Press Releases

Resolution Sets Time-Bound Process for Adopting World’s First Stand-alone Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity The United Nations Sixth Committee today adopted by consensus a resolution to advance a draft treaty on crimes against humanity to negotiations. Once adopted by the General Assembly next month, states will negotiate the first stand-alone treaty that explicitly addresses state responsibility to prevent and punish crimes against humanity. Today’s resolution calls for a concrete and time-bound process consisting of preparatory sessions in 2026 and 2027, and three-week negotiations in 2028 and 2029, where a treaty will be finalized. “Today’s resolution is a historic breakthrough toward a crimes against humanity treaty,” said Kelly Adams, legal advisor at the Global Justice Center. “Despite the proliferation of crimes against humanity around the world, negotiations on this treaty have been delayed time and again. But today’s decision paves the way for a treaty, which will offer crucial tools to prevent and punish these most extreme rights violations.” The current draft treaty was developed over six years by the International Law Commission, a UN expert body charged with developing and codifying international law. For more information on the draft treaty, visit cahtreatynow.org. Although crimes against humanity are defined under various treaties, including the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court, there is currently no treaty which expressly addresses states’ responsibilities to prevent or punish these crimes. This gap distinguishes crimes against humanity from war crimes and genocide, each of which has its own dedicated treaty (the Geneva Conventions and the Genocide Convention, respectively). Negotiations for a new treaty present a unique opportunity to better advance justice for gender-based crimes, among other issues. In October 2023, a collection of human rights organizations and international law experts published a letter and several briefs that proposed changes to the draft treaty that focused on incorporating crimes like forced marriage, reproductive violence, and gender apartheid. A growing number of UN member states have expressed support for the inclusion of these crimes in a future treaty. “At present, treaty provisions have yet to catch up to the lived experiences of victims of sexual and gender-based crimes and judicial findings that acknowledge this fuller scope of harms,” said Adams. “A strong, progressive, and survivor-centric treaty will ensure international and domestic systems are better equipped to prevent, punish, and ensure redress for systematic or widespread attacks on civilians involving sexual and gender-based violence.” The General Assembly is expected to make a decision on the draft resolution in early December 2024.

Statement Circulated Ahead of UN Session on the Draft Treaty Human rights organizations based in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, the Americas, and Europe — as well as leading international law and human rights experts — today urged UN member states to advance the draft text for a crimes against humanity treaty to negotiations. This joint statement is being circulated among government representatives as they meet today to begin a UN session that could advance the draft treaty. Today’s statement recognizes that, despite the global spread of atrocities like murder, enslavement, and deportation, there has yet to be a treaty regulating the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity. Such a treaty would “close a crucial gap” in the current international framework on mass atrocities. Signers of the statement also support an inclusive treaty-making process and will advocate for a final treaty that is gender-competent, survivor-centric, and deploys an intersectional lens. “Experts and activists around the world are sending a clear message to their governments ahead of this historic UN session: advance to negotiations for a crimes against humanity treaty,” said Kelly Adams, legal advisor at the Global Justice Center. “Victims of crimes against humanity need this accountability tool, and governments have an opportunity to stand with them by advancing to negotiations.” Today’s joint statement was initially released in March of this year. Since then, hundreds of additional organizations and human rights experts have signed on and urged their governments to take a position on the draft treaty. A petition circulated by Avaaz that urges support for treaty negotiations also has received more than 500,000 signatures from people around the world. Additional statements of support, as well as key information on the draft treaty, can be found at cahtreatynow.org. UN Sixth Committee proceedings on the draft treaty can be viewed on UN Web TV.

Barriers, Opportunities to Investigating Reproductive Harms Revealed SEPTEMBER 30, 2024 — A new report published today by UN Women and the Global Justice Center (GJC) uncovers barriers and opportunities to the documentation of reproductive violence faced by UN-mandated mechanisms charged with investigating human rights violations and international crimes. The report, based on interviews conducted with current and former gender advisors to UN investigative mechanisms, also offers detailed legal guidance to support future investigations. Reproductive violence is a distinct form of sexual and gender-based violence targeting reproductive autonomy, a right protected under international law. Examples of reproductive violence include forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, forced abortion, and restricting access to reproductive care.  This form of violence often has been overlooked in UN investigations, despite its profound impacts. GJC’s research reveals that stigmatization of reproductive issues, as well as structural and analytical barriers in investigations, have hindered documentation. The report also details that this oversight can foster a lack of accountability for perpetrators, gaps in services and reparations for victims, and an incomplete historical record. “From Ethiopia to Myanmar, sexual and gender-based violence continues around the world. If we want to halt these atrocities and bring justice for victims, international investigations must be equipped to document them fully,” said Tess Graham, report co-author and legal advisor at the Global Justice Center. “This is especially true for under-reported forms of gender-based violence like reproductive violence. By harnessing positive examples of documentation, and learning from shortcomings, we can ensure UN investigations have the tools they need to advance accountability and appropriate support for victims.” The report provides an analysis of international law on reproductive violence and details several “facilitating factors” that can foster its effective documentation. The report also provides examples of successful documentation of reproductive violence and concludes that it is “far from impossible” despite the challenges.

More than 300 civil society groups and individuals today issued a joint statement urging United Nations member states to declare support for moving the Draft Articles on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity into treaty negotiations. Human rights organizations based in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, the Americas, and Europe — as well as leading international law and human rights experts — are among the signatories. Beginning Monday, April 1, the UN’s Sixth Committee will resume its session to address crimes against humanity, where member states will have the opportunity to demonstrate support for treaty negotiations. Although crimes against humanity are among the most serious crimes in international law, there has yet to be a treaty regulating their prevention and punishment. The Draft Articles are the result of six years of work in the International Law Commission, an independent body of experts established by the UN General Assembly that is responsible for helping develop and codify international law. Civil society organizations and international law experts believe that the current draft is a strong starting point for negotiations. They have also recommended several areas where the Draft Articles should be improved. Ahead of a Sixth Committee debate on the treaty in October 2023, the Global Justice Center issued a series of legal briefs with recommendations to ensure the treaty is gender-competent and survivor-centric. A full list of signatories can be found here. Elise Keppler, Executive Director at the Global Justice Center, issued the following statement: “Activists from every corner of the globe have united to deliver the message that the world needs a treaty on crimes against humanity. Governments should step up and signal that they support moving to treaty negotiations. From Afghanistan to Myanmar, crimes against humanity are rampant, and more tools to combat these crimes are needed. A strong, gender-competent, and survivor-centric treaty is not only possible — it is necessary.”

More than 190 organizations and individuals, including health practitioners and human rights experts, today sent a letter to United Nations experts in response to the United States Supreme Court decision that repealed the constitutional right to abortion. The letter documents how abortion restrictions imposed in the wake of the court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization have deprived women, girls, and persons capable of pregnancy of their human rights to life, health, privacy, liberty, freedom from torture, and more. It goes on to argue that the Dobbs ruling puts the United States in breach of obligations under several legally-binding international treaties it has ratified, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Convention against Torture. In addition to its call to action, the letter includes original research as well as testimony from physicians around the country. The full letter and list of signatories is here. Dr. Christine Ryan, Legal Director at the Global Justice Center, issued the following statement: “The protections of Roe had long eroded before the court’s ruling, but Dobbs put to rest any doubt of the United States’ failure to meet its human rights obligations. Decades of binding treaties have firmly established abortion as a human right. Now that the violation of this right is clear to all, the international community has a responsibility to act to hold the U.S. accountable.” Christina Hioureas, Partner at Foley Hoag and Chair of the firm’s United Nations Practice Group, the law firm acting for the coalition, issued the following statement: “Dobbs is the nail in the coffin on reproductive freedom in the United States. The consequences of Dobbs is that women, girls and persons capable of pregnancy across the United States are being deprived of critical access to health care and autonomy over their bodies and their lives. Simply put, women and girls will die as a result of this decision. The criminalization of access to reproductive health implicates the United States’ obligations under international law and is, thus, a matter of grave concern for the international community as a whole.” Payal Shah, Director of the Program on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones at Physicians for Human Rights, issued the following statement: “The Dobbs decision has placed a target on the backs of pregnant patients and health care providers. The criminalization of abortion in many U.S. states has resulted in health care workers being mandated to act in complicity with violations of their patients’ rights, or to face imprisonment, professional sanction, fines, or harassment. As clinicians in this letter and around the country have shared, laws criminalizing abortion care will increase health disparities and impact the provision of health care across many specializations, from emergency medical care to family medicine to oncology and rheumatology. These harms will be most profoundly felt by Black, Indigenous, and low-income women. The international community, including UN Special Rapporteurs, must condemn this egregious rollback of human rights and affirm the U.S.’ obligation to ensure abortion rights.” Lauren Wranosky, Research and Program Associate at Pregnancy Justice, issued the following statement: “The Dobbs decision abandoned the constitutional right to abortion, violated U.S. legal obligations under treaties such as ICCPR, and exposed the fact that Roe was never enough. Many will continue to be jailed, convicted, and sentenced to prison for having abortions, experiencing pregnancy losses, or giving birth to healthy babies. This destroys families, inflicts trauma, and targets the most vulnerable by replacing healthcare with criminalization. We know this humanitarian crisis will only get worse, and we demand that the U.S. government join international peers as a leader in securing reproductive justice for all.” Annerieke Smaak Daniel, Women’s Rights Researcher at Human Rights Watch, issued the following statement: “Abortion is a form of health care needed more frequently by women of color, especially Black women, than white women in the US. Abortion restrictions compound economic, social, and geographic barriers to health care, including contraception, disproportionately impacting Black women’s ability to access the care we need. The US federal government is not meeting its human rights obligation to ensure access to abortion and to address and eliminate structural racism and discrimination in the US, and the impact on the health and rights of Black women is clear.”

NEW YORK — A United Nations committee today passed a resolution that advanced the International Law Commission’s draft treaty on crimes against humanity. If eventually adopted by states, it would be the first stand-alone treaty that specifically addresses a broad range of obligations, including duties to prevent and punish crimes against humanity. Introduced by the Gambia, the final resolution passed by the UNGA Sixth Committee was co-sponsored by a cross-regional group of over 85 countries and creates an “interactive format” for debate on the substance of the draft treaty over the next two years. The resolution represents significant progress after the topic has stalled in recent years following resistance from Russia, China, and its allies. In 2021, prominent international law experts and practitioners from around the world — including former International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda — signed a statement arguing the treaty would “close a crucial gap in the current international framework on mass atrocities.” Akila Radhakrishnan, president of the Global Justice Center, issued the following statement: “Today’s resolution represents the most significant progress on the treaty since work on it began in 2013. For too long, victims of atrocious crimes around the world have languished without a comprehensive international framework that specifically targets these crimes and requires the international community to prevent and punish them. As an organization dedicated to combating gender-based crimes around the world, we’re heartened to finally see action on this critical treaty after so many years. “Year after year, progress on the treaty was stymied by a small cadre of authoritarian countries determined to halt human rights measures at every turn. In these cases, procedural objections were used as a cover for opposition to the treaty itself. “We can’t allow this gap in the international legal system to exist any longer. Perpetrators of sexual and reproductive violence, enslavement, deportation, and other crimes against humanity are growing more emboldened thanks to an increasingly-weakening international order. We need this treaty now more than ever.”

Today, the UN General Assembly adopted the recommendations made by the Credentials Committee of the UN to defer the decision on who will represent Myanmar at the UN. The decision constitutes a clear rejection of the illegal Myanmar military junta’s application for credentials to the UN, leaving U Kyaw Moe Tun, the current Permanent Representative of Myanmar, to continue to represent the country at the world body. The recommendation for deferral by the Credentials Committee comprised of nine UN Member States including the United States, China and Russia, is a huge blow to the murderous junta that have killed at least 1,303 people since the coup, including around 100 children, and arbitrarily arrested 10,681 people.   Khin Ohmar, founder and Chairperson of Progressive Voice: “We welcome this decision by the UN General Assembly to reject the terrorist military junta and call on all UN agencies, funds and programs to cease all forms of cooperation that lend the junta any legitimacy. UN agencies must end its complicity in emboldening the junta by inviting them to meetings, conferences and other platforms that offers them the opportunity to create a façade of legitimacy. International bodies, including the Human Rights Council, the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization, must now accept nominations made by U Kyaw Moe Tun and recognize the authority of Myanmar’s Permanent Representative to the UN.” Charles Santiago, chair of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), and a Malaysian Member of Parliament: “The UN General Assembly’s decision sends a strong message to ASEAN and other regional and international institutions that the junta must not be recognized as the legitimate representatives of Myanmar. Any engagement by ASEAN or any of its members with the military junta undermines its credibility and is an affront to the courageous and continuing calls made by the people of Myanmar to reject the junta. As we saw in a graphic video shared on social media over the weekend of the military deliberately running down peaceful demonstrators, despite the risks, the Myanmar people are literally putting their lives on the line every day to reject the junta, and calling for their voices to be heard.” Grant Shubin, Legal Director of Global Justice Center: “Today’s result is a vote of confidence for the rule of law in Myanmar—but much more remains to be done. The junta has committed crimes against humanity with its widespread and systematic attacks on the people of Myanmar. In addition to denying the junta the legitimacy it craves, the international community must also take positive steps to end the Tatmadaw’s impunity and ensure justice and accountability for Myanmar.” On 10 September, 358 Myanmar and international civil society organizations called on the UN Member States to ensure that the current Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the UN, Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun, retains his position as Myanmar’s representative to the UN. See the open letter to members of the UN General Assembly here: https://progressivevoicemyanmar.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/UNGA_Credentials_FINAL_ENG.pdf

NEW YORK — The United Nations General Assembly today passed a resolution addressing the military coup in Myanmar. It is the first resolution from the general assembly since the coup on February 1. This resolution comes on the same day of a closed-door briefing on Myanmar at the UN Security Council. The Council has issued several statements on the coup, but has yet to pass any resolution. Grant Shubin, legal director of the Global Justice Center, issued the following statement: “A resolution from the General Assembly is a necessary and positive step for the international community. But just like with Security Council actions that precede it, today’s resolution does not go far enough to meet the demands of Myanmar’s people. “The bright sides of the General Assembly’s resolution, including the call on all nations to prevent arms flows into Myanmar, are in stark contrast to the Security Council’s failure to take decisive action. “As the body responsible for maintaining international peace and security, the Security Council can no longer stand idly by while Myanmar’s military uses its decades-old playbook to commit widespread and systematic human rights violations. The time for closed meetings and toothless statements of concern is over.” “The Security Council must finally do what women’s rights activists in Myanmar have been calling for for years — take concrete and decisive action to condemn the military and hold them accountable for international crimes committed against all of Myanmar’s people.”

NEW YORK — A United Nations Security Council resolution on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) failed to pass today after 10 countries abstained from the vote because the resolution failed to advance the agenda. The resolution effort was led by Russia, the Security Council president during the month of October. The countries abstained after the resolution fell below agreed language on human rights, the role of civil society, and women’s participation in peace processes. Adopted 20 years ago with Resolution 1325, WPS is an agenda that addresses the unique and disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls. Grant Shubin, legal director of the Global Justice Center, issued the following statement: “Every country who withheld its vote for this unnecessary and dangerous resolution should be applauded. The Women, Peace and Security agenda is anchored in human rights and this resolution could have turned back the clock on 20 years of progress. “Women in conflict-affected countries are suffering catastrophic impacts due to COVID-19. Any attack on this critical tool for advancing women’s health and rights is dangerous and we’re glad to see a diverse group of nations stand up for the agenda and its bold commitments to gender equality.”