All posts by Kasiva Mulli

TJ Monitor: ICC judgment against Katanga shows that the battle for accountability of sexual crimes in conflict is not yet won

Blog, ,

On the 7th of March 2014, Germain Katanga was found guilty by the International Criminal Court as an accessory within the meaning of article 25(3)(d) of the Rome Statute for one crime against humanity (murder) and four war crimes (murder, pillaging, destruction of property, attacking a civilian population) in the district of Ituri in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2003

Katanga was, however, not found guilty as an accessory to sexual slavery as a war crime under article 8(2)(b)(xxii), sexual slavery as a crime against humanity under article 7(1)(g), rape as a war crime under article 8(2)(b)(xxii), and rape as a crime against humanity under article 7(1)(g) of the Statute. The role of the prosecutor was to prove beyond reasonable doubt that a crime was committed, but in this case, she was unable to do so for sexual crimes in this trial. This shows the continued frustration of achieving convictions for sexual crimes especially in a region like Ituri where sexual offences are prevalent.

Many would argue that there have been great strides on prosecuting sexual crimes since the historic International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda case of Prosecutor vs Jean-Paul Akayesu which created a foundation for the codification of sexual crimes in international law.  Rules of procedure have been revised to be inclusive and friendly to the prosecution of SGBV, best practices have been adopted by international tribunals, prosecutors and investigators have received trainings and a lot of advocacy has been conducted on the need to prosecute SGBV cases. The office of the Prosecutor at the ICC has appointed a gender adviser and there exists a gender unit and they recently released a draft policy paper on sexual and gender based crimes.

As such, today there should not be inadequate investigations into or presentation of evidence in court of SGBV related crimes or presentation of evidence in court of SGBV related crimes. Currently there have been no convictions by the ICC on SGBV related crimes and as of 2011 only 41 out 71 indictments that had sexual crimes resulted in convictions at the ICTR, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or  the Special Court for Sierra Leone ( according to the progress on women report 2010/11 by UNWOMEN). Basically, much has not changed since.

In northern Uganda these gaps are glaring. Only one out of the five arrest warrants issued by ICC had the charge of sexual slavery and among the 53 counts brought against Thomas Kwoyelo by the International Crimes Division of the Ugandan High Court, none was for SGBV.

The prosecution reluctance and/or inability to build up concrete cases on SGBV is also worrying. We realize SGBV is not an easy crime to investigate but we also acknowledge the harm caused to victims and their desire to get justice. The prosecutors and investigators have a responsibility to be vigilant and aggressive in building up such cases. Creativity should also be called upon if we are to succeed.

Ultimately, this judgment is a set back on the victims of SGBV in Ituri. As we have seen more resources put in by the office of the prosecutor to assist in the investigation of such crimes, we hope that in the proceeding judgments, more accountability for SGBV will be realized.

Protecting women from gender-based violence in post-conflict situations

Blog,

It is that time of the year again when we observe the 16 days of activism against gender violence. This period gives us an opportunity to reflect as well as create awareness on gender based violence and the effect it continues to have in our communities. It is also an opportunity for us to ask ourselves the hard questions such as why after more than three decades since the adoption of the CEDAW, two decades after the declaration on elimination of violence against women and progression in both national and international arena on the rights of women, the problem of violence against women continues to persist.

This year I would like to share how circumstance of women who were formerly abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army during the over two decades conflict in northern Uganda makes them vulnerable to abuse and violence. These women experienced horrific violations under the hands of the rebels including forced marriages and forced impregnation. Upon escape or rescue, they came back with children they bore in captivity as well as health complications as a result of either giving birth while young under harsh conditions or gun wounds and other related injuries as a result of exposure to battles. They were met by an embittered community that was not willing to accept them and their children due to their past association with rebels, their clans were not ready to accept them or give them land because they had children whose clans were unknown. As a result many of these women have left their homes and settled in town centres where they find comfort in their anonymity. With no education or skills, they cannot get formal employment and have to most of the time survive on casual labour which is not always available and does not pay much.

There was no comprehensive system put in place to assist such women integrate back to the community apart from an amnesty package that never took into consideration that they came back with children. They lack social and economic safety nets to help them rebuild their lives making them live in abject poverty yet they have to take care of children whose fathers died, are still in the bush or are unwilling to take care of their children. As a result they will look for any opportunity that would seem to provide them with economic security without worrying about the detrimental effects. This has commonly been in form of entering into “clandestine relationships” in the hope of securing basic necessities for their children. In such relationships these women and their children become vulnerable to abuse and violence. A recent study by Watye Kigen, an organisation working with children born in captivity showed that such children often become targets of abuse and discrimination in such relationships. The women stay only because they lack alternatives and become easy targets of sexual exploitation all in the name of feeding their children.

The question then becomes could these women find themselves in such situations if there was a comprehensive reintegration package put in place to help them meet their immediate needs as well as help them rebuild their lives? The importance of social and economic safety nets for women affected by war cannot be gainsaid. It is an absolute necessity if we are going to mitigate vulnerability to gender based violence in post conflict situations. It is time we made sure that responses of post conflict situations take into consideration social economic empowerment for women. When women are empowered economically, they have choices and these choices remove the vulnerability they have to abusive circumstances.

Reflecting on the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence

Blog

Since the 25th of November 2012, we have been observing 16 days of activism against gender violence,   a vice that continues to penetrate our society preying among the vulnerable that are targeted because of their gender. This year I was particularly touched by the plight of one young girl I met during the course of my work.  She represented the challenges women face during and after conflict situations. She made me realize that the battle against gender violence is not over and goes beyond physical violence.   It should include breaking existing structural inequalities that often lead to vulnerability of victims in question.

Mary (not her real name) was abducted at the age of 12. During her life in captivity she worked as a porter and was forced to carry goods for long distances. She managed to escape from captivity after three years and upon returning home she found that her family had already moved to Internally Displaced Camps. While at the camps she was raped by a government soldier who asked her mother when she tried to stop him, why she was not willing to give her daughter to him yet she did so willingly to the rebels. Mary conceived out of the rape, powerless about her situation she decided to stay with the soldier so that he could take care of the child. She lived with him in an abusive “marriage” ending up with seven children, she decided to leave her husband and came back home with her children. Mary did not get a chance to go to school because of the war and neither did she have a source of income, she has to take care of seven children and she has no idea how to do so,  she cannot afford to educate them let alone feed them. She currently earns a living from casual labourer in the village.

Mary represents what many women go through during and after conflict. The Lord’s Resistance Army did not only deny her a normal life but used her as a porter leading to her developing chest pains as a result of carrying heavy luggage. At the same time, the Government failed to protect her, leading to her abduction. While at the camp, the soldier was not a protector but an abuser, she was seen as a person who is readily available to satisfy sexual needs of a man with power at will. With her vulnerability she feared reporting the incident to her abuser’s colleagues rest she receives a backlash. With inaccessible reproductive health services to respond to such an incident, she was not able to stop a pregnancy.   Stigma associated with children born out of wedlock and lack of means to take care of such a child, she opted to get married to her abuser who continued to abuse her and father her seven children. With no social economic empowerment, lost opportunity to go to school or get a skill that can help her provide for the family,  she is left with the option of “living to survive”.

She and many others who have gone through worse experiences are the reason why the battle against gender violence especially in conflict situations must continue.