The Women’s Alliance for a Democratic Iraq (WAFDI) and the Global Justice Center (GJC) jointly organized a three-day conference on women’s rights and international law November 13th – 15th at the Dead Sea, Jordan.  Attendees included twenty members of the Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT) and representatives from the President’s office, the Prime Minister’s office, the Parliament, the Ministry of Human Rights as well as prominent members of civil society.  The conference addressed a crucial subject for women in Iraq: sexual violence, as a war crime, a crime against humanity and an instrument of genocide, and its drastic impact on the victims.  This issue was addressed in the context of international law and its role in the IHT, with an eye towards having the IHT address these crimes in its upcoming indictments and judgments.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE–December 7, 2006

[JORDAN] From November 13-15, 2006, the Global Justice Center (GJC), a new iNGO based in New York provided the first training on international law and gender for 20 Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT) judges and 10 women leaders from Iraq. The training, which took place in Jordan, was requested by Iraqi women leaders and the IHT Judges to inform the Tribunal’s rulings on gender violence used by the Baathist regime as a weapon of war as well as the Tribunal’s specific obligation to reach out to women and ensure justice to all Iraqis as the proceedings move ahead. Until now, there have been no indictments brought on sexual violence. The IHT Judges have, however, taken testimony from rape victims and have pledged to use international law in their opinions on these cases.

The National Lawyers Guild publishes an article by Olivia Kraus titled "Iraqi Judges Trained on International Law and Crimes of Sexual Violence".

This article describes the training the GJC provided for Iraqi IHT judges and women leaders. It was organized in conjunction with the Women's Alliance For a Democratic Iraq (WAFDI). The purpose of the training was to bring these two groups together, and also to impact the way the Iraqi judges saw gender crimes and gender equality.

The article gives background for the event, and then describes it and its consequences.

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Janet Benshoof, President and Founder of the Global Justice Center, is interviewed by Feminist International Radio Endeavour (FIRE) on the 6th anniversary of UN Resolution 1325. 

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