> * News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
> International *
> News Service: 042/00
> AI INDEX: ACT 77/04/00
> March 2000
>
> International Women's Day: Empty rhetoric and unfulfilled promises
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> "NJ", an 11 year old girl in a camp for internally displaced persons on
> the outskirts of Khartoum, Sudan, became lost on 5 May 1999 while
> returning from visting her relatives in a neighbouring camp. Mistaken as
> a vagrant child by the police she was taken to a police station and
> raped by one officer in the presence of three others. Despite medical
> evidence confirming that "NJ" had been raped,no one has yet been brought
> to justice and there are serious fears that her case will never be
> properly heard in court.
>
> The situation of women and girls throughout the world lies in stark
> contrast with the grand rhetoric of the international community, Amnesty
> International said today, International Women's Day.
>
> "Despite the promises and declarations made five years ago at the Fourth
> World Conference on Women in Beijing, there have been very few positive
> developments taken by governments to advance women's rights and protect
> them from the plethora of human rights abuses that they face simply as a
> result of their gender," Amnesty International said.
>
> "The continuing failure to protect women's rights reflects many
> governments' lack of political will to bring about real change in the
> lives of women."
>
> "It is all too common for governments to ignore their promises and
> commitments made in the international arena or to place obstacles in the
> pursuit of women's rights by invoking cultural or religious interests,"
> the organization added.
>
> More women and girls die each day because of various forms of
> gender-based discrimination than as a result of any other type of human
> rights abuse. Every year a vast number of women and young girls are
> mutilated, battered to death, burned alive, raped, trafficked for
> domestic or sexual purposes, primarily because they are female.
>
> Women continue to be treated as second class citizens in many parts of
> the world and are subjected to discriminatory laws and practices, often
> in the name of religion, tradition or culture. In Pakistan for example,
> hundreds of women every year are killed in the name of honour, yet
> despite the illegality of such practices, they continue to occur because
> of the indifference and gender bias of the Pakistan authorities. In some
> countries, young girls and women continue to be forcibly circumcised
> despite being outlawed by national legislation.
>
> "Responsibility for these abuses rests with governments if they
> systematically fail to bring these attackers to justice and neglect
> their obligations to protect women against such forms of violence," the
> organization stressed.
>
> Women are particularly at risk in areas of armed conflict. In addition,
> refugee or internally displaced women and young girls, who are often
> relied upon to care for the young, the sick and the elderly in
> unfamiliar and hostile surroundings, are vulnerable to rape and sexual
> abuse at state borders and in refugee camps.
>
> Amnesty International has also received reports of sexual violence
> against female East Timorese refugees in West Timor, reportedly
> committed by Indonesian security forces and militia groups in September
> 1999. Similarly, in Burundi, the organization has learnt of women and
> young girls who were raped in October and November last year by members
> of the Burundi security forces in or near regroupment camps set up by
> the government.
>
> One of the few achievements by the international community to help
> protect women from abuses has been the establishment of the
> International Criminal Court and its classification of rape and other
> forms of sexual violence -- including enforced prostitution, forced
> pregnancy and sexual slavery -- as crimes against humanity, and as a war
> crime when committed in the context of international or internal armed
> conflict.
>
> The adoption of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the
> Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Women's
> Convention) in December 1999, allowing women to bring complaints against
> states that have failed to uphold their commitments to the Women's
> Convention, is another positive step in ensuring that women are
> empowered to claim their rights.
>
> "Universal ratification of the Women's Convention by the year 2000 was
> one of the goals of the Beijing Conference. However, many governments,
> including the USA, have still not ratified the Convention. Until they do
> so and start honouring their commitments, universal human rights for all
> women will remain an unattainable and distant goal."
>
> "Governments must act today to live up to their obligations to respect
> and promote the human rights of women under international law," Amnesty
> International concluded.
>
> Background
> Under the UN Charter, states pledge to take action to promote universal
> respect for and observance of fundamental freedoms for all, without
> discrimination on the basis of sex. The Universal Declaration of Human
> Rights and other human rights instruments proclaim that all are entitled
> to human rights without discrimination on the basis of sex.
>
> The Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
> Women was adopted in 1979. It recognises that discrimination prevents
> women from enjoying the full range of human rights and freedoms in the
> political, economic, social, cultural and civil fields, and it outlines
> measures which governments are required to take to end such
> discrimination. To date 165 members of the UN's 188 member states have
> ratified the Convention
>
> The Convention establishes the Committee on the Elimination of
> Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), a committee of 23 independent
> experts which reviews the reports that state parties are required to
> submit indicating the measures taken to implement the Women’s
> Convention.
>
> Only 28 states have so far signed the Optional Protocol to the Women's
> Convention.
>
> ENDS.../
> Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street,
> WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom
> ****************************************************************
> You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main
> text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting
> Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the
> list subscription message may be removed.
> ****************************************************************
> -
> women-clinicdefense: A resource supportive of abortion access.
> To subscribe/unsubscribe: mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
> '(un)subscribe women-clinicdefense' in the body of the message.
