Drawing a Line to End Conflict-Related Sexual Violence
The international Court of Justice: An effective avenue for prevention, justice and redress for conflict-related sexual violence?
Expert Panel Discussion and Reception
Organised by the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation, co-sponsored by the Government of Canada, the Government of the Netherlands, the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), the Government of Kosovo, the Government of Colombia, the Government of France, and Legal Action Worldwide (LAW).
The overall objective of this event was to highlight that State obligations relevant to preventing, stopping, and responding to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) derive from international instruments, such as international human rights treaties including the Genocide Convention and the Convention Against Torture, and to explore the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) key role as the body that resolves disputes regarding whether States have violated the obligations laid out in these instruments.
The roundtable focused on the ICJ’s important and potential role as an avenue through which States can be held to account regarding their CRSV obligations, including examining issues relevant to CRSV raised in recent cases. The roundtable also explored how the ICJ’s provisional measures and reparations orders can contribute to preventing CRSV and repairing the harms it causes, as well as how the Court currently monitors and ensures compliance with its orders and judgments.
In 2023, the Mukwege Foundation launched the “Guidebook on State Obligations for Conflict-related Sexual Violence”, which compiles the existing State obligations relevant to CRSV set out in International Humanitarian Law, International Human Rights Law, and under UN Security Council resolutions, as well as the mechanisms for compliance and enforcement. The roundtable also highlighted how the Guidebook can be used as a tool by States, civil society, and CRSV survivor activists to better understand what States are currently obligated to do to prevent, halt, and respond to CRSV.
Antonia Mulvey, participated in the panel discusssion, highlighting the interplay between international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international criminal law in conflict-settings. She underscored the importance of recognising the succesful strategies and developments such as the groundbreaking decision has been made this week by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to protect the identities of 35 South Sudanese survivors of conflict-related sexual violence who have brought a complaint against their State.
This is the first time that a UN Treaty Body has agreed to transmit a communication to a State without disclosing to it the identities of the #victims. Victims of conflict-related sexual violence rarely make complaints against their States out of fear of reprisals – this decision opens the door for survivors around the world to seek #justice.
