The Clock is Ticking: No Justice for Girls Abducted by Boko Haram
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