Jun 27, 2019 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ highlighted the role of women in ensuring respect for human rights in relation to businesses, in a statement to the UN Human Rights Council today.
In an oral statement made during an interactive dialogue with the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, the ICJ stated as follows (check against delivery):
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes the report of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, and agrees that despite years of progress, women continue to experience multiple forms of discrimination. Women’s voices continue to be unheard and they face insurmountable challenges as they use these voices to access justice on behalf of their communities.
We have seen numerous cases where women lead their communities in protesting abuses committed by business enterprises. Many of these communities are located in remote areas, far from courts or other mechanisms that could be used by them to seek justice. The women who lead these communities often do not identify as women human rights defenders. They see themselves as mothers protecting the health of their families or the land from which they grow their food and earn their living. Because of where these communities are located, local government authorities play a significant role on whether or not these women are heard or are able to access justice.
The women farmers of Kendeng in Indonesia, for instance, have been protesting the operation of a cement factory in their area, which contaminate their water and land. In 2016, the Supreme Court of Indonesia had already ruled in favor of these women farmers and their community, and ordered the revocation of the cement factory’s permit. To this day, however, the cement factory continues to operate, ignoring the final order of the Supreme Court. The Kendeng women farmers have raised the non-implementation of the Supreme Court’s order with the Governor of Central Java and the Indonesian government, but their voices remain unheard.
In the Philippines, the women community leaders of Pio V. Corpus, Masbate, have been protesting plans to establish a cement factory and a coal-fired power plant in their town. They allege that their local government leaders approved plans for this factory and power plant without consultation and in blatant disregard of the disastrous impact these would have on the environment and people’s health.
Mr. President, we join the Working Group in urging States and business enterprises to ensure meaningful participation of potentially affected women in all stages of human rights due diligence. We also urge States to take measures to ensure that women – wherever they may be located – are able to access justice for abuses committed by business. Finally, we recommend that local government authorities be made aware of the Guiding Principles and able to integrate the gender framework and guidance in discharging their human rights responsibilities.
Thank you.
Dec 18, 2018 | Multimedia items, News, Video clips
Lawyers from a diverse range of countries, including Egypt, Lebanon, Nepal, the Philippines, Tunisia and Uzbekistan have identified the many barriers that women typically face in accessing justice in their countries.
Common trends and practices identified included socio-economic marginalization, gender stereotypes and patriarchal attitudes.
The observations came during two training workshops held in Geneva in June and September to coincide with sessions of the UN Human Right Council and UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The workshops were part of a project on enhancing women’s access to justice through UN human rights mechanisms, supported by the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the UN in Geneva.
A lawyer from Uzbekistan noted that domestic violence flourishes in states where common attitudes hold that this is an internal matter to be resolved within families.
A particular concern raised in respect of Lebanon was discrimination linked to transference of nationality, where Lebanese women married to a foreigner cannot pass their nationality to their children but Lebanese men married to a foreigner can.
Meera Maharjan, lawyer from Nepal, noted the cultural, educational and economic barriers that impede women from being able to take on decision-making roles and the impact this has on the exercise of their rights.
Malaysian lawyer Yvonne Lim explained that the women who are often in need of access to justice tend to be from the lower rungs of the socio-economic strata and lack the resources, support and basic awareness about their human rights and the remedies that may be available to them.
During the September training session the ICJ organized a side event to the 39th session of the Human Rights Council on ‘applying a women-centred approach to access to justice’ to further explore these issues.
Secretary-General Saman Zia-Zarifi moderated the event and panelists included:
• ICJ Commissioner Justice Sanji Monageng, former Vice-President of the International Criminal Court
• Lisa Gormley, Research Officer for the Centre for Women, Peace and Security at the London School of Economics
• Meera Maharjan, Nepalese lawyer and legal officer for Resilience for Sustainable Women Empowerment (RISE)
You can watch a recording of the event, and interviews with two of the workshop participants below.
https://www.facebook.com/ridhglobal/videos/565112000574216/UzpfSTQ3MTQ2NzA4NjIyMTM3MzoyMjEyNTUzNjc1NDQ2MDMw/
Dec 2, 2018 | Events, News
On 1-2 December 2018, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) held its 2018 Southeast Asia Regional Judicial Dialogue on enhancing access to justice for women in the region.
Participants included judges from Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The discussions, held in Bangkok, were focused around resources important for judges to aid in enhancing the capacity of their peers in eliminating gender discriminatory attitudes and behaviours towards women in their work. These resources include a training manual on the use of the Bangkok General Guidance for Judges in Applying a Gender Perspective, and a draft reference manual on women’s human rights and the right to a clean, healthy, safe and sustainable environment.
Frederick Rawski, ICJ’s Director of the Asia and the Pacific Programme, opened the dialogue by emphasizing how important it is for judges to be gender sensitive in their delivery of justice. This could only be done by applying a framework that gives primary attention on ensuring recognition of the applicable human rights, institutional support for the promotion of these rights, and accountability mechanisms for their implementation.
Roberta Clarke, Commissioner of the ICJ and Chair of the organization’s Executive Committee, noted that this judicial dialogue demonstrates the ICJ’s commitment to have a sustainable contribution to the implementation of international human rights standards at the domestic level. She hoped that the judges could contextualize the resources presented and bring these back to their countries for trainings of their peers.
This judicial dialogue is part of a joint project on access to justice for women that ICJ is implementing with UN Women.
Anna Karin Jatfors, UN Women-Asia Pacific’s Interim Regional Director shared that gender stereotypes and social norms which discriminate women are not unique in each country. She pointed out the importance of the ICJ and UN Women collaborating in this project to deconstruct this image to bring better access to justice to women in the region.
Overall, the dialogue was rich and substantive, with the full and active participation from all participating judges who shared their views and experiences on countering gender discrimination in cases before them. At the end of the judicial dialogue, the participating judges expressed strong interest to use the resources for capacity building initiatives of their peers in their own countries.
Contact
Emerlynne Gil, Senior International Legal Adviser, t: +662 619 8477 (ext. 206), email: Emelynne.gil(a)icj.org
Sep 17, 2018 | Events, Multimedia items, News, Video clips
This panel discussion was held today at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
The event addressed barriers for women accessing justice and look at ways to implement a women-centred approach to address these issues, considering ways to ensure that gender issues are robustly integrated into human rights investigations and judicial mechanisms and are properly implemented by the actors operating within these areas.
Discriminatory legislation can prevent women from accessing the justice mechanisms that should be available to them particularly where these same mechanisms may then be used against them, for example a woman afraid to report rape if she may be prosecuted for adultery.
In addition, mechanisms that are not inherently discriminatory may become so in the way they are interpreted and applied. Prejudices of judicial actors can constitute a major obstacle to women’s access to justice and undermine even the most protective of laws.
Moderator:
Saman Zia-Zarifi, Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists
Panellists:
• Lisa Gormley, Research Officer, Centre for Women, Peace and Security, London School of Economics and Political Science
• H.E. Athaliah Lesiba Molokomme, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, Botswana
• Justice Sanji Monageng, Former Justice and Vice President of the International Criminal Court and ICJ Commissioner
Event organized by the ICJ in co-ordination with the Permanent Mission of Germany to the UN, and UN Women.
Watch the video:
https://www.facebook.com/ridhglobal/videos/565112000574216/
Side event ICJ WHR (flyer in PDF)
Apr 13, 2018 | Multimedia items, News, Video clips
In 2017, Nepal held its first local-level elections for almost 20 years and the first ever conducted under the new federal state structure established under the 2015 Constitution. They were significant because of the unprecedented number of women who stood as candidates and won.
Women in Nepal have experienced systemic discrimination for decades, especially those in rural areas, among ethnic minorities and marginalized groups.
These elections presented the women of Nepal with the opportunity to break through barriers that have prevented them for decades from participating in political and public life.
The Local Level Governance Act lays out the mandate and functions of newly formed local bodies.
If the recently elected women are allowed to meaningfully participate in local governance, the new law could empower them further so that they can take the lead in addressing key human rights issues, especially the human rights of women.
This video documents the campaign of Rikam BK, a Nepalese politician, belonging to the Communist party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M).
In the Nepal Legislative Election held on 26 November 2017, she was elected as a Sub-Mayor (NCP Maoist) of Lahan Municipal Council winning 5000 votes.
She is the chairperson of the Dalit Preservation Abhiyan Forum, in Siraha. She has been advocating the issue of land certificates in the names of both husband and wife.
She continues to call for those deprived of land rights to have equal access to land. She is also the member of National Alliance for Women Human Rights Defenders (NAWHRD).
Many of the women featured in this video are women human rights defenders who have been working to promote and protect human rights in Nepal for decades.
Many of them participated in the Regional Conference on Women Human Rights Defenders as Political Actors, which was organized by the ICJ, with the cooperation of NAWHRD.
The conference was held from 28 to 29 August 2017 in Kathmandu.
The ICJ recently released a briefing paper laying out the key points of the conference and offering a set of future actions aimed at supporting WHRDs in their role as political actors pursuing a human rights agenda.
Watch the video
