Celebrating Feminists’ Voices, Inspiring Global Peace

The Appearance of Justice

11 April 2016

On 24 March 2016, the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia pronounced a verdict against Radovan Karadzic – former President of Republika Srpska and now a convicted war criminal. Parallel to that another event concerning administration of justice occurred. Florence Hartmann, journalist and former spokeswoman of the Office of the Prosecutor of the Tribunal, was arrested in front of the ICTY. The arrest of Florence Hartmann did not receive much of the global media attention. Naturally, Karadzic verdict was perceived as more important to report on especially as it was interpreted as pointing towards international community’s dedication to end impunity. However, Hartmann’s arrest actually represented an announcement of the scandal to come: the ICTY’s self-damaging of reputation caused by apparent violation of the basic principles of its establishment.

Karadzic verdict – delayed justice

The ICTY was established “for the sole purpose of prosecuting persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia between 1 January 1991 and a date to be determined by the Security Council upon the restoration of peace” with the aim to “contribute to the restoration and maintenance of peace” (UN Security Council Resolution 827, 25 May 1993). Karadzic was found responsible and guilty for genocide in Srebrenica, crimes against humanity (sexual violence and rape being one of the underlining acts of persecution and cruel and inhumane treatment as crimes against humanity) and violations of laws or customs of war. The judgment and sentence fell short of providing the victims with the feeling that full justice had been served. What was perplexing was the list of mitigating circumstances that the Chamber considered while deciding on the sentence: due regard to age of the accused, fact that he resigned from public and party offices upon the end of war (even though at that time the indictment against him was already brought before the ICTY) and his expressions of regret/sympathy for the victims of the crimes (for which the Chamber stated does not amount to remorse as such). An imperfect justice served 20 years too late does little for restoration of peace and the dignity of victims and society at large.

When dedication to justice becomes punishable

Still Karadzic’s verdict and sentence could even be accepted as falling under the principle of the discretion of the judges, if it was not for the other events that unraveled around the same time. Florence Hartmann’s arrest was just one part of that puzzle. Hartmann was arrested in connection to her previous trial before the ICTY for contempt in which, in 2011, she was found guilty of “having knowingly and willfully interfered with the administration of justice by disclosing the contents, purported effect and confidential nature of two decisions of the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY from the case of Prosecutor v. Slobodan Milosevic.” What she actually published was the information that “the ICTY judges kept key material from the public for the sole purpose of shielding Serbia from responsibility before another UN court,” namely International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Hartmann refused to pay the monetary fine and an arrest warrant was issued by the ICTY but it was only when she joined the victims in front of the ICTY to hear the pronouncement of the Karadzi’s verdict that she was arrested. The controversy did not stop there. The urgent request for her release was met with silence from the ICTY as they were on the Easter Holiday Break and there was apparently no person appointed to deal with the urgent requests. Consequently, Hartmann was released after serving the standard of two thirds of sentence established for war criminal’s releases.

Hartmann ended up in a prison built for war criminals for her dedication to justice and insistence on ICTY’s responsibilities arising out of its mission to bring justice to victims and to contribute to restoration of peace.

Women’s justice

A few days after Hartmann’s release, on 31 March 2016, the ICTY judges, in a majority verdict, rendered the judgment in case of Vojislav Seselj (Serbian nationalist politician and the president of the far-right Serbian radical party) acquitting him of all charges brought against him for war crimes and crimes against humanity. This is probably the greatest embarrassment for ICTY to date. In Seselj’s case, the judges demonstrated full disrespect for the ICTY, ignoring and undermining previous ICTY decisions and its legacy by making errors of law and errors of fact. However, the only female judge in the Trial Chamber, Flavia Lattanzi, dissented to the acquittal decision, stating among other things:On reading the majority’s Judgment, I felt I was thrown back in time to a period in human history, centuries ago, when one said – and it was the Romans who used to say this to justify their bloody conquests and murders of their political opponents in civil wars: “silent enim leges inter arma” (“In time of war the laws fall silent” (Cicero Oratio pro Milone, 52 B.C.).).”

Justice unsatisfied

With such unfolding of events the ICTY, in its final stage of handing out justice and contributing “to the restoration and maintenance of peace”, once again demonstrated how disconnected it is from the countries of former Yugoslavia. The Seselj verdict was also a demonstration of its ignorance towards the establishment of the international criminal justice and a powerful reminder to the victims and the society at large how manipulative and evasive justice can be.

The events also showed us that women that serve justice show more integrity and dedication to international justice and peace but keep being punished for that dedication – Hartmann was arrested and spent 5 days in prison, while judge Lattanzi (unlike her male colleague, the presiding judge in Seselj’s case) was not elected for the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) established for continuation of the ICTY jurisdiction, rights and obligations and essential functions, as well as to maintain the legacy of ICTY and ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda).

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Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

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WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

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Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.

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