FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — May 15, 2017

[NEW YORK, NY] -  Today, the UN Security Council holds its Open Debate on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence under Uruguay’s presidency. In the concept note, Uruguay reflected on the findings of the new UN Secretary-General’s report on how rape is used as a weapon of terrorism and genocide. They cited the example of the crimes Daesh is committing against ethnic minorities such as the Yazidi in North Iraq and Syria, including using rape as a non-killing crime of genocide. Yet, to date, no trial has been held to prosecute perpetrators of this ongoing genocide.

Listen to GJC's legal experts discuss the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Find us on iTunes and Soundcloud.

In April, the United Nations contacted the Trump administration and warned them that repealing the Affordable care Act and leaving millions without health coverage would violate the US’s legal obligations under international human rights treaties.

Yesterday, the Trump administration and the US Congress ignored these warnings.

When governments fail to stand up for human rights it is up to the people and civil society to stand strong and speak up.   

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Listen to GJC's legal experts explain the purpose of international laws of war and how they apply to the recent U.S. bombing and actions in Syria and Afghanistan. Find us on iTunes and Soundcloud.

In 1945, on the ninth day of testimony at the Nuremberg Trials, the prosecutors introduced a damning piece of evidence - a film that showed the gas chambers at Dachau. Nineteen Nazi war criminals were convicted, and the Nuremberg Trials helped establish an international system of criminal law that included the adoption of the Genocide Convention.

 The Genocide Convention has some of the strongest protections under the law for victims, but its effectiveness rests on states fulfilling their obligations to prevent, suppress and punish genocide.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — April 7, 2017

[NEW YORK, NY] - Today marks the 23rd Anniversary of the start of the Rwanda genocide when 80% of the Tutsi population in Rwanda was exterminated. Over the course of 100 days, up to a half million Tutsi women were raped, sexually mutilated or murdered. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda handed down the first conviction for the use of rape as an act of genocide.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE— March 29, 2017

[NEW YORK, NY] - Yesterday, Jordan welcomed Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s President, for the Arab League’s annual summit. Bashir is attending despite two longstanding arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his actions in Darfur, including rape, murder, torture and extermination. He has been charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and has been a fugitive from the ICC since 2009.

I’m back very recently from meetings in Brussels and London and we are not alone! The growing resistance to Trump’s actions to undermine women, including by censoring abortion-related speech globally, is real and growing.

I am convinced that the Trump debacle has opened up unforeseen opportunities to make radical advances to improve the rule of law, including women’s rights.

I was invited to meet with the EU officials to discuss ways the EU could fight the US abortion restrictions. I presented at a parliamentary briefing and we equipped European policy makers with charts and memos on the likely impact of the restrictions on EU humanitarian aid.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  March 8 2017

Washington, DC – Today, on International Women’s Day and the day of the Women’s Strike, the Global Justice Center joins over 40 other partner organizations in protesting against Trump’s reinstated and expanded Global Gag Rule.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE— March 6 2017

[NEW YORK] –   Today, Donald Trump signed a revised executive order extending his racist and xenophobic campaign promise—ban refugees and immigrants from largely Muslim countries. This ban is accompanied by a halt in taking in refugees and increased vetting protocols that can be used as a pretext to surveil and profile those who enter the United States.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  March 2 2017

Brussels (BE)– Today, the Belgian, Dutch, Swedish and Danish Governments hosted a conference in support of the global fundraising initiative “She Decides.” The initiative was founded to combat the impact of the Global Gag Rule that Donald Trump signed on his second day in office.

Over one month ago Donald Trump reinstated and expanded the Global Gag Rule. As organizations around the world wait for official guidelines on what the expansion means, GJC and other women's rights groups are already working hard to combat these deadly restrictions on women's healthcare.

Today, GJC participated in the She Decides Conference in Brussels. The conference brought together representatives from governments, civil society and women on the ground with the aim of joining forces to mitigate the impact of the decrease in US funding from Trump's Global Gag Rule.

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Women have been the leaders of successful resistance movements around the world. From the women of Liberia's mass action for peace, to mothers in Argentina and women's groups in Burma, women's rights activists are often the first to speak out against the rise of extremism.

After the women's march on January 21st, which was the largest peaceful day of protest in US history, GJC and other women's rights groups are keeping the momentum going.

Join GJC in DC on March 8th, the day of the nationwide Women's Strike, as we protest against Trump's reinstatement and expansion of the Global Gag Rule.

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The Trump administration is feeling the pressure. All around the country people have been coming together and standing up to his dangerous policies, saying, “We won’t go back.”

Both at home and abroad, GJC knows that fighting back works.

We invite you to join us this week as we stand together with the legal community in New York City to protest an agenda that violates human rights.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE— February 14 2017

[NEW YORK] –   This weekend, the German newspaper “Welt am Sonntag” reported that in December, the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office obtained an international arrest warrant for a high-ranking ISIS commander who according to sources was “significantly responsible to the sexual slavery of Yazidi women and girls.” The warrant for genocide and war crimes, would be the first international arrest warrant for what is an ongoing genocide against the Yazidi.

This week the courts are standing up to Trump, proving once again that the law can stop tyranny in its tracks.

GJC knows what resistance looks like.

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Last week we saw pictures of men signing executive orders that negatively impacted the lives of women, minorities and vulnerable populations in the United States and around the world.

This week we saw pictures of women judges, protesters, senators, congresspeople, and lawyers leading the fight against these dangerous policies.

GJC's motto has always been, "when women have a say in governing, the world becomes a better place." Today, we are seeing how true that is. GJC is fighting harder than ever. Stand with us.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE— January 27 2017

“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing." - Simon Wiesenthal

[NEW YORK] –   Today, on the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, the Global Justice Center calls on the international community to remember Holocaust victims by standing up to renewed anti-Semitism, hatred, racism, and discrimination. The Nazi ideology of race resulted in the systematic persecution and murder of six million Jews, and other groups such as the Roma, Slavic, Communists, Socialists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, LGBTI and persons with disabilities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE— January 27 2017

[NEW YORK] –   Today, Donald Trump followed through on one of his racist and xenophobic campaign promise—ban refugees and immigrants from largely Muslim countries. This ban is accompanied by a drastic reduction in the number of refugees the US will take and a series of other undefined and vague provisions that could be used as a pretext to surveil and profile those who enter the United States.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE— January 24 2017

[NEW YORK] –  Yesterday, Donald Trump re-instated the Global Gag Rule, as every Republican president since Ronald Reagan has done since taking office. Unlike his predecessors, Trump far expanded the reach of the Gag Rule.