2011 - A Year of Progress and Hope

Dear readers,

At the Nobel Peace Concert earlier this month Liberian singer Miatta Fahnbulleh sang these words:“The road will be muddy and rough, but we will get there, it will be hard, but we will get there, we know we will.”

I think these words sums up 2011, yes the road is still muddy and rough, but this year we saw people across the globe rising up and speaking out in a way that would have been hard  to imagine a year ago. In the context of women, peace, and security some progress was also made. Here are some of the events and achievements of 2011: 

The 2011 Jean-Pierre Bemba trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) was the first time that sexual violence is central to an ICC case. 

Bosnia’s war crimes court sentenced Sasa Baricanin a Bosnian Serb to 18 years in jail for the murder and rape of Muslims in a Sarajevo suburb occupied by Serb forces during the 1992-95 war.

Congolese gynecologist, Dr. Denis Mukwege, was awarded the 2010/2011 King Baudouin International Development Prize for his commitment to helping thousands of women victims of rape and war crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Sexual violence survivor Iman al-Obaidi received worldwide attention when she spoke out against Ghadafi troops in a Tripoli hotel, giving Libyan women a voice in the middle of chaos and lawlessness.

Three remarkable and brave women, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkul Karman received the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s right to full participation in peace-building work.

2011 was also the  100th anniversary of International Women's Day, a day that women around the globe marched and celebrated the achievements of the last century and highlighted the challenges still remaining.

In 2011 The brilliant Eve Ensler founder of V-day wrote the best text I ever read "Over It" on sexual violence. She wrote:

"I am over the passivity of good men. Where the hell are you?
You live with us, make love with us, father us, befriend us, brother us, get nurtured and mothered and eternally supported by us, so why aren't you standing with us? Why aren't you driven to the point of madness and action by the rape and humiliation of us?"

"We need to OCCUPYRAPE in every school, park, radio, TV station, household, office, factory, refugee camp, military base, back room, night club, alleyway, courtroom, UN office. We need people to truly try and imagine -- once and for all -- what it feels like to have your body invaded, your mind splintered, your soul shattered. We need to let our rage and our compassion connect us so we can change the paradigm of global rape." (The Huffington Post)

The list of achievements and events that took place this year could be made much longer and so many stories could never be told because much of the progress and change is happening far from the eyes of journalists, activists, and politicians.

Everyday progress is made when a woman or a girl decides to break the mold of tradition and speak out, defending her rights. Everyday progress is made when a man or a boy refuses to accept violence against women and women's lack of political influence.

Progress begins with you and me. It begins in the fields, villages, homes, and schools of ordinary people. We must never underestimate the power that passionate and committed individuals have.  Like Alice Walker said: "The most common way people give up their power is by thinking, they don't have any"

2011 has been a remarkable year for women's rights, never before have so many people been made aware of gender inequality and violence against women, never before have so many women raised their voices, never before have women, peace, and security received so much attention in the media.

2011 have shown us that anything is possible as long as we believe in ourselves and the cause for which we are fighting. Like Gandhi said " We have to be the change we wish to see."

I hope that you have found the blog useful and will continue to follow it in 2012. Together we will end violence against women and give women a voice in war and peace, one woman at a time, one man at a time, one child at a time.

Happy New Year!

Emmicki Roos
The Women, Peace, and Security Blog

This week in the news

Center for American Progress: "Rape and the Arab Spring"
"The Middle East is undergoing a profound and dramatic political transformation. But the analysis of the scope, pace, and quality of this change has focused largely on the quality and results of initial elections in countries such as Tunisia and Egypt. Unfortunately, this sort of analysis overlooks how these transitions are affecting women and minorities—key indicators of the robustness of democracies around the world." (Center for American Progress) http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/12/arab_spring_women.html

TrustLaw: "Sri Lankan women, girls face dire security threats in Tamil areas –report"
"More than two years after the end of the 30-year war between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebels, women in the north and east of the country still suffer from sexual violence, poverty and displacement, according to a new report." (TrustLaw)http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/sri-lankan-women-girls-face-dire-security-threats-in-tamil-areas-report

IRIN: "SOMALIA: Rape on the rise amid "climate of fear" in Mogadishu IDP camps"
The number of reported rapes in camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, has risen sharply, creating "a climate of fear", according to a civil society source.  "We have had the problem of rape in the city but what we are witnessing now is on a scale never seen before," said Mama Hawo Haji, a women's rights activist. "For instance, in the last two days alone, we have taken 32 rape cases to the hospital; in the past four months we recorded 80 cases." (IRIN) http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=94520

Don't miss V-Day's V-Men Column, where men speak out about violence against women and girls

"Last summer, when Eve Ensler asked me to write something about violence against women -- from a male perspective -- I went to my desk feeling skeptical, and not at all sure that I had anything significant to say on the subject. Although I had grown up in a house where female molestations of various kinds happened on a regular basis, and had spent a good deal of my adult life (and therapist's time) sorting through the emotional rubble left behind after witnessing so much misogynist violence, I felt doubtful that my experience mattered -- for the simple reason that I was a man -- compared to the traumas I had witnessed in the lives of my mother and sisters." (Mark Matousek) (V-day)

Read the "V-Men Column," a series of stories and writings on violence against women and girls from the perspective of fathers, brothers and sons. Click here:http://www.vday.org/v-men

Million Women Rise needs volunteers for its 2012 march to protest violence against women globally

On the March 3rd 2012, Million Women Rise will organize a march in London to protest violence against women globally. Million Women Rise needs volunteers to help organise and publicise the march. In particular, they are looking for women to help as:

• Stewards
• Team leaders
• Fundraisers
• Flyer distributors

If you would like to get involved, email: mwrstewards@hotmail.co.uk or phone 07553 373 105

Why should men care? Matt Damon, narrator of the PBS series Women, War, and Peace on why women's situation in war should matter to men too

In recent years  the lived reality of women in war have received unprecedented  media attention and more and more people are getting involved in the fight against sexual violence in conflict and to support women as changemakers actively taking part in peace processes and peace operations. Nevertheless, the vast majority of those getting involved are women. In the summer I attended a conference in Stockholm, Sweden on sexual violence in Colombia. where the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallström lamented that only 1 or 2 out of a hundred who attends conferences, seminars, and other events are men. Where are the men? The growing strength of the women rights movement is great, but we will never end gender-based violence or women's lack of political influence in matters of war and peace without men.  That is why it is so important that men who are role models join this movement and raise their voices too. Matt Damon, the narrator of PBS's Women. War, and Peace raises his voice in a PBS video on why men should care. Watch it here:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/features/why-should-men-care/

Video: One Woman's Story; Changeing the World One Woman at a Time...

"Suddenly soldiers were forcing the door down. There were eight of them, two of them raped me in front of my children. I was kept there fro seven months, seven months of sex slavery. [...] When I got home my husband rejected me." Nbintu, programme participant in the Congo." (Women for Women International) Watch Women for Women International's video "One Woman's Story" and support their work!

This Week in the News

The Express Tribune: "Horrors of sexual abuse in conflict-stricken FATA"

"Kashmala Bibi says her cousin’s breasts were cut into pieces when five militants walked into their house and saw the woman breastfeeding her child. One of the insurgents then asked the other women around to eat the pieces. This is one of the many tales of horror recorded in a report titled “Impact of crisis on women and girls in Fata." Read more here: http://tribune.com.pk/story/306916/voice-of-the-voiceless-horrors-of-sexual-abuse-in-conflict-stricken-fata/

All Africa: "Liberia: Ellen - Crimes Against Women Under-Reported"

"Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf says "Crimes against women are still under-reported in too many parts of the world." Read more :http://allafrica.com/stories/201112131569.html

Colombia Reports: "Victims of sexual assault represent 17.7% of Colombia's displaced"

"Over 17% of Colombia's 3.4 million forcibly displaced citizens fled their homes due to sexual violence perpetrated by illegal armed groups, according to a UN report." Read more here: http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/21035-victims-of-sexual-assault-represent-177-of-colombias-displaced.html

The Washington Post: "Next International Criminal Court prosecutor pledges to prosecute sexual and gender crimes"

"The next chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court pledged Tuesday to strengthen efforts to bring to justice the perpetrators of sexual and gender crimes." Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/next-international-criminal-court-prosecutor-pledges-to-prosecute-sexual-and-gender-crimes/2011/12/13/gIQAdINWsO_story.html

The Guardian: "Women of the year 2011 - in pictures"

"Time magazine named The Protester as its person of the year, and women fighting injustice take pride of place among the Guardian's women of 2011. As well as lauding those who press for women's rights, we also celebrate great achievement – a trio of Nobel winners, political high-fliers and the stars of stage and sport who inspire us." Read more here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2011/dec/16/women-of-year-2011-in-pictures#/?picture=383355242&index=6

Quote of the Week: Romeo Dallaire, former UNAMIR Force Commander, on sexual violence during the Rwandan genocide

"I don’t know when I began to clearly see the evidence of another crime besides murder among the bodies in the ditches and the mass graves. I know that for a long time I sealed away from my mind all the signs of this crime, instructing myself not to recognize what was there in front of me. The crime was rape, on a scale that deeply affected me… For a long time I completely wiped the death masks of raped and sexually mutilated girls and women from my mind as if what had been done to them was the last thing that would send me over the edge. But if you looked, you could see the evidence, even in the whitened skeletons. The legs bent and apart. A broken bottle, a rough branch, even a knife between them. Where the bodies were fresh, we saw what must have been semen pooled on and near the dead women and girls. There was always a lot of blood. Some male corpses had their genitals cut off, but many women and young girls had their breasts chopped off and their genitals crudely cut apart. They died in a position of total vulnerability, flat on their backs, with their legs bent and knees wide apart. It was the expressions on their dead faces that assaulted me the most, a frieze of shock, pain and humiliation."

Shake Hands with the Devil: The  Failure of Humanity in Rwanda LT. GEN. (RET.) Romeo Dallaire, former UNAMIR Force Commander, (Random House Canada, 2003, P.430)

The Girl Effect - "I Dare You"

"Little research has been done to understand how investments in girls impact economic growth and the health and well-being of communities. This lack of data reveals how pervasively girls have been overlooked. For millions of girls across the developing world, there are no systems to record their birth, their citizenship, or even their identity. However, the existing research suggests their impact can reach much further than expected." (Girl Effect.org)

Facts:

When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children. (Girl Effect.org)


The total global population of girls ages 10 to 24 —already the largest in history — is expected to peak in the next decade. (Girl Effect.org)

More than one-quarter of the population in Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa are girls and young women ages 10 to 24. (Girl Effect.org)


Out of the world’s 130 million out-of-school youth, 70 percent are girls. (Girl Effect.org)


Medical complications from pregnancy are the leading cause of death among girls ages 15 to 19 worldwide. Compared with women ages 20 to 24, girls ages 10 to 14 are five times more likely to die from childbirth, and girls 15 to 19 are up to twice as likely, worldwide. (Girl Effect.org)


When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families, as compared to only 30 to 40 percent for a man. (Girl Effect.org)

Dare to see the solution! Dare to act! www.girleffect.org

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Winning the Nobel Peace Price and Alfred Nobel’s Legacy to Women

Today the New York Times published an article by Africas first female president and recent Nobel Peace Price winner, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Sirleaf Johnson who held a passionate speach at the Nobel cermony in Oslo on Saturday writes:

“Although international tribunals have correctly declared that rape, used as a weapon of war, is a crime against humanity, rapes in times of lawlessness continue unabated. The number of our sisters and daughters of all ages brutally defiled over the past two decades staggers the imagination, and the number of lives devastated by such evil defies comprehension. (New York Times)

“Through the mutilation of our bodies and the destruction of our ambitions, women and girls have disproportionately paid the price of domestic and international armed conflict. We have paid in the currencies of blood, of tears, and of dignity.” (New York Times)

“With such a distinction comes great responsibility. History will judge us not by what we say in this moment in time, but by what we do next to lift the lives of our countrymen and women. It will judge us by the legacy we leave behind for generations to come.” (New York Times)

Read the full article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/opinion/Nobels-Legacy-to-Women-Johnson-Sirleaf.html

In the Land of Blood and Honey Opens on the 23rd of December!

 “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” which opens on Dec. 23 and is Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut, tells the stories of Ajla, a Bosnian Muslim woman, and Danijel, a Serbian police officer, who meet in Sarajevo just before the war starts. Through them it examines the broader conflict, which killed more than 100,000 people, displaced 2 million more and introduced the term “ethnic cleansing” to the lexicon of war. Ms. Jolie, who chose not to act in the film, said that among the experts she consulted while making the film were Richard C. Holbrooke, the architect of the Dayton accords, which ended the conflict in December 1995; Gen. Wesley Clark, the former NATO commander; and the foreign correspondent Tom Gjelten, who covered the Balkan wars for National Public Radio." (New York Times)

Women, War, and Peace Podcast: "Sheryl WuDunn on The Greatest Moral Challenge of the Century."

"Journalists are trained to keep their personal opinions out of their stories, to be impartial observers of events. Sheryl WuDunn was one of those journalists. She won the Pulitzer Prize with her husband, Nicholas Kristof, for their coverage of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, while working for The New York Times. Since that time, the couple have become outspoken critics of the human rights abuses they’ve witnessed the world over." (PBS)

PBS speaks to WuDunn about the experiences that have turned her from detached journalist to impassioned champion for women and girls. "Sheryl Wu Dunn’s latest book is Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. She co-wrote it with her husband, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. The two will appear in a film based on the book that is being produced as part of ITVS’s Women and Girls Lead initiative, of which Women, War & Peace is also a part." (Women, War, and Peace, PBS)

Listen to the podcast here: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/podcast/sheryl-wudunn-on-the-greatest-moral-challenge-of-the-century/

Today Tawakkol Karman, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Leymah Gbowee will recieve the Nobel Peace Price in Oslo, Norway.

Today the 10th of December, Tawakkol Karman, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Leymah Gbowee will receive the Nobel Peace Price in Oslo, Norway "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building." Karman, Sirleaf, and Gbowee have shown the world that women facing conflict and oppression can rise above the stereotype of women as victims and be forces of change, leading to peace and democracy.

Yesterday at a news conference in Oslo they said the following:

"The period that women appeared as victims has ended. ... Now women they are leaders. They are leaders not only of their country or leaders in their struggle, but leaders in the world," (AFP) Tawakkol Karman

"My selection and the selection of my mother Sirleaf and my sister Tawakkol is a reflection and an affirmation that finally the women of Africa, the women of the world, their roles in peace processes has been acknowledged." (AFP) Leymah Gbowee

"I am here in this position because of women ... who decided it was time for a woman to be in charge." (AFP) Ellen Sirleaf Johnsson

Today is a great day for women around the world struggling for peace and democracy. I applaud you Ellen Sirleaf Johnsson, Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkol Karman for showing the world what women are capable of even in the most difficult of circumstances. Hopefully this marks the beginning of a new era where women will be a part of all aspects of conflict resolution and sit at every peace negotiation table.

The Women, Peace, and Security Blog can now also be found as a news feed on the Nato Multimedia Library website!

The blog is now up as a news feed on the Nato Multimedia Library website in the LibGuide section on Women, Peace, and Security. The LibGuide is a great research tool with documents, publications, reports, books, articles, links, videos, and blogs on Women, Peace, and Security. To visit the LibGuide on Women, Peace, and Security click here: http://natolibguides.info/women

V-day have released its 2011 Annual Report Viva Vevolution!

V-day's  2011 Annual Report Viva Vevolution is now available. The report documents the inspired efforts of  activists around the globe who fight to end violence against women and girls. Click here to get to the report: http://www.vday.org/annual-report11/

Khaled Hosseini, author of "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns": "Listen to women in a new Afghanistan"

"As a writer, one of my most important responsibilities is listening. I try to do so with an open mind, so I can hear the voices of the characters whose stories I will tell. When I wrote about Afghan women in my second novel, I thought about the brave women I had met in Kabul and about their stories. Their voices came to me in hushed whispers. At times they woke me in the night with the urgency of what they had to say. I am indebted to those women, because without them, my novels would lack authenticity and would also be far less likely to resonate with readers.

Supporting women's rights in Afghanistan is largely about listening. A recent report from international aid organization Oxfam summarizes it best: The voices of women in Afghanistan must be heard if a lasting peace is to be achieved and "the international community is to fulfill its agenda of setting Afghanistan on its own feet."

In recent years, women have made incredible gains in Afghanistan. The end of Taliban rule has meant a new Afghanistan, with more opportunities for women. Millions of girls are back in school. Women are working, particularly in Kabul, as professionals in a wide range of fields. Afghanistan has a female provincial governor; there are women serving in parliament, the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Women's Affairs and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. Only the hardest cynic would dismiss these accomplishments as insignificant.

Yet far too many women in Afghanistan are still denied a place at the table -- denied the right to speak for themselves. Oxfam's report illustrates how war and unrest, illiteracy, poverty and gender discrimination have made it nearly impossible for the vast majority of women in Afghanistan to contribute to the global dialogue about the future of their homeland. Without them, the gains that have been made in recent years for half of Afghanistan's most brilliant resources remain at risk.

When I was a boy living in Kabul, I had a different experience. A different political environment meant women were respected -- their intelligence and accomplishments greatly valued. My mother was a teacher and school administrator. She was known on campus for her confidence and effective leadership. My aunt was a professor at Kabul University. She inspired young men and women to be creative and poetic, furthering Afghanistan's rich cultural and artistic legacy. My cousin was a physician. Men and women alike relied on her skill, strength and kindness.

The women I have met in Afghanistan in recent years are equally talented. Though most have been denied education, survive without access to even basic health care and often lack even rudimentary shelter, they are determined, resilient, resourceful and optimistic. They have a truly indomitable spirit and are the real backbones of families and communities.

If Aghanistan is to exist once again as a peaceful and thriving nation, it must make women's rights one of the cornerstones of national reconstruction. Any peace negotiations with insurgent groups must ensure that Afghan women are able to exercise their rights and participate in every facet of Afghan society without fear of retribution. They must be given political, social and economic power to help usher in and sustain the country's long-term redevelopment.

Most importantly, Afghan women must be allowed the opportunity to be heard. As the International Conference on Afghanistan approaches in Bonn, Germany, world leaders must insist that women not only participate in the Afghan delegation but that all discussions around peace and reconciliation include how women will be involved. Afghan women's voices are an indispensable resource and without them, the story of peace and prosperity cannot be told." (CNN Opinion)

Sweeta Noori Talks About the Violence that Hinders Afghan Women

Sweeta Noori, country director for Women for Women International in Afghanistan speaks about some of the problems she says Afghan women face at a recent talk  in London.

Do Not Miss the Central Festival To Combat Violence Against Women in the Gaza Strip!

The 2^nd Central Festival To Combat Violence Against Women in the Gaza Strip will take place on Thursday, 8 December 2011, in Gaza City.

Building on the success of last year’s great experience which brought together an audience of more than 1,500 people, the 2^nd Festival will propose a wide range of performances and activities to raise the audience awareness of violence against women as a public issue and a violation of human rights. An original song, specifically composed to mark the occasion, will be unveiled at the event through a performance by talented Gazan artists.

The 2^nd Festival, organized under the slogan "Stand up! Speak out! End Violence Against Women" is coordinated by the Amal Coalition to Combat Violence Against Women with the support of UN Women, UNRWA, UNDP/PAPP and OHCHR. It is designed as a direct contribution to the UN Secretary General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women.

Festival highlights:

• Theatre performance
• Operetta "Ana Mariam/I am Mariam" (original song composed for the festival by the female Gazan artist Aarab)
• The Body (documentary film directed by Rita Is-Hak)
• Dabka (traditional Palestinian dance performed by the Asriya Centre Group) 

For more information contact: julien.vaissier@unwomen.org

Weapon of War - Documentary Making at its Best

"…if you want a woman then you can’t control yourself any longer and you go and look for one immediately."

Ilse and Femke Van Velzen's documentary Weapon of War is their second film about sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. While their first film focused on the survivors, Weapon of War gives the viewer insights into the systematic and strategic use of sexual violence as a weapon and the motives of the perpetrators.

Weapon of War is a powerful documentary because Ilse and Femke Van Velzen has managed to portray the complexity of the perpetrators in a way that offers the viewer rare insights. Although, the film is a significant contribution to the fight against sexual violence it is also an exploration of human behavior at large. It is rare that the viewer comes that close to the perpetrator, to hear them describe their actions and motivations in their own words.

The most powerful scene is when a former Mai Mai rebel meets with the woman he gang raped to ask for her forgiveness. It is a scene that I don't think you ever forget when you have seen it. I know that it will stay with me for a very long time to come.

In recent years the systematic sexual violence in the Congo has recieved more international attention, however, the focus has mostly been on the survivors, not the perpetrators. If we do not understand the root causes behind it and the structures of gender inequality in Congolese society, how are we going to successfully address it?

Weapon of War adds to our understanding of the causes behind sexual violence and offers a rare insight that should interest anyone who has an interest in human behavior. If you have not already seen it, do not miss this rare opportunity. Thank you Ilse and Femke Van Velzen for yet another brilliant documentary!

To order Weapon of War for institutional use visit Women Make Movies website : www.wmm.com

For private use visit www.ifproductions.nl

"We Can"' (Nous Pouvons) Campaign in DR Congo

 

BBC: "Sexual violence in eastern DR Congo - signs of change?"

"During a fairly frenetic trip to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last week I spent a couple of hours at the Heal Africa centre in Goma, one of several institutions in the region where victims of sexual violence are treated. The compound was crowded. There was a lot of building work going on and the existing wards looked full. I didn't manage to gather enough information to write a coherent report about the broader situation regarding rape in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo

- it's been a devastating problem for many years - but I wanted to share one observation from a doctor at Heal Africa, in the hope that some of you can add to it or put it in better context.

 First some bad news. Doctor Bienvenue Kayumba Kayanga, who is in charge of the treatment of rape victims, said that the number of women arriving at the clinic has not shown any signs of changing in recent months.

  "The violence continues," he said. "Over the past week we've seen girls as young as five and two years old," he added. But something significant does appear to have changed in the nature of the attacks."Out of the 46 cases we've seen here so far this month, only two say they were raped by soldiers," said Dr Kayanga, confirming that this had become the norm. He said almost all the women and children now visiting the clinic had been attacked by relatives or neighbours.  It seems, on the face of it, to be a significant shift from past years, when civilians in the region were ruthlessly targeted by a variety of armed groups.

Brutalised society?

Incidents of mass rape by soldiers do continue to be reported.Mr Bienvenue had no easy explanation for the development, but he did not believe it was limited to his clinic. We discussed various possibilities.

- Could the presence of mobile courts, which have prosecuted a number of soldiers for rape, be acting as a deterrent?
- Is the security situation in general showing some signs of improvement?
- Was domestic violence as extensive before, but women did not tend to come forward?
- How far has society been brutalised by the conflict, and the sexual violence that accompanied so much of it?
- Is the perceived change seen at Heal Africa a statistical "blip," or distortion of the reality in the countryside?

After meeting the doctor, I spoke with a 15-year-old girl who had just arrived that morning from the countryside.  She said she had just been raped and beaten by two men in a field.  She didn't know if they were soldiers or not - they wore civilian clothes, but that doesn't mean much.  She spoke fast and at length - encouraged by a counsellor who said it was good for her to speak about her ordeal. The girl said she did not expect any justice, and added that when she returned home after the rape and told her family what had happened, she was badly beaten and thrown out of the house by her relatives." (BBC, Andrew Harding, Africa correspondent)

UN News Centre: "Syrian forces have committed crimes against humanity – UN rights panel"

Syrian women protesting in May 2011 (UN News Centre)

"Syria’s military and security forces have committed crimes against humanity during their crackdown on protesters, a United Nations-appointed probe said today, urging the Government to immediately end “gross” human rights violations and bring perpetrators to justice.  In August the UN Human Rights Council established the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law in the country since March, when the pro-democracy protests began.  Syria is “responsible for wrongful acts, including crimes against humanity, committed by members of its military and security forces as documented in the present report,” states the report, which was presented at a news conference in Geneva by the three-member commission.

The substantial body of evidence gathered by the commission indicates that these gross violations of human rights have been committed by Syrian military and security forces since the beginning of the protests in March.

The 39-page report documents patterns of summary execution, arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture, including sexual violence, as well as violations of children’s rights. “The substantial body of evidence gathered by the commission indicates that these gross violations of human rights have been committed by Syrian military and security forces since the beginning of the protests in March,” states the report. 
 
 According to international law, when certain crimes are committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians and the perpetrators know that their conduct is part of this attack, such offences constitute crimes against humanity, the report points out.  “The commission is thus gravely concerned that crimes against humanity of murder, torture, rape or other forms of sexual violence of comparable gravity, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty, enforced disappearances of persons and other inhumane acts of a similar character have occurred in different locations in the country since March,” it adds. The commission called on the Syrian Government to put an immediate end to the ongoing gross human rights violations, to initiate independent and impartial investigations of these violations and to bring perpetrators to justice. It also reiterated its call for immediate and unhindered access to Syria, noting that the Government, despite many requests, failed to engage in dialogue and to grant the commission access to the country. 
 
The report – authored by chairperson Paulo Pinheiro, Yakin Ertürk and Karen Koning AbuZayd – is based on interviews with 223 victims and witnesses of alleged human rights violations, including civilians and defectors from the military and the security forces. From the end of September until mid-November, the commission held meetings with Member States from all regional groups, regional organizations, including the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), human rights defenders, journalists and experts.
 
More than 3,500 Syrians have been killed since the start of the protests, which are part of a broader uprising across North Africa and the Middle East that has led to the toppling of long-standing regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. “Governments have an obligation to maintain public order. They bear the ultimate responsibility for protecting individuals under their jurisdiction, including those participating in public assemblies and exercising their right to freedom of expression,” states the report. “In the Syrian Arab Republic, the high toll of dead and injured is the result of the excessive use of force by State forces in many regions,” it adds.
 
Among its recommendations, the commission suggested that the Human Rights Council establish the mandate of a special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Syria, and that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) establish a field presence in the country with a protection and promotion mandate. " (UN News Centre)