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Human Rights Through The Rule of Law

Global Justice Center E-News July 10, 2007


Dear Friends and Supporters,

June was as event filled as ever for the Global Justice Center, and we are pleased to report the following highlights:

GJC News

GJC Events:

On June 19th, the Global Justice Center celebrated the 62nd birthday of Aung Sang Suu- Kyi, the nonviolent pro-democracy Burmese activist and leader of the National League for Democracy. As her house arrest continues, Daw Suu Kyi asked her supporters to commemorate her birthday by collecting money for the families of Burmese political prisoners, which we did. GJC celebrated by watching a movie about Suu Kyi and having GJC Burma Intern Phyu Phyu Sann give a presentation about life inside Burma. GJC client, the Women's League of Burma released the following statement: http://www.womenofburma.org/Statement&Release/WLBstatement-ASSK-62-Birthday_
Eng.doc

GJC on the Road:

Andrea Friedman, GJC Senior Counsel and Sam Hart, GJC Central Asia Consultant, went to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan as trainers for a workshop organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. GJC attended as a member of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security which facilitated the high level training for Kyrgyz government official and civil society representatives on UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

Olivia Kraus, GJC Managing Attorney, attended a 3 day conference organized by Operation 1325, a consortium of 5 Swedish NGO's, in Harnosand, Sweden. At the conference Olivia presented to a group of civil society activity from Sudan, Palestine and Israel about how to use international law as a tool for gender justice and equality. GJC is pleased to announce that the two Sudanese organizations represented are planning on partnering with GJC on our Sudan project.


As always, we look forward to sending you our next batch of updates in early August!

Best,
The GJC Staff

Feature article: Women in Democracy

Towards a New Definition of Democracy

Decentralization of power, free and fair electoral processes, free trade, transparency, judicial independence, corruption, free press and degree of competitiveness represent some of the common criteria of the major democracy indices constructed by reputable institutions and scholars such as Freedom House, International IDEA, World Audit, the Vanhanen Index, Polity IV and UNDP

These criteria are then used to measure a country's level of democratization. At one end of the spectrum are fully democratized nations and on the other end are fully authoritarian nations. It is in the middle where most nations linger. Generally, most indices weigh each criterion equally which theoretically allows a nation to have, for example, corrupt electoral processes, and still be considered democratic. This kink in these indices however is overshadowed by a much bigger oversight: the failure to designate equal participation of women at all levels of decision making (executive, legislative and judicial) as a criterion of democracy.

The Global Justice Center, therefore proposes that a nation can never be considered truly democratic unless women are equally represented in political processes including the judiciary. Women comprise of half the world's population and therefore should be at the forefront of all decision making processes. While many institutions and academics concede that women's political participation makes for a better, more sustainable democracy, GJC advocates for the premise that women's equal political participation is the only way to create a democracy. Furthermore, women's inclusion in the decision making processes should not only be viewed as a women's right, but an essential criterion of democracy.

Central Asia: The Ebb and Flow of Women's Political Representation

Central Asia is often an overlooked region. After the transition from Soviet rule, it was thought that this region would make a smooth transition to democratic governance. Instead it has become a haven for authoritarian dictatorships and unstable coups. For example, in 1991, Kyrgyzstan became independent and elected a president who became increasingly autocratic throughout his rule. Despite gains made for women in Soviet times, there have been significant gender disparities in political leadership in the period thereafter. Women are faced with increasing disempowerment with disparate opportunities for political leadership and government positions. The disproportionate political representation of women is exacerbated by the greater struggles of women in households who have less time to participate in civic life. The government of Kyrgyzstan has gone from having a critical mass of women in parliament to an astonishing zero female members. Furthermore, there is hardly any representation of women in the judiciary or any other branch of government, and the data is neither reported by the government.

In 2003, Kyrgyzstan adopted a new constitution which provided legal framework to support gender equality and in 2005 the country underwent the "Tulip Revolution", overthrowing the authoritarian government and electing a new President. While the Tulip Revolution resulted in better governance and shows greater potential for making progress in women's political participation, the numbers have yet to bare that out.

The Vision for a Truly Democratic Central Asia

Generally, there has been a lack of focus in, and on Central Asia with regards to the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325). In September 2006, however, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in cooperation with UNIFEM organized the first UNSCR 1325 initiative in Central Asia. Building on this initiative, ODIHR is planning a series of workshops in Central Asia focusing on national-level implementation.

Furthermore, at the behest of the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE), the Global Justice Center as a member of the NGO Working Group for Women's Peace and Security (NGOWG) conducted a workshops in Kyrgyzstan in late June 2007 with the objective of raising awareness and national-level implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Central Asia. The workshops targeted both government officials and civil society actors in their respective Central Asian countries. The OSCE chose Central Asia because it is a region still in transition, making it the ideal candidate for implementing gender-equality measures. This is the time to insert gender equality into fundamental governance structures, including the judiciary. GJC aims to forward its mission of equipping leaders in developing democracies with the legal tools to enforce women's rights to equality in political representation. The implementation of positive reforms for women's political participation and enforcement of current law are a vital aspect of whether the Central Asia countries will tip towards democracy or continue under oppressive, authoritarian rule.

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