The Iraqi High Tribunal
If women victims of gender crimes are de facto excluded from transitional justice, and if the perpetrators of sex crimes are not so charged, women will be "double" victims and the preexisting stigmatization of women survivors of sexual violence will be reinforced. In November 2006, the Global Justice Center provided training requested by the Judges and Prosecutors of the Iraq High Tribunal to address the issues of gender and regime crimes. The training covered the inclusion of women in transitional justice processes and examined established jurisprudence on trying crimes against women in a Tribunal context. International law requires that perpetrators of gender-based crimes are prosecuted under the strong anti-discrimination and equality mandates guaranteed under the Rome Statute of the ICC , United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The IHT Statute, modeled on the ICC, contains some of the most progressive gender laws in the world for prosecuting war crimes.
The Iraq High Tribunal is a critical component of establishing the rule of law in Iraq and Iraqi women's rights in particular. It is necessary to include gender considerations as a part of the trials so that women are able to feel that both the system and the individuals who perpetrated crimes against them have been held accountable. This process includes:
- The full documentation of the former regime crimes against women, including all forms of sexual violence;
- Making these crimes part of the public record;
- Reaching out to victims to overcome the inherent cultural obstacles to reporting crimes of a sexual nature.
Through its work with the Iraqi High Tribunal, the main goals of the GJC Gender Justice in Iraq Project are to:
- Create legal precedents recognizing and enforcing women's human rights
- Engage Iraqi women in the Tribunal process and thus bolster the rule of law
- Tell the missing stories of the crimes against women in Iraq
- Raise awareness of the importance of the Iraq High Tribunal and draw attention to its oft-neglected successes