Quote of the Day

"A Liberian woman told me: "The post-conflict phase is a window of opportunity for women. But women don't need a window through which to view a brighter future; they need a door through which to enter it."

The Special Representative to the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Margot Wallström

AFP: "DR Congo Says Looking for Colonel Suspected of Mass Rape"

"KINSHASA — The Democratic Republic of Congo said Saturday it was "actively" looking for an army colonel accused of presiding over an attack where up to 170 women may have been raped. A spokesman for the DR Congo armed forces (FARDC) had previously denied that Colonel Niragire Kifaru, a former rebel turned government soldier, was involved in the attacks. Kifaru is "very actively sought," government spokesman Lambert Mende told AFP. "There are units that have been sent to try to catch him with his men," he added. "There are accusations of rape and looting against him. There will be a special judicial procedure to judge him."

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that up to 170 people may have been raped during a massive attack between June 10 and June 12 in the Nyakiele and Abala villages in DR Congo's chronically-troubled South Kivu province. Shortly after the attacks, area lawmaker Jean-Marie Ngoma said Kifaru and the roughly 200 fighters under his command were responsible. Colonel Vianney Kazarama, spokesman for the DR Congo armed forces (FARDC) in South Kivu, had also previously denied that Colonel Kifaru was involved in the rapes. Kazarama admitted that Kifaru had deserted and "taken to the bush, because he wanted troops (being integrated into the regular army) to be taken into consideration, because they had no water and nothing to eat."

Kifaru is a former member of the Mai Mai tribal militia who integrated into the national army. The Congolese army has coaxed several former rebel commanders into the national force with promises of a high rank and employment for the fighters under their command. FARDC Lieutenant-Colonel Sylvain Ekenge told AFP the army has made contact with Kifaru and asked him to come in from the bush and face justice. "He said he is afraid and that he has done nothing," Ekenge said. Government spokesman Mende said, "it's not up to (Kifaru) to say he is innocent."

The UN, rights groups and foreign governments have long complained about impunity for heinous crimes committed by soldiers in DR Congo. Margot Wallstrom, UN's special representative on combating sexual violence in conflict, has in the past called DR Congo the "rape capital" of the world. (AFP)

CNN: "Gadhafi Could Face Rape Charges, International Prosecutor Says"

"(CNN) -- The International Criminal Court is still trying to link Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, his son and his brother-in-law to rapes but it does not yet have enough evidence to do so, prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Tuesday. It has evidence that rapes have taken place in Libya's civil war, he said, but he cannot prove Gadhafi ordered them.

The court issued arrest warrants Monday for Gadhafi, his son Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Sanussi on other charges. Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi is a close adviser to his father. His arrest warrant came two days after his 39th birthday. Al-Sanussi serves as Gadhafi's head of intelligence. The warrants are "for crimes against humanity," including murder and persecution, "allegedly committed across Libya" from February 15 through "at least" February 28, "through the state apparatus and security forces," the court said in a news release. The court could file charges against "one or two other names, but in principle the first investigation focuses on these individuals," Moreno-Ocampo said Tuesday. The court is not asking international forces operating in Libya to arrest the suspects, Moreno-Ocampo said, explaining that Libya has the primary responsibility to do so as a United Nations member.

And he insisted it was only a matter of time until Gadhafi was arrested, pointing out that Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic was finally seized more than 15 years after a warrant for his arrest was issued. "The arrest warrants are not going away," he said, noting that 161 warrants had been issued in connection with the Yugoslav wars of the early 1990s -- and that 160 suspects have been seized. Libyan rebels could also face arrest warrants, Moreno-Ocampo said.  But "by far the greatest crimes committed in Libya are committed by the Gadhafi forces," he said, explaining why the court investigation began with them. And he batted away questions from reporters about whether an ICC arrest warrant would discourage Gadhafi from stepping down, saying the decision to investigate him came from a unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution, not the court. It was "not our idea," he said.

In rebel-held Misrata, where fighting has raged, a crowd cheered Monday following the announcement of the arrest warrants. The announcement at The Hague came as fighting inside Libya inched closer to the capital. A rebel fighter, Hassan al-Jiwali, told CNN that rebel forces were 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Tripoli on Monday. Libya is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the international court's authority, but Moreno-Ocampo said Tuesday it still had a responsibility to arrest Gadhafi and his allies because it is a member of the United Nations, which ordered the investigation. He said the rebels could also arrest Gadhafi and hand him over.  The court does not have the power to enter Libya and arrest the leaders.  The U.N. Security Council referred the matter to the ICC through a resolution February 26, following widespread complaints about Gadhafi's efforts to crush a rebellion. The resolution said that, while "states not party to the Rome Statute have no obligations under the statute, the Security Council urged all states and concerned regional and other international organisations to cooperate fully with the court and the prosecutor."

Gadhafi's backers rejected the court's authority. "This court is nothing but a cover to the military operations of NATO," said Libyan Justice Minister Mohammed Al Qamod. "It is merely a political tool for exerting pressure and political blackmail against sovereign countries." Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid Ka'eem offered a similar view. "Both the International Criminal Court and the chief prosecutor have neither the legal competence nor the moral compass in any way to pass judgment on anyone, let alone the Libyan people," he said.

Michael Rubin, an analyst with the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said the court's move could damage efforts to get Gadhafi to end his 42-year reign, because he would not seek refuge in a country that is a party or signatory to the Rome Statute."The ICC's arrest warrant symbolizes the dirty underside of international law," Rubin said. "While the ICC makes itself feel good and diplomats can chatter about their commitment to international law, the fact of the matter is their action takes off the table any possibility that Gadhafi could flee to a retirement haven outside Libya. In effect, the ICC arrest warrant tells Gadhafi to fight to the death." Most African countries are parties or signatories to the Rome Statute. The ICC website lists a total of 47 non-signatories in the world, 13 of them in Africa and the Middle East." (CNN)

Quote of the Day:

"I think if we wait for the international community to start a global movement to end sexual violence, then we will be waiting for the rest of our lives. I think it up to us, women in civil society, to come together and tackle it one continent at a time—in a holistic manner."
- Leymah Gbowee, Executive Director of the Women, Peace and Security Network in Africa. Gbowee played a key role in bringing the end to armed conflict in Liberia.

UN News Centre: "UN Envoys Voice Outrage After Mass Rape in Eastern DR Congo"

"24 June 2011 – The envoy spearheading United Nations efforts to combat sexual violence during conflicts has strongly condemned the mass rape of more than 150 civilians in the far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) earlier this month. Reports indicate that the rapes took place in the Minembwe area of the DRC’s South Kivu province on 10-11 June, as part of attacks against three villages – Nyakiele, Abala and Kanguli.

 
In a statement issued last night, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallström, said the attacks showed “a continuing pattern of ill-discipline on the part of those who bear arms, manifest in acts of pillage committed in conjunction with rape and other human rights abuses. “Fuelling this pattern is the rapid integration of former rebel fighters into the national armed forces without vetting or systematic training. When these forces are denied adequate pay or provisions, the risk of looting food and livestock from civilians in the vicinity is greatly heightened.”
 
An assessment mission that includes staff from the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will head to the remote area tomorrow to investigate the situation and determine any future humanitarian and protection needs. A long-range patrol of UN blue helmets has already been dispatched from MONUSCO’s closest operating base. A lack of roads and basic infrastructure in the DRC means many towns and settlements are extremely isolated and hard to reach.
 
Ms. Wallström’s concerns have been echoed by Roger Meece, the head of MONUSCO and the Secretary-General’s Special Representative to the DRC, who underlined that the mission strongly condemns all acts of rape and violence against civilians. Ms. Wallström said the highest priority now is to ensure that survivors have safe access to services and that the perpetrators are tracked down and brought to justice. “With elections on the horizons, no effort must be spared to scale up protection and prevention,” she added, referring to the presidential polls scheduled to take place in the DRC in late November. The envoy noted that “crimes of this calibre are no accident – they occur pursuant to orders or lax command and control. Commanders, as well as individual perpetrators, must therefore be held accountable.” (UN News Centre)

The Guardian "Congo rebels accused of mass rape"

"About 100 women attacked in villages near Fizi in Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Médecins sans Frontières.

At least 60 women were raped and dozens of other people beaten by suspected rebels during a two-day attack on a pair of villages in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this month, according to an aid agency and local officials.

The mass rape occurred in Abala and Nyakiele, near the town of Fizi in South Kivu province, during 10-12 June , Médecins sans Frontières said on Thursday. MSF sent a team to the area this week after hearing reports of sexual violence in the villages, which are in a relatively remote area with no mobile phone coverage. "We have seen at this point over 100 cases of people who reported being raped or suffering other incidents of physical trauma," said Megan Hunter, head of the MSF mission in South Kivu, speaking by phone from Congo.

The attacks have been blamed on a group of up to 200 former rebels who had been integrated in the Congolese army before deserting earlier this month, the UN-backed Radio Okapi said. In February, nine soldiers from the same army unit were convicted of raping more than 60 women in Fizi on New Year's Day. A provincial parliamentarian, Jean Marie Ngoma, told Radio Okapi that at least 60 women had been raped in the latest attack, a figure Hunter said "was not an exaggeration" based on her team's observations. Ngoma alleged that the raid was committed by former fighters from the Pareco rebel group, under the command of Colonel Kifaru Niragiye, all of whom deserted the Congolese army earlier this month in protest against changes in the local military command. "These men looted health centres, phones, goats, property of the population and also forced some people to carry their luggage," Ngoma said. "But the worst case is that of mass rapes they have committed in Nyakiele. The information I have from reliable sources speaks of more than 60 women raped by the troops. People are in total despair."

Kifaru was the commander of the local military sector when the New Year's Day rapes occurred in Fizi. His deputy, Lieutenant-Colonel Kibibi Mutware, was found guilty of crimes against humanity related to the attack and sentenced to 20 years in jail. The UN peacekeeping mission, Monusco, said it was investigating the reports of the latest mass rape. Peacekeepers and representatives of several aid agencies are expected to visit the affected villages on Friday. The eastern part of Congo, which has suffered from war and instability since the early 1990s, has an extremely high incidence of sexual violence."  The Guardian

TrustLaw: "Myanmar military uses rape as weapon of war, group says"

Women wearing traditional costumes during the annual Manaw Festival in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state in northern Myanmarcaption

"BANGKOK (TrustLaw) – The Myanmar military is using sexual violence extensively in their offensive against ethnic Kachin separatists in the north of the country where up to 12,000 people have fled since the fiercest fighting in two decades flared up almost two weeks ago, a Kachin women’s organisation said on Tuesday.

Soldiers gang-raped at least 18 women and girls – the youngest 15-years-old and the oldest around 50 – between June 10 and June 18 during the advance of Myanmar’s army towards the strongholds of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) said. Four women, including a grandmother, were killed after being raped while another died from injuries during rape, it said.

A statement released by the group, part of an ethnic minority numbering as many as 1.5 million  in Myanmar, said, “KWAT demands that the regime immediately stops using rape as a weapon of war, ends the offensive against Kachin and other ethnic groups, and withdraws from the ethnic areas.” “The rapes were deliberate,” Shirley Seng, KWAT spokeswoman, told TrustLaw. “When the soldiers from Myanmar army are moving, they set fire and destroy (the villages), kill and force villagers as porters, and rape the women. They are tormenting the public who happen to be living along the military route." She also said talks by the Myanmar government of a ceasefire have mainly been lip service. "We still haven't received any concrete evidence, like an official document, that they are (calling for a ceasefire) because they want genuine peace,” she said.

The KIA battled the central government for decades but agreed to a ceasefire in 1994 that permitted a degree of self-rule, albeit unofficially. However, the government's refusal to register a Kachin political party for last year's parliamentary election -- due to its refusal to disarm -- has angered the Kachin while KIA’s persistent rejection to become part of the military-run Border Guard Force has upset the government. Information is difficult to obtain from the remote northern states of Kachin and Shan but observers believe the latest clashes may be related to the controversial Chinese-owned hydroelectric plants which have fuelled local resentment.  

The dams have raised environmental concerns and anger that 90 percent of the power generated will flow into China’s power grid. In its first comments on the unrest, Myanmar's state media said on Saturday the military had no choice but to respond with force after KIA ignored its warning to move fighters away from the Taping Hydropower Project. Analysts also say the Myanmar’s first civilian-led administration in five decades, less than three-months-old, is intent on seizing control of the rebellious states. However, the unrest has raised fears the fighting could spread and intensify a wider, decades-old conflict between ethnic minority factions and Myanmar's army." (TrustLaw)

A Video Message from the People of the Democratic Republic of Congo to the UK Government

Eastern DRC  has been named the rape capital of the world. The UK, as one of the largest donors to the DRC has a lot of political influence to help improve the situation for the people of the DRC. The British coalition Congo Now! is asking the UK government to:

PRESS the Congolese government to end impunity RESPOND by providing adequate health care and psychological support.


SUPPORT programs working on the ground to prevent discrimination against women and girls.


PUSH for long term change in DRC and end the increasing epidemic of sexual violence against the nations women and children.

 If you want to join Congo Now! in its appeal to the UK government, go to www.congonow.org and sign their petition.

The New York Times: "Claims of Wartime Rapes Unsettle and Divide Libyans"


 "The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said this month that evidence was emerging that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi had authorized his soldiers to rape Libyan women, an assertion that seemed to support months of rumors about a brutal, continuing campaign.

 “We have information that there was a policy to rape in Libya those who were against the government,” the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said at a recent news conference. There is evidence, he said, that anti-impotence drugs were bought in bulk and supplied to soldiers. In some parts of Libya, he said, there may have been hundreds of victims. Mr. Moreno-Ocampo cautioned that these were only allegations, however, and human rights investigators have since raised questions about the assertions. Amnesty International said its researchers had not turned up “significant” evidence to support the claim of mass rapes. And M. Cherif Bassiouni, chairman of a United Nations commission investigating human rights violations in Libya, said he and his team had so far interviewed only one victim and had been told about a handful of other cases. “I’m not saying it isn’t true,” he said in an interview. “I’m saying I don’t have the evidence for it yet.”

Some confusion was to be expected: it is notoriously difficult to investigate allegations of sexual violence in war zones, where traumatized victims already burdened with the stigma of rape remain vulnerable to renewed attacks. But in Libya, infighting among doctors and other health workers in rebel-held areas who are trying to investigate rapes has deepened the uncertainties. They have criticized one another, squabbled about how to conduct a proper investigation and argued about whether there were any rapes at all.  The claims of widespread sexual violence have been cited by foreign officials calling for Colonel Qaddafi to step down. In a recent statement, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton cited the allegations by Mr. Moreno-Ocampo, and said that Colonel Qaddafi and other leaders in the region were “trying to divide the people by using violence against women and rape as tools of war.”

Much of the controversy — as well as the early, unconfirmed evidence of mass rapes — has centered on the work of a Libyan psychologist in Benghazi, Dr. Seham Sergewa. Dr. Sergewa said that she had identified at least 259 victims of rape from more than 60,000 responses to surveys she and other volunteers distributed over several weeks in eastern Libya and along the Tunisian border. She said she had personally interviewed 140 rape victims.  But other doctors have attacked her research and methods, saying it seems unlikely that she could have distributed so many surveys, even in the best of times. The doctors, including the head of Benghazi’s Psychiatric Hospital, Dr. Ali M. Elroey, say she has been unwilling to open her research for peer review. “I find it a bit exaggerated,” Dr. Elroey said in an interview at the hospital, where Dr. Sergewa, until recently, kept a small office. “I don’t think in three weeks you can distribute that many fliers.” Dr. Sergewa’s colleagues have also criticized her for talking to the news media. “The rape question is highly sensitive everywhere in the world, and even more so in a conservative society like ours,” said Essam Gheriani, a psychologist who is leading one of several efforts to help victims of sexual violence. The attention is discouraging victims from coming forward, Mr. Gheriani said, and “asking for the help they should be asking for.” But others said that the opposite was true and that media attention could encourage women to report the attacks.

As researchers fight among themselves, unconfirmed accounts of sexual violence continue to circulate. Rebel officials said they had discovered condoms and packets of Viagra in tanks and other vehicles captured from Colonel Qaddafi’s soldiers. Many people say they have seen cellphone videos of rapes, though such videos have been hard to locate — because, Colonel Qaddafi’s opponents assert, cellphone users quickly deleted them to protect the women.

CNN, however, did recently broadcast a cellphone video that it said depicted a woman being sexually assaulted by two men using a broomstick, though it was unclear who the rapists were or when the attack occurred. The victims have also been hard to find. Apart from Eman al-Obeidy, who burst into a hotel full of journalists to say she had been raped by Qaddafi militiamen, few women have spoken out. “They’re not going to say it publicly,” Mr. Bassiouni said. “They’re not going to destroy their family reputation.” In its report from Libya, Mr. Bassiouni’s team noted that there were also allegations of rapes committed by rebel fighters.

The story of one woman who said she was raped by Qaddafi loyalists underscored the challenges facing victims and people trying to help them. The woman said that she was willing to tell a reporter about the rape and that she had talked to a doctor who was a friend, but that she had no intention of discussing it further with any official. The story also seemed to match a pattern that Dr. Sergewa said had emerged from her interviews, in which women said they were kidnapped by Colonel Qaddafi’s soldiers or loyalists and raped in remote places. The woman, who is 41, said that about 10 days after the uprising began in February she was seized by three men with knives who drove her to a remote villa where at least four other men were waiting. Beginning about 2 a.m. that day, the seven men took turns raping her, she said. “They didn’t say anything,” the woman recalled. “I wished one of them would talk.” When one finally did speak, at 7 a.m., he ordered several men to dump her near her house. “Let her be a lesson for every woman,” she quoted the man as saying.  She said she believed that they were all loyalists of Colonel Qaddafi who were punishing her for her visible role as a protester against his government.

Dr. Sergewa, well known in Libya for her appearances on a morning television program, said the efforts to discredit her work — and harassment that has included anonymous telephone threats — reflected a continued reluctance in Libya to broach the subject of sexual violence. “As a nation, we don’t want to deal with it,” she said. She said that she had relied on family connections, volunteers and local charities to distribute the surveys in cities and towns where Libyan refugees began settling after the uprising began. Dr. Sergewa said she would show photos she had taken of victims’ injuries to investigators, if the women consented. She showed a few completed surveys to a reporter, but said she did not have access to the others because Dr. Elroey had locked up her research at her old office at the psychiatric hospital, a charge that he denied. On the back of one survey, Dr. Sergewa said, a 22-year-old rape victim wrote in despair: “I’m always thinking of killing myself.” (The New York Times)

The Telegraph: "Afghanistan Named Most Dangerous Country for Women"

"Violence, dismal healthcare and brutal poverty make Afghanistan the world's most dangerous country for women, with Congo a close second  due to horrific levels of rape.

Pakistan, India and Somalia ranked third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the global Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of threats ranging from domestic abuse and economic discrimination to female foeticide, genital mutilation and acid attacks. "Ongoing conflict, Nato airstrikes and cultural practices combined make Afghanistan a very dangerous place for women," said Antonella Notari, head of Women Change Makers, a group that supports women social entrepreneurs around the world. "In addition, women who do attempt to speak out or take on public roles that challenge ingrained gender stereotypes of what's acceptable for women to do or not, such as working as policewomen or news broadcasters, are often intimidated or killed."

The poll of the top five most dangerous countries for women by TrustLaw, a legal news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation, marked the launch of its new TrustLaw Women section, a global hub of news and information on women's legal rights. TrustLaw asked 213 gender experts from five continents to rank countries by overall perceptions of danger as well as by six risks. The risks were health threats, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, cultural or religious factors, lack of access to resources and trafficking.

Some experts said the poll showed that subtle dangers such as discrimination that don't grab headlines are sometimes just as significant risks for women as bombs, bullets, stonings and systematic rape in conflict zones. "I think you have to look at all the dangers to women, all the risks women and girls face," said Elisabeth Roesch, who works on gender-based violence for the International Rescue Committee in Washington. "If a woman can't access healthcare because her healthcare isn't prioritised, that can be a very dangerous situation as well."

Afghanistan emerged as the most dangerous country for women overall and worst in three of the six risk categories: health, non-sexual violence and lack of access to economic resources. Respondents cited sky-high maternal mortality rates, limited access to doctors and a near total lack of economic rights. Afghan women have a one in 11 chance of dying in childbirth, according to Unicef.

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), still reeling from a 1998-2003 war and accompanying humanitarian disaster that killed 5.4 million people, came second mainly due to staggering levels of sexual violence in the lawless east. More than 400,000 women are raped in the country each year, according to a recent study by US researchers. The United Nations has called Congo the rape capital of the world. "Statistics from DRC are very revealing on this: ongoing war, use of rape as a weapon, recruitment of females as soldiers who are also used as sex slaves," said Pakistan ranked third largely on the basis of cultural, tribal and religious practices harmful to women. These include acid attacks, child and forced marriage and punishment or retribution by stoning or other physical abuse. Some 1,000 women and girls die in honour killings annually, according to Pakistan's Human Rights Commission." (The Telegraph)

Run for Congo Women!

Take part in Women for Women International's 10k Run for Congo, in Regents Park, London on the 3rd of July and help women devastated by the human conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo rebuild their lives. 100% of the money you raise goes directly to their programmes in the Congo, helping women in the war ravaged eastern provinces to rebuild their lives and support themselves and their families.  For more information and registration click here: http://www.womenforwomen.org/help-women/run-for-congo-women-london.php

Margot Wallström in Dialogue with Members of Colombian Civil Society on How to Address Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Colombia

Sofia Nordenmark, Margot Wallström, Claudia Mejia Duque, and Adriana Porras Murillo

 
This week a seminar on how to address conflict-related sexual violence in Colombia took place in Stockholm, Sweden.  The seminar was organized by Colombiagruppen, a coalition of Swedish organizations working in Colombia.  Invited to speak was the Special Representative to the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Margot Wallström, Claudia Mejia Duque from Sisma Mujer, and Adriana Porras Murillo from Alianza Inicativa de Mujeres Colombianas por la Paz (IMP).The seminar was initiated by Colombiagruppen to raise awareness about the use of conflict-related sexual violence in Colombia and to open up a dialogue between Colombian civil society and the Special Representative Margot Wallström.

The internal conflict in Colombia between guerilla groups, paramilitary groups, and government forces,  raging for almost 50 years have hit women hard.  Sexual violence is widespread and used as a weapon of war by all parties to the conflict.  Women who are already discriminated against in Colombian society where domestic violence and violence against women is common have been made increasingly vulnerable by the conflict.

The representatives from  Sisma Mujer and IMP, Claudia Mejia Duque and Adriana Porras Murillo discussed  the situation for women in Colombia and their own experiences addressing sexual violence.  They pointed out that one of the most significant challenges is the lack of justice for survivors.  The Colombian legal system needs to undergo reform and there is a need for  knowledge on how to address sexual violence in the government, police force, and the state attorney's office.  Sisma Mujer and IMP called for a integrated government policy on how to tackle all violence against women and ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted.  They also pointed out that even though there is a strong civil society lobbying the government and pushing for change there is a desperate need for outside support and assistance.

Margot Wallström who has taken an interest in the situation in Colombia and recently made Colombia one of her seven focus countries announced that she is planning a visit to Colombia in the fall.  Wallström will focus her efforts in Colombia on getting the government to prioritize sexual violence, dialogue with military groups, and accountability. 

During the dialouge with Claudia Mejia Duque and Adriana Porras Murillo, Wallström  talked about the challenges facing women who seek justice, saying that many women have told her that they get laws but no justice.  Wallström introduced an idea that she has discussed with ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo that women should be able to seek justice as part of a class action, gaining support from one another.  She also talked about the need for speedier legal procedures so that women don't  have to wait long periods of time for justice.

The seminar was a success due to the interesting dialogue between Margot Wallstöm and Claudia Mejia Duque and Adriana Porras Murillo which lead to many interesting and constructive ideas on how to tackle the conflict-related sexual violence in Colombia. Hopefully the Colombian government will be open to these ideas when Wallström visits Colombia later this year.

Reuters: "Prosecutor Says Gaddafi Linked to Rape Policy"

"UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - International Criminal Court investigators have evidence linking Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to a policy of raping opponents and may bring separate charges on the issue, the ICC prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo requested arrest warrants on May 16 against Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and the country's spy chief on charges of crimes against humanity committed during attempts to crush the country's rebellion. ICC judges are considering Moreno-Ocampo's request, but the prosecutor said that after their decision, he might present new charges of mass rape. The rape allegation is not new. It was raised in the U.N. Security Council in April by U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, who said some of Gaddafi's troops had been issued with the impotency drug Viagra. Moreno-Ocampo said in an interview with Reuters on May 2 he was investigating the allegation.

At a U.N. news conference on Wednesday, he said the question until recently had been whether Gaddafi himself could be associated with the rapes "or is it something that happened in the barracks?" "But now we are getting some information that Gaddafi himself decided" to authorize the rapes, "and this is new," Moreno-Ocampo said. "It never was the pattern he used to control the population. The rape is a new aspect of the repression," he said. "Apparently, he decided to punish using rapes." Moreno-Ocampo repeated the allegation of use of impotency drugs, saying his team was finding "some elements" confirming the purchase of "Viagra type of medicaments." He said there was evidence of Libya acquiring "containers" of such drugs "to enhance the possibility to rape women." The prosecutor said it was difficult to know how widespread the rape was but he had received information there were several hundred victims in some areas. The U.N. Security Council referred the violence in Libya to the Hague-based ICC in February." (Reuters)

Million Women Rise Film Night

On Friday 24th of June Million Women Rise is organizing a film night in London. The event will start at 7 pm and will be held at the Women's Resource Centre (Ground Floor East, 33-41 Dallington St.East).The films/discussions are open to all members and women interested in getting involved with the Million Women Rise Movement.

Films (subject to change)

'Congo a common cause" produced by Africa Lives and Common Cause UK
"On my own again" A film by Anu Srinivasan
'Bronze Woman" Directed and produced by Ego Ahaiwe

Please confirm your attendance as refreshments will be provided and
please feel free to get in touch if you are available to help out! shazronf@yahoo.co.uk - 07905 248 884.

New Europe: "Wallstrom Making Progress in Fight Against Rape in Conflict"

"The Libya conflict has also included an element of war that former Commissioner, Margot Wallstrom is dedicated to fighting against; the rape of women as part of conflict. She described the evidence from two Libyan soldiers who had been ordered into a house, where the occupants had been shot in the legs to disable them, and the young women were taken upstairs where an estimated 20 soldiers raped them.

Now acting as the United Nations Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Wallstrom said that she was disappointed that the use of sexual violence was not part of the UN resolution on Libya, but after hearing many such reports of “very violent behavior” the UN Security Council accepts that the omission of such acts in the resolution was a mistake and they intend to double the humanitarian presence on the ground. Reports are still being collected. “This is surrounded by so much shame and stigma that it is difficult to find reliable information.”

“We still have to fight the notion that these crimes are acceptable or inevitable,” she said during a visit to Brussels, adding that, “some think that this is part of war or collateral damage because it has been part of every conflict, it is even mentioned in the Bible, but we can put an end to this.”

“The international legislation is there, but it’s the whole attitude.” Asked about the arrest of the head of the IMF and that there seemed to be an institutionalized sexism is high offices she said, “Of course, you only have to look at the comments being made. You’re supposed to believe him as a powerful man, but she needs to be given the dignity of being listened to as well. It’s a classical example of what we are dealing with,” although she stressed she only deals with violence in conflict, “but it reflects on the role of women in society and the lack of respect towards them.”

Heart of Darkness
The level of violence is horrific. In the Democratic Republic of Congo the use of rape as a weapon in the protracted conflict has reached levels that are beyond the use of superlatives. Wallstrom revealed that the militias roaming Eastern Congo had started branding their rape victims, each with their own marks, occasionally by killing them by shooting the women in their genitalia. “You cannot imagine the brutality; I think they just want to destroy life.”

One of the root causes of the continued violence in the DRC is the contest over mines and the access to rare minerals, such as coltran, a vital part of mobile phones. Wallstrom says that the mining villages have women there who are kept as sex slaves and she is pushing for action on the minerals, similar to that taken over ‘blood diamonds’. “I hope the EU will take the initiative and follow the US lead and adopt legislation to force manufacturers to trace the origin of the minerals they use.” She said that it was vital to have a global regime in place to monitor and police the use of these minerals, and who is producing them.

Waiting for Europe
She repeated a point she has made for a year now, that she needs a single person in the EU institutions who she can liaise with on this issue, but so far there has been no action. She said that she was focusing her efforts on seven countries; DRC, Liberia, Central African Republic, Sudan, Columbia and Bosnia. “The EU is working in these areas also, so we should be working together.”

She points out that the African Union has appointed a representative for sexual violence in conflict, to act as a partner and the nascent government of South Sudan has also asked her team to advise in drawing up the constitution for the new nation.

“I am convinced that this is something Cathy Ashton wants to work towards and now it is time to introduce a focal point for me to work with,” she says, “but I’ve seen more action, in New York, from the US and individual member states. They come to us wanting to know how they can help.” She says that she can see such a person being appointed, “I know it’s not easy with the External Action Service being set up,” she adds.

However, she says that now is a very good time to have someone in such a position, “now we have a political window of opportunity,” before the new service’s structure becomes too fixed. But a question remains over the EEAS. Why is it that the African Union can support the UN Special Representative, but not the EEAS, with its half a billion euro budget? New Europe  asked the EEAS about providing a person to report on sexual violence in conflict, and act as a liaison with the UN, but received no reply.

Progress against Impunity
Wallstrom is also pleased with the UN, saying that they have provided her with all the tools she needs, not just to take the issue seriously, but to chase and try those involved in ordering or participating in the mass rapes of civilians.

“There has been almost total impunity for this crime, although there have been some tribunals,” she says, reminding us that is was only after the Balkan conflict that sexual violence was recognized as a war crime, although convictions remain rare. “In Bosnia there were 12 prosecutions in the national courts, but around 50,000 women were raped during the war. There has been no proper justice for those women,” she says.

“I want to go after the perpetrators, I want to put them in jail,“ she says, as ending what she calls “the culture of impunity” is her main task. “This is the only way of showing there are consequences to their acts.”

But the ever energetic Special Representative has, since beginning her job less than18 months ago with no office or budget, has brought the issue to the top of the agenda. There are now training programmes in place for peacekeepers and a strengthening of discipline in the UN forces, together with a legal framework for prosecutions of sexual violence as a war crime.

Another aspect, is pushing for help and support for the victims of rape and also those who perpetuate it. The two Libyan soldiers who took part in a gang rape, mentioned at the beginning, were forced to participate and are also traumatized for the experience, enhanced by it being their first sexual experience. Wallstrom insists that dealing with victims and the rapists is part of conflict resolution and more resources need to be devoted. “In Sierra Leone and Liberia, these were often child soldiers, who were forced to rape their mothers or sisters, sometimes having to kill them afterwards. This was part of cutting them off from their communities so they belonged to the warlords.”

“There are such deep consequences to this crime that we have completely overlooked and have not understood what it does to a society and why it is so difficult, afterwards, to create sustainable peace. This has to stop. This has to end. It destroys society.” (New Europe)