Sep 13, 2013 | News
The ICJ denounced the death sentences handed down in the Delhi gang rape and murder case and urged the Indian Government to take steps to abolish the death penalty in law and practice.
A special fast-track court today sentenced to death four men convicted for the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on 16 December 2012.
The fifth accused, who was a minor at the time he committed the crime, was convicted and sentenced to three years in a reform home by a juvenile court on 31 August 2013.
“Women’s rights groups in India have taken a firm stance against the death penalty and strongly believe that the death penalty is counterproductive in every way to preventing and curtailing sexual violence against women,” said Vrinda Grover, leading human rights lawyer and ICJ’s South Asia advocate.
The ICJ considers the death penalty to constitute a violation of the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
“Those who commit acts of violence against women must be prosecuted and brought to justice,” said Sheila Varadan, ICJ’s South Asia Legal Advisor. “But the sentence and the administration of the death penalty constitutes a perversion of justice.”
“Instead of giving in to the vengeful demand for killing the perpetrators of this horrific crime, the Indian Government must take concrete steps to prevent, investigate and punish acts of violence against women,” Varadan added.
A high level commission constituted to reform Indian law on violence against women, led by the late Chief Justice of the Indian Supreme Court Justice J.S. Verma, recommended that the death penalty should not be used in rape cases.
“In demanding and securing the death penalty, Indian authorities have created a spectacle that distracts from their responsibility for systemic change in the legal system which alone will create deterrence in law,” said Vrinda Grover.
The ICJ calls on India to join the great majority of States around the world in rejecting the use of the death penalty.
To that end, India should impose a moratorium on the practice and take steps towards its abolition, as prescribed by repeated United Nations General Assembly Resolutions, the ICJ says.
Contacts:
Sheila Varadan (Bangkok), ICJ South Asia Legal Advisor, t: +66 857 200 723 (mobile); email: sheila.varadan(a)icj.org
Ben Schonveld (Kathmandu), ICJ South Asia Director, t: +977 980 459 6661 (mobile); email: ben.schonveld(a)icj.org
Additional Information
The United Nations has adopted various instruments in support of the call for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty. In 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution emphasizing that ‘that the use of the death penalty undermines human dignity’ and calling for the establishment of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty ‘with a view to abolishing the death penalty.’ The resolution was reaffirmed in 2008, 2010, and most recently in December 2012, when a large majority of UN Member States voted in favor of a worldwide moratorium on executions as a step towards the death penalty’s abolition.
Currently, 150 countries worldwide, including 30 states in Asia and the Pacific region, have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice.
Rape and other forms of sexual violence against women are pervasive in India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 24,923 rape cases were registered in India in 2012. Experts believe that the actual number is much higher, as rape is vastly under-reported. In most cases, however, victims and survivors get no justice from a criminal justice system that has been widely characterized as gender-insensitive, under-resourced and corrupt.
Photo: PTI
Sep 5, 2013 | News
The ICJ collaborated on this judicial colloquium with the UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and the Thailand Office of the Judiciary.
The Judicial Colloquium on Gender Equality Jurisprudence and the Role of the Judiciary in Promoting Women’s Access to Justice was held from 4 to 5 September 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Judges from eight Southeast Asian countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Thailand) came to the colloquium to discuss the role of judges in the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Representatives from the eight countries’ judicial training institutions and civil society organizations joined them in this colloquium. All eight participating countries are parties to the CEDAW.
The judicial colloquium is part of the work of the ICJ in engaging various actors, including judges, lawyers, and human rights defenders, to explore ways to address the range of obstacles that persistently reduce women’s access to justice and legal protection.
Sam Zarifi, ICJ’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, also noted the importance of this colloquium in the context of the development of a regional human rights mechanism in the ASEAN. He observed during his opening speech that the ASEAN is in the midst of setting standards and emphasized “it is important for judges to be aware of international standards of this issue so that they can substantially contribute to the discourse in setting up a regional mechanism.”
At the end of the colloquium, the participating judges, representatives from judicial training institutes and civil society organizations adopted a statement which noted, among other things, the uneven progress in the implementation of CEDAW in domestic laws and that judges should strive to interpret domestic law in consonance with the CEDAW.
They also agreed on recommendations, one of which is to encourage the formation of a regional network of judges to promote continuing dialogue, knowledge and information sharing regarding the application of CEDAW and other international human rights treaties in judicial systems.
Contact:
Emerlynne Gil, International Legal Advisor, tel. no. +66 6198477 ext. 206 or emerlynne.gil(a)icj.org
Aug 15, 2013 | News
Women judges from across Africa participated in the first ICJ Colloquium on Women and the Judiciary on 12 and 13 August in Arusha, Tanzania.
The Arusha Colloquium, was opened by the Chief Justice of Tanzania and was hosted in collaboration and partnership with the Tanzania Women Judges Association and the Judiciary of Tanzania.
It enabled thirty five senior women judges from over fifteen African jurisdictions to come together to share their stories and reflect on and discuss their personal and professional experiences and challenges as women within the judiciary.
They were joined by over 15 women human rights defenders and lawyers.
Colloquium themes included the importance and role of women within the judiciary, independence and impartiality issues effecting women judges, appointment and promotion procedures, education and training needs and the role of women judges associations.
Discussions also addressed the role of the judiciary in advancing gender equality, women’s access to justice and protection of women human rights defenders.
The Colloquium marks the beginning of an ICJ multi-year initiative on women judges, lawyers and human rights defenders as agents of change.
Nov 22, 2012 | News
The ICJ, Metlhaetsile and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) held a multi-stakeholder roundtable dialogue on women’s access to justice in Gaborone, Botswana from 20-21 November 2012.
The event, which is a key step in an ongoing ICJ initiative on women’s access to justice in Botswana, brought together a group of experts to discuss and review a draft ICJ/Metlhaetsile/FES report on the obstacles to justice women continue to face in Botswana.
Participants included attorneys, representatives of NGOs and government agencies, human rights defenders, and members of the judiciary.
The forthcoming report will capture and explore the accounts of barriers received from stakeholders accross Botswana through field research during 2011-2012.
It will include information on the relationship between the gaps in the realization of economic and social rights and the obstacles faced by women to access justice.
It will also identify a series of responsive recommendations elaborated by roundtable participants.
Aug 22, 2012 | News
In a new report released today, the ICJ and Justice for Peace Foundation (JPF) call for a series of changes in law, practice, approach and behaviour to address the justice needs of women across Thailand.
