Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - November 23, 2017 [NEW YORK and GOMA] – On Saturday, the world celebrates the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. In anticipation of this day, a global coalition of ninety civil society organizations calls on the European Commission to ensure that abortion, a medical procedure, is included in the medical care offered to women and girls, particularly in areas where rape is used as a weapon of war. International humanitarian law mandates that war victims must have access to any medical procedure required by their condition without discrimination. Receiving care in humanitarian settings is often difficult but even where care is available, abortion is often routinely denied as the only necessary medical procedure due to aid restrictions imposed by the United States. In September 2015, the Commission clarified its legal position on safe abortion stating that international law may justify offering abortion services rather than perpetuating what amounts to inhumane treatment for war rape victims. In an open letter to the Commission, the Coalition states: “In light of increasing attacks on their right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, largely driven by a dangerous anti-abortion ideology in the United States, now is a critical time for the EU to shift its position from paper to practice. Since the EU, along with its Member States, is the largest humanitarian aid donor in the world, it holds a unique responsibility to ensure international medical protocol follows the principle of non-discrimination enshrined in IHL.” The denial of abortions is also a top contributor to maternal mortality. According to the World Health Organization, around 7 million women are admitted to hospitals every year in developing countries, as a result of unsafe abortion. Julienne Lusenge, President of SOFEPADI an organization working with survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a signatory to the letter says, “If we want a better world, let's put women in a safe environment at childbirth and also stop detaining women in maternity wards for not paying fees.” “The Commission’s clarification was a welcome step, but two years later we still haven’t seen any action taken to make it a reality for girls and women,” says Stephanie Johanssen, EU and UN Advocacy Director for the Global Justice Center, a legal advocacy group. “Abortion should not be treated differently than anti-HIV treatment, a blood transfusion, or any other medical aid required for war wounds. Commemorations every year to honor women’s rights are great, but not enough if we don’t make the strong laws we have, such as the Geneva Conventions, work for women.” For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Communication Director, Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 16, 2017 [NEW YORK, NY] - GJC welcomes Iraq’s letter to the UN requesting assistance in bringing Daesh to justice and thanks the United Kingdom for its efforts in negotiating a UN Security Council resolution. We reiterate our call that all investigations and prosecutions must ensure accountability for gender-based crimes, including those amounting to genocide, by all actors. We also express concern over reports of current Daesh prosecutions that focus solely on terrorism crimes, extrajudicial killings and torture of those thought to be Daesh-aligned and accordingly, call on the Iraqi Government to ensure due process in line with international human rights standards. We also urge the Iraqi government to ensure that enabling legislation is adopted to incorporate genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity into domestic law in order to ensure that prosecutions reflect the full criminality of the acts in question. The global community must hold the perpetrators of these horrific crimes accountable for their actions, and ensure victims and survivors receive their entitled reparations, including redress and reparations for sexual and gender-based violence. Finally, we call on all parties in Iraq and the Global Coalition against Daesh to ensure respect for international humanitarian law (IHL), including by ensuring access to comprehensive medical and psychosocial care for victims, and to take concrete steps to rescue all remaining Yazidi women and children held captive by Daesh. For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 3, 2017 [NEW YORK, NY] - Today is the third anniversary of the massacre at Mount Sinjar where ISIS fighters murdered thousands of Yazidi men and enslaved thousands of Yazidi women and girls. Despite the fact that the UN and the European Parliament have accepted that crimes committed against the Yazidis constitute genocide, there has not been a single prosecution of ISIS fighters for these crimes. On July 7th, 2017, the Global Justice Center and the Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales urged the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open a preliminary examination into genocide and other crimes committed by foreign fighters from ISIS. The legal submissions urge the Prosecutor to re-evaluate her April 2015 finding that there is inadequate jurisdictional bases to open a preliminary examination into these crimes. The Global Justice Center and the Bar Human Rights Committee submit that the ICC has jurisdiction over ISIS’s foreign fighters who form a significant part of ISIS’s infrastructure and outlines how the OTP’s gender policy prioritizes precisely the crimes ISIS foreign fighters are committing against Yazidi women and girls. Global Justice Center (GJC) Vice-President and Legal Director, Akila Radhakrishnan, says:  “There has been no justice for the victims of ISIS. Thousands of women and children remain in captivity and evidence is languishing.,” says “it’s time for the international community to act on its obligations under the Genocide Convention to prevent, suppress, and punish genocide.” The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales has been working since the summer of 2015 to raise awareness of the genocide of the Yazidis and breaches of international human rights law. Kirsty Brimelow QC, Chair said: “The ongoing genocide of the Yazidi people is one of the worst crimes of our time. Such grave crimes are not only despicable but they threaten the peace, security and well-being of the world. Effective prosecutions are required. The gravest crimes in the Rome Statute continue to be committed with impunity. It never was an option for the International Criminal Court to do nothing.  It must act urgently. “ For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211 Amanda June Chadwick (London),Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, coordination@barhumanrights.org.uk +44 (0) 20 7404 1313 ext. 359

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 17, 2017 [NEW YORK, NY] – On the World Day for International Justice and almost three years after ISIS began a campaign of genocide against the Yazidis, the Global Justice Center renews its calls to world leaders to uphold international law and ensure justice for Yazidi women and girls. “As successes attacks are waged against ISIS on the battlefield, it is equally important that there is justice and accountability for ISIS fighters in international courts,” says Janet Benshoof, founder and president of the Global Justice Center (GJC). “The women and girls persecuted by ISIS deserve to see their abusers held accountable for the crimes committed against them.” “It’s important that when we have trials, that they be fair and that they serve the interests of the victims,” said Stephen Rapp, the former United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues in the Office of Global Criminal Justice in an interview with GJC. “Prosecuting and convicting powerful men, specifically for the crimes against people they have weakened and destroyed, is one of the ways you reverse that power relationship, and it’s extremely enabling and empowering.” ISIS’s intent to destroy the Yazidis is clear and they been committing an admitted genocide since August 2014. They have massacred men and older women, forcibly converted and indoctrinated young boys, and enslaved young women and girls subjecting them to systematic sexual violence. While there are strong global measures aimed at stopping ISIS, such as Security Council Resolutions and counter-terrorism efforts, states have largely ignored legal obligations related to genocide in this context. “Upholding the Genocide Convention is important not only for justice but also for the special values it protects: plurality, diversity, and tolerance,” Benshoof said. “In today’s world of increasing nationalism, suppression and prejudice, it is more important than ever for the international community to send a strong signal in upholding these values.” GJC recently convened a brain trust of high-level experts to discuss ways in which the legal obligations to prevent, suppress and punish genocide can be reconciled with counter-terrorism measures against ISIS, while paying special attention to the gendered aspects of this genocide. The Brain Trust created recommendations to demystify the difficulties of ensuring accountability and how to tap into modern avenues of international cooperation to help achieve justice. “I think in this situation, with the global interest in this, I think [prosecutions] will happen,” says Rapp. “But whether it happens right depends on all of us to be advocating every day to make it happen, but I am confident that the day will arrive when we will have trials of ISIS leaders for the genocide against the Yazidi. In my view, it can’t come too soon. But if we keep working at it, the day will for certain arrive.” For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — May 15, 2017 [NEW YORK, NY] -  Today, the UN Security Council holds its Open Debate on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence under Uruguay’s presidency. In the concept note, Uruguay reflected on the findings of the new UN Secretary-General’s report on how rape is used as a weapon of terrorism and genocide. They cited the example of the crimes Daesh is committing against ethnic minorities such as the Yazidi in North Iraq and Syria, including using rape as a non-killing crime of genocide. Yet, to date, no trial has been held to prosecute perpetrators of this ongoing genocide. Briefing the Council, on behalf of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security which the Global Justice Center is a member of, is Mina Jaf, herself a refugee and founder of the Women’s Refugee Route. In her statement, Ms. Jaf stressed that services for women and girls fleeing conflict are still grossly insufficient “despite the fact that international humanitarian law says that donor aid be delivered in a non-discriminatory manner that includes access to sexual and reproductive health care, such as abortions.” Janet Benshoof, President of the Global Justice Center says; “Too often, we see governments going out of their way to deny women and girls their rights under international law treaties, including international refugee law. Countries need to stop paying lip service when responding to conflict-related sexual violence but uphold women and girls’ absolute rights under international humanitarian law.” 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 - 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 - May 11, 2015 [GENEVA, CH] - Today, during the 2nd Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United States, several UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Member States directly challenged the abortion restrictions that the U.S. imposes on its foreign aid. “The list of countries calling on the United States to lift its abortion ban on foreign aid is growing,” said Global Justice Center (GJC) President Janet Benshoof. “The U.S. can no longer ignore or deflect its duty to change a decades-long policy that denies women and girls raped in war their rights under the Geneva Conventions.” The UN Human Rights Council monitors the human rights records of the 192 UN member states. Every four years, member states are required to sit for a Universal Periodic Review, during which each country receives recommendations on how to comply with their human rights obligations. In a September 2014 submission to the UNHRC GJC asserted that U.S. abortion restrictions on humanitarian aid are incompatible with U.S. obligations under the Geneva Conventions, the Convention against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These restrictions, including the Helms Amendment, ban the use of any U.S. foreign aid funds by grantees to perform or even discuss abortion services. This includes humanitarian aid to war zones and results in the denial of abortion services to women and girls raped in armed conflict in violation of their rights. The need for such services is demonstrated daily in conflict zones, as was seen last week when it was discovered that one-third of those rescued from the clutches of Boko Haram – 214 women and children – were pregnant, according to a report from the United Nations Population Fund. The importance of access to safe abortion services as a matter of right for girls and women raped in war has been increasingly recognized, including by the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary-General and other countries. International concern over the role of the U.S. in the denial of essential medical care to girls and women raped in war has resulted in countries including the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium, Norway and France recommending during today's UPR that the United States government take steps to limit the impact of these restrictions and ensure access to safe abortions for rape victims in conflict zones. In addition to these oral recommendations during the review, Norway, the UK, Netherlands and Switzerland all submitted written questions in advance, asking the US to examine its abortion-related restrictions on foreign aid, if the US was considering removing these restriction and if not, for what justification. It is now up to the Obama Administration to act. The Administration has three months to formally respond to these recommendations. “President Obama has not only the ability, but also the duty, to act to rectify these violations of U.S. obligations under international law,” said Benshoof. For more information contact: Akila Radhakrishnan, Legal Director, akila@globaljusticecenter.net, 212.725.6530, ext. 203 or Sarah Vaughan, Director of External Relations, svaughan@globaljusticecenter.net, 212.725.6530 ext. 204. Download PDF