WUNRN
Doctor Michele Dayras
President of SOS Sexism
PLEASE SIGN PETITION: http://www.change.org/fr/pétitions/rape-as-a-weapon-of-war-in-the-drc-appeal-for-the-creation-of-an-international-criminal-tribunal-for-the-democratic-republic-of-congo
Declaration of Women Sponsors
On the Systematic Use of Rape as a Weapon of War in the Democratic
Republic of CONGO
And Appeal for the Establishment of an INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL
FOR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
In succession to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [ICTR],
Based in Arusha, Tanzania.
To
- Mr.
François HOLLANDE. President of the French Republic
- Mr.
Barack OBAMA. President
of the United States of America
-Mr Joseph Kabila President of the Democratic republic of Congo
-The
Security Council of the United Nations (Presidency in exercise)
-Mr. Ban
KI-MOON. Secretary-General
of the United Nations
-Mr. Van
ROMPUY.
President of the European Council
-Mrs.
Nkosazana DLAMINI-ZUMA. President of the Commission of the African Union
-Mr.
Abdou DIOUF. Secretary
General of the International Organisation of ‘La Francophonie’
-Mrs.
ROBINSON. U N
Special Envoy to the Great Lakes region.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The unspeakable horrors set out in the UN ‘Mapping Report’ covering atrocities
committed in the DRC between 993-2003, continue to take place without
interruption, particularly to the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rape, which is a WAR crime and a Crime against
Humanity, continues to be systematically used as a weapon of war against women,
young girls and even children, particularly in Eastern Congo.
At ICTR, (Akayesu Judgment, 1998) the Judges found
that, rape and sexual assault constitute acts of GENOCIDE in so far as they are
committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a targeted group, as
such. At ICTY, (Kunarac et al, 2001)
the Judges found that, an act of rape was considered as one of the underlying
acts for the crime of Enslavement.
Yet, the perpetrators of such heinous crimes in the
DRC have continued apace, with impunity, since 1994.
We, the
People of the United Nations, must now call ‘STOP’!
As Sponsors of this Appeal, we cannot think of such
outrages upon human dignity as suffered daily by the women, young girls and
children of Eastern Congo, without the deepest sorrow piercing our hearts.
We cannot convince ourselves that one can make use of
the strategic resources of the Congo without being greatly disturbed, if one
reflects on the fact that, they are sprinkled with the blood of our fellow
human beings, to whom we feel so closely bound by ties of humanity and
womanhood and knowing that they are being treated more harshly than beasts of
burden.
It is
to be feared that future generations, well educated and more informed will accuse
the French, Europeans and Americans of this century, of having been complicit
in this barbarity, which is so at odds with the universal values on which we
have sought to establish our humanity.
Consequently,
our collective conscience dictates that we:
Beg of every
humane person who condemns the sub-human treatment of the women, girls,
young children and their families of Eastern Congo, to sign our Appeal
addressed to Presidents; Hollande,
Obama, Dlamini-Zuma, Van Rompuy, Nkosazana,
to the Secretaries General, Ban
KI-Moon and Abdou Diouf, as well as the Presidency for the time being of the
Security Council of the United Nations,
so that these victims may become entitled to the same rights to life,
dignity and justice as we enjoy and that an end be swiftly brought to the
IMPUNITY enjoyed by the perpetrators.
Only an International Criminal Tribunal for the Democratic Republic of
Congo can accomplish this and also decide on appropriate punishment in an
exemplary, just and fair judicial process, justice must not only be done - it
must be SEEN to be done.
When the Security Council closes the doors of the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and those of the former
Yugoslavia (ICTY), the perpetrators of such heinous crimes in the DRC as set
out in the ‘Mapping Report’ must be called to account.
Therefore,
we ask
i)
The
Security Council of the United Nations and the Secretary General Mr. Ban
Ki-Moon to establish, without delay, an international criminal tribunal for the
DRC, on the footprint of the ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania, to prosecute all crimes
listed in the United Nations
‘Mapping Report’ and those
committed since then.
ii)
President
Obama to honour his ‘Nobel Prize’ by adopting in the region, a policy that takes
into account the dignity and humanity of these women, young girls and children.
iii)
Secretary
General Abdou Diouf, to actuate
the values of the ‘Francophonie’ that many of us share, to defend en block,
these victims, by supporting this Appeal.
iv)
Madam
President Zuma, to tap into
the wisdom and African humanity to find the necessary determination to condemn
the outrages upon personal dignity perpetrated on these women of Eastern Congo
and to strongly support this Appeal to the Security Council.
v)
President
Van Rompuy, to refocus European diplomacy on the values that
underpin Europe, to convince members to
refrain from any support in any form whatsoever or any guarantee of impunity to the perpetrators and
to invite Member States to support this Appeal.
vi)
Mr. Ban
Ki-Moon and Mrs Robinson, to include
among their priorities, a lasting
peace settlement for the region and the establishment of an International
Criminal Tribunal for the Democratic Republic of Congo on the footprint of the
ICTR, at Arusha.
vii)
The
Leaders of the free world, regardless of the country or institution they serve, to stop all
encouragement to and remove all benefits, privileges and immunities from, the
perpetrators.
viii)
President
Hollande and Heads of Member States of the Security Council of the UN, to instruct
their Ambassadors sitting on the Security Council, to bring to the agenda and
repeat, week after week, the urgent need to establish an International Criminal
Tribunal for the DRC in quick succession to the ICTR at Arusha.
ix)
President
Kabila, to launch an immediate application to the UN for the establishment of an
International Criminal Tribunal for the DRC
Not to do this, is discriminatory against all
Congolese females. Silence or
inactivity would be a gross miscarriage of justice and might be misconstrued as
an international aid to femicide /genocide.
After publication of the ‘Mapping Report’ and the
other multitude of Reports since then on the horrendous suffering of the women,
young girls, children and families of Eastern Congo, no one is entitled to
claim to have ‘seen
nothing’, ‘known nothing’ nor ‘heard
anything’.
We are convinced that an International Criminal
Tribunal for the DRC is the most effective way to prise those women, girls and
children from the clutches of those who commit sexual terrorism upon them
-daily and to effectively put an END to IMPUNITY for all those who have and
continue to, use rape as a strategic weapon of war and enslavement of the
peoples of the Republic of Congo and elsewhere.
Time is of the essence for all those long-suffering
women. Let us recall the profound words of the Irish Political Philosopher,
Edmund Burke, who said “All it takes for evil to triumph, is for good men (and women) to do nothing”
(italics ours)
Signed in
Paris by us, the under listed 52 Women Sponsors of this Appeal, from May 14th
to June 30th, 2013.
1-Françoise
Héritier Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, College of France,
2-Mireille Delmas Marty. Professor
Emeritus of Law, College of France, 3-Monique
Chemillier-Gendreau Professor Emeritus of Law, University
of Paris, Diderot,
4-Evelyne Accad Professor
Emeritus, Lebanese American University of Illinois, 5-Yvonne
Knibiehler Professor Emeritus of History, University of
Aix-en-Provence, 6-Andrée Michel Sociologist.
Honorary Research Director at CNRS, 7-Camille Lacoste-Dujardin
Ethnologist. Director Emeritus
of research at CNRS, 8-Jacqueline
Berenstein-Wavre, Politician (Swiss). Former President of the Grand Council of Geneva. 8-Gisèle
Halimi Politician. Lawyer. President of the Association of ‘Choose
the cause of Women, 10-Roselyne Bachelot Politician. Several times Minister. TV Columnist. 11-Rama
Yade Politician. Former Secretary of State and Former
French delegate to UNESCO. 12-Ingrid Betancourt Politician. Presidential candidate in the
Columbian elections of 2002, Hostage for 6 years, 13-Françoise
Gaspard Politician.
Sociologist. Former Mayor of Dreux. UN Expert.
14-Geneviève Fraisse Philosopher. Historian on feminist
thought. Former Interministerial
Delegate for Women’s Rights, 15-Véronique Nahoum Grappe Anthropologist. Researcher at the
EHESS. 16-Marie-Joseph Bertini.University Professor. Philosopher. Essayist. 17-Marie-Odile Bertella Geffroy Magistrate. Vice-President of the Court of Paris 18-Linda
Weil-Curiel18. Lawyer.
Specialist on female circumcision. 19-Christiane Gillmann Honorary
Advocate. Member of the National
Council of A.F.P.S. 20-Agnès Casero
Lawyer, 21-Sylvia Geraghty (IRELAND) Lawyer. Listed Lead Counsel of the International
Criminal Court; The Special Tribunal for Lebanon; and The International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. 22-Evelyne
Morin-Rotureau Historian.
Specialist in the history of Women. 23-Michèle Dayras Medical Doctor. Former Chief Physician in radiology. President and founding
member of SOS Sexism.24-Marie Vogel Lecturer
at the ENS of Lyon. 25-Jules Falquet Lecturer in Sociology, University of Paris Diderot 26-Françoise Dubocq Environmental
activist, 27-Susan George Writer. Global Justice activist.
Honorary President of ATTAC, 28 Marie-Ange Poyet Director,
29-Florence
Montreynaud Writer. Feminist. Co-founder ‘Watch Dogs’ and
‘Zéromacho’, 30-Marlène Tuininga Journalist. Writer. President of the Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) 31-Christiane
Passevant Journalist Radio Columnist, 32-Monique
Perrot-Lanaud Journalist. Former President of the Association of
Women Journalists, 33-Natacha Henry
Journalist. Essayist. Writer, 34-Patricia Cost. Journalist. Reporter, 35-Nelly Trumel Artist
(Painter). Founder of the programme ‘ Free Woman’
on libertarian radio, 36-Marie Hélène Le-Ny Photographic
Artist. 37-Marie Ponchelet Plasticine Artist.
Exposition on wars, 38-Sarah Kala Lobé Research
Psychologist. Co-founder of CIAD, 39-Thérèse Clerc Founder
of the ‘Women’s House’ of Montreuil and of the Babayagas Association, 40-Françoise Picq Political Scientist. Feminist scholar, 41-Roselyne Rollier President of the ‘Women’s House’ of
Montreuil. 42-Oristelle Bonis Editor, 43-Roseline Tiset Professor and Human Rights Activist. 44-Monique Minaca. Urbanist
Architect. Co-Editor of the European
Charter of Women in the City. 45-Suzanne Horer Writer, 46-Sigrid
Niedermayer Former International co-ordinator of the UNESCO
Associated Schools. 47-Isabelle Vassas Moderator of the
feminist Associations. Member of the
French Association of
University Women Graduates 48-Béatriz Velez Anthropologist, sociology of sport (Canada), 49-Arlette Braquy Former Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of
social issues. 50-Yveline Nicolas Coordinator
of (Adéquations) a NGO’s engaged in Human Rights, Gender equality and
international solidarity, 51-Jackie Buet Director of the
International festival of Women’s Films, 52-Annie Lahmer Politician. Feminist.