prosecutor Bensouda’s commitment to securing justice for sexual and gender-based crimes. According to his arrest warrant, Al-Hassan was a member of Ansar Dine, one of several Islamic militant groups that seized control of Mali in 2012. As the de-facto chief of Islamic police in Timbuktu, Al-Hassan enforced a policy of forced marriages that “led to the repeated rapes and sexual enslavement of women and girls”. Under ICC pre-trial procedures, Al-Hassan will not be formally charged until a confirmation of charges hearing, which has been tentatively scheduled for September 24, 2018. The ICC should continue this commitment to gender justice and open an investigation into the genocidal crimes Daesh is committing against Yazidi women and girls in Iraq and Syria. In December 2015, the Global Justice Center sent a brief to Prosecutor Bensouda calling on the ICC to investigate Daesh’s gender-based crimes including the systematic rape, torture, and enslavement of women and girls. As the international community begins the process of holding Daesh fighters accountable, it must provide justice for the victims targeted due to their gender. The charges of persecution based on gender in the Al-Hassan case are an important first step in prosecuting the gender-based crimes that are a central tactic of extremist groups in conflicts around the world. “It is encouraging that the Court is looking beyond the narrow lens of counterterrorism to prosecute the real gendered crimes that often go hand in hand with violent extremism,” says Staff Attorney for the Global Justice Center, Grant Shubin. “When gender is at the heart of the crimes committed, gender must also be at the center of accountability.” For more information contact: Liz Olson (New York), Global Justice Center, lolson@globaljusticecenter.net 212.725.6530 ext. 217

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — April 7, 2017 [NEW YORK, NY] - Today marks the 23rd Anniversary of the start of the Rwanda genocide when 80% of the Tutsi population in Rwanda was exterminated. Over the course of 100 days, up to a half million Tutsi women were raped, sexually mutilated or murdered. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda handed down the first conviction for the use of rape as an act of genocide. Since then, genocide and ethnic cleansing continue to occurr around the world, including in places like Iraq, Syria, Burundi and Sudan. Since 2014, ISIS has been targeting the Yazidi, a minority ethnic community in Iraq and Syria, for genocide. Their crimes include mass killing of Yazidi men, and the kidnapping, forcible transfer and enslavement of Yazidi women and children and institutionalizing sexual violence, including by forced pregnancy and forced abortion. In Burundi, a country at risk of genocide, a recent video emerged of pro-government youth militia singing about “impregnating” the opposition. “In the case of ISIS, it is long past time for the international community to act on its obligations under the UN Genocide Convention to prevent, suppress and punish genocide,” says Janet Benshoof, Global Justice Center President. “These crimes have been going on for almost three years and there has been no accountability for the genocide. Evidence is languishing, women remain in captivity and the Iraqi government is delaying justice. It is an insult to the victims and the rule of law.” The United States, UN and other international bodies have recognized that genocide is occurring but have taken limited steps to ending this genocide or hold the perpetrators accountable. Over 3,200 Yazidi women and children remain in captivity and are daily subjected to genocidal acts. “There are strong international precedents on prosecuting genocide, including for rape as an act of genocide in Rwanda, that must be upheld,” says Benshoof. “Genocide prosecutions are enormously important to deter and delegitimize ISIS atrocities. The perpetrators of these atrocities should not be killed in counter-terrorism measures or only held accountable for terrorism crimes, they should be seen in court being held accountable for the full scope of the crimes they committed—including genocide.”   For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE— March 29, 2017 [NEW YORK, NY] - Yesterday, Jordan welcomed Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s President, for the Arab League’s annual summit. Bashir is attending despite two longstanding arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his actions in Darfur, including rape, murder, torture and extermination. He has been charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and has been a fugitive from the ICC since 2009. Jordan, as a party to the ICC’s Rome Statute, has an obligation to arrest Bashir and turn him over to the court. Jordan also has obligations as a party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide to cooperate with international criminal proceedings to hold genocidaires accountable. In 2015, South Africa similarly failed to arrest Bashir when he attended an African Union summit. “When countries like Jordan and South Africa allow Bashir to visit and fail to arrest him, they are not only in violation of their obligations under the Rome Statute to cooperate with the ICC, but their obligations under the Genocide Convention as well,” says Akila Radhakrishnan, Vice-President & Legal Director of the Global Justice Center. “The International Court of Justice, in its 2007 decision in the Bosnia-Serbia Genocide case, found that when Serbia failed to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and arrest Ratko Mladic when he was on Serbian territory, they violated their obligations to punish under the Genocide Convention. What is happening in Jordan today is no different—Jordan's failure to take action puts it in violation of its international obligations. GJC joins Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Arrest Bashir Campaign and other NGOs in calling for Jordan and the international community to take immediate action to end impunity for war crimes.” Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, over 1 million refugees have poured into Jordan. “Jordan is at the center of the Syrian refugee crisis and has voiced disappointment in the past about the UN Security Council’s failure to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC, says Stephanie Johanssen, EU and UN Director for the Global Justice Center. “With the Syrian war now entering its 6th year, Jordan knows first-hand the dangers of shielding a war criminal for the sake of political interests. These are precisely the actions that undermine the efficiency of the ICC, we cannot have countries proclaim support for international justice on the one hand, and then collaborate or mingle with the ICC’s most wanted.” The failure to arrest and prosecute war criminals undermines the interests of justice and signals to others that they can commit these crimes with impunity. “Allowing war criminal to thrive while depriving their victims of justice undermines the very system these States themselves created to hold perpetrators accountable,” says Radhakrishnan. “Victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed around the world require justice—whether committed by Bashir, Assad, ISIS or the Burmese military. Justice cannot come second to political convenience.” For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—June 27, 2016 [Windhoek, Namibia] – The African Caribbean Pacific (ACP)- European Union (EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) adopted a resolution on rape and sexual violence against women and children in armed conflict that recognized rape as an element crime of genocide when commmitted with the intent to destroy the targeted group. The resolution further called for abortion to be treated as necessary medical care for girls and women impregnated by rape in war under international humanitarian law. The resolution also further affirmed that the Geneva Conventions and its additional protocols applies in times of conflict and supersedes national or local law. It called on all states to prevent rape and sexual violence in conflict and ensure that victims recieve adequate medical care including access to sexual and reproductive healthcare in line with the Geneva Conventions. It called on states to prosecute perpetrators and on the UN to provide its members with training guidelines on the particular needs of children. The resolution asked states involved in post-conflict humanitarian activities to collect data on rape and sexual violence in conflict. "This strongly worded resolution demonstrates the political will that exists to address these serious issues" said Akila Radhakrishnan, Global Justice Center, Legal Director. The resolution was adopted by Members of the European Parliament together with MPs from the 78 ACP states For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net, +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 14, 2014 [NEW YORK, NY] – On the night of April 14th, 2014, 276 Nigerian schoolgirls were abducted from their boarding school in Chibok, Nigeria by the terrorist group Boko Haram. The abduction ignited worldwide outrage, sparked a vigorous social media campaign to #BringBackOurGirls, and drew condemnation from political leaders around the world. However, today, on the one-year anniversary of the kidnapping, the majority of the schoolgirls are still missing. "The young Chibok school girls have been living lives of daily terror and torture, including rape, forced conversion to Islam, forced marriage, forced pregnancy and sexual slavery, for 365 days and there has been no internationally motivated effort to rescue them,” says GJC President, Janet Benshoof, “this demonstrates the enormous gulf between the global concern for women and the political will to do anything about it.” Not only have the girls not been found, but there has been no accountability for the heinous crimes committed against them, which is why, today, the Global Justice Center (GJC) is urging the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, to investigate whether Boko Haram, who recently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is perpetrating genocide against the Christian community in Nigeria. The abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, among others, in Nigeria is exactly the act of genocide, as defined in the Genocide Convention, called the “forcible transfer of children.” The essence of genocide is not mass killing but the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Removing children from a group destroys its future, and has been a tool of genocide for as long as the legal concept has existed. If Prosecutor Bensouda examines Boko Haram’s gender-based abductions as genocide it would put all countries unequivocally on notice that genocide is occurring in Nigeria, propelling them to action. All states and the international community have the duty to prevent and halt genocide. It would also send a powerful message to other perpetrators, including terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria who are increasingly using the kidnapping of young girls and women as a tool in their campaign of terror, that genocide will not be tolerated. This year marks not only the one year anniversary of our failure to rescue the Chibok girls, but also the 100 year anniversary of one of the largest campaigns of child transfer in history: the Armenian Genocide. In 1915, tens of thousands of Armenian women and children were forcibly removed from their families, then “Islamized” through placement with Muslim families, in Muslim orphanages, or forced marriages to Muslim men. The ICC has admirably taken historic steps to put justice for women and girls at the forefront of its agenda. And in this case, there is a way to ensure justice for (and rescue of) the abducted girls of Nigeria as well as to establish a precedent of intolerance for crimes of this nature. The GJC calls on the ICC to demonstrate its will to do so. GJC’s letter to the Prosecutor can be found here. Accompanying Article 15 communication can be found here with supporting Annex found here. *** For further information or press inquiries, please contact: Sarah Vaughan, Director of External Relations, Global Justice Center, by e-mail at svaughan@globaljusticecenter.net or by phone a 212.725.6530, ext. 204. Sherrie Russell-Brown, Senior Attorney for Global Security, Global Justice Center, by email at srussellbrown@globaljusticecenter.net or by phone at 212.725.6530 ext.212. Download PDF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 14, 2016 [NEW YORK, NY] – It is now two years since Boko Haram abducted nearly 300 Chibok Christian schoolgirls. The loud global rallying cry, which included Michelle Obama, to “Bring Back Our Girls”, has not stopped Boko Haram from targeting women and girls with heinous crimes including kidnappings, rapes, forced pregnancies, forced conversion, and murder by forced suicide. Today, the European Parliament formally marked the second anniversary of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping by urging a resolution calling for their immediate release and demanding that women and girls have access to the full range of sexual and reproductive health services. While the Chibok girls remain in captivity, Boko Haram continues to act with total impunity, abducting an estimated 2,000 more women and girls. No less a global shame is how Nigeria treats girls who have escaped captivity, who as war victims, have clear rights under international law. Rescued girls face persecution for their “association” with their Boko Haram rapists. Many were forcibly impregnated and due to US restrictions, unable to access abortion services, a denial of their rights under the Geneva Conventions as war rape victims. While they suffer, no Boko Haram perpetrator has been prosecuted for these international crimes nor have the survivors been given their rights to justice including reparations. The International Criminal Court (ICC) should fast track its investigating of crimes committed in Nigeria opened in 2010, which includes crimes committed by Boko Haram. This investigation and any resulting prosecutions must include rape and enslavement as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Last year on this anniversary the Global Justice Center (GJC) made a submission brief to the ICC setting forth evidence sufficient to trigger a genocide investigation of the abduction of the Christian Chibok schoolgirls. Boko Haram uses sexual violence and forcible impregnation as tactics of war. The fundamentalist ideologies of groups like Boko Haram and ISIS rely on women being chattels, inferior and disposable. The global call to “Bring Back Our Girls” must go beyond rescue and include a demand for global justice for all women and girls suffering under extremists. For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski, Communications Manager, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net, 212.725.6530 ext. 211 Download PDF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 5, 2015 [NEW YORK, NY] - The rescue of 234 women and girls from Boko Haram captivity on May 4, 214 of whom the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reported to be pregnant, exposes the indignity of the U.S. foreign aid abortion ban, which severely limits the ability of sexual violence survivors to obtain the medical care they need. “The international community must demand that these survivors of sexual violence receive fully comprehensive medical care, including access to safe abortions,” said Janet Benshoof, founder and president of the Global Justice Center, which is urging President Obama to issue an executive order to lift the abortion restrictions. “The Geneva Conventions guarantee these women and girls access to non-discriminatory medical care. Forcing these survivors to bear the children of their captors is simply inhumane.” The U.S. abortion restrictions, outlined in the Helms Amendment, apply to all U.S. aid grantees, including the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) which are treating the rescued Nigerian women. Ms. Benshoof states that this U.S. policy ties the hands of both organizations to provide survivors of rape, captivity, and abuse the full scope of medical care. “President Obama can and must take action to save these girls and others like them,” said Benshoof. “The U.S. must lead the world in rehabilitating survivors of sexual violence, not prolong their suffering.” Download PDF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—August 25, 2011 To coincide with the anniversary of the U.S. signing the Geneva Conventions, the Global Justice Center launched the global “August 12th”campaign to urge President Obama to immediately lift the “no abortion” restriction attached to all U.S. humanitarian aid for medical care given to girls and women raped and impregnated in armed conflict. [NEW YORK, NY] – Thousands of girls and women raped and impregnated in armed conflict face additional suffering by being routinely denied abortions in humanitarian medical settings. The Geneva Conventions mandate “comprehensive” and “non-discriminatory” medical care to the wounded and sick during armed conflict and United Nations treaty bodies and courts characterize deliberate denial of abortion to impregnated rape victims as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Yet, the United States (the “U.S.”) attaches a “no abortion” prohibition to all U.S. humanitarian aid, including for war rape victims whose rights are guaranteed under the laws of war. Therefore, the Global Justice Center (the “GJC”) coordinated a consortium of over 3,000 leading legal, human rights, public health and humanitarian organizations and experts from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Africa, and Latin & South America to urge President Obama to immediately lift the “no abortion” restriction attached to all U.S. humanitarian aid. Click here to view the GJC’s letter to the President. GJC President, Janet Benshoof, applauding the outpouring of support for the rights of rape survivors, stated: “This U.S. policy is horrifying and illegal and has resulted, however unintentionally, in such inhumane actions as forcing continued pregnancy on thirteen year old girls raped by the military. We strongly believe that President Obama is firmly committed to ensuring that the U.S. fully complies with the Geneva Conventions. To do so, President Obama must issue an executive order lifting the abortion prohibition and take other measures to ensure that all female survivors of rape in armed conflict get the care they need and are entitled to by international law.” As the largest donor of humanitarian aid, the U.S “no abortion” policy greatly influences how humanitarian organizations and on-the-ground medical teams treat pregnant rape victims in conflict areas. Because donor funds are commingled, the U.S. policy prevents other donor countries that seek to provide full medical care (including abortions) for girls and women raped in conflict from doing so. Norway confronted the U.S. on its “no abortion” policy for rape victims at the UN Human Rights Council in November 2010. Norway asked the U.S. to “remov[e] blanket abortion restrictions on humanitarian aid covering medical care given to women and girls raped and impregnated in situations of armed conflict.” On March 18, 2011, the U.S. stated in response to Norway that it could not remove the prohibition due to “currently applicable restrictions.” President Obama can issue an executive order lifting these abortion restrictions. Current U.S. policy, formalized by a USAID regulation promulgated by the Bush Administration in June 2008, requires that a “base clause” prohibiting both abortion speech and payment for abortion services be inserted in all foreign aid appropriations for any purpose. This “no abortion” clause, inserted in grants and contracts with foreign governments, humanitarian organizations, the United Nations and nonprofit groups, is far more restrictive than statutory requirements, including the Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1973, which would permit U.S. funding to be used for abortions in cases of rape, incest, and to save the life of a woman (although USAID has never done so). The Obama Administration vigorously enforces this prohibition; just recently the U.S. threatened to pull its foreign aid to Malawi unless the country’s Health Minister, whose salary is paid for with U.S. foreign aid, stopped speaking about a medical study on unsafe abortion. An increasing number of prominent legal, humanitarian, public health, women’s and human rights groups are joining this Campaign. Signatory organizations that work with victims of war rape confirm that forcing continued pregnancies resulting from these rapes has severe physical and psychological consequences for victims. Therefore, U.S. policy “inevitably imposes the legacy of war upon their families, communities, and entire nations for generations to come.” To date, letters sent to President Obama by organizations include: Amnesty International USA, representing nearly 300,000 members; The New York City Bar Association, representing over 23,000 members; The European Women’s Lobby, an umbrella organization for 2,500 organizations in 30 European countries; Solidarity for African Women’s Rights, a pan-African coalition of 39 organizations and regional networks; Women’s Link Worldwide, an INGO based in Colombia, joined with 29 organizations and prominent individuals in Latin America and Uganda. For a compilation of letters sent as of August 25, 2011, go to: http://bit.ly/LettersAugust12th. Organizations and experts wishing to join the Campaign can find more details on the Global Justice Center August 12th webpage. Individuals wishing to support the Campaign can sign a petition to President Obama at Change.org. Download PDF