ICC Outreach Unit joins women in war affected communities in celebrations marking International Women’s Day in Uganda

 

The Kampala Field Outreach Unit today joined over two hundred women from war-affected communities to celebrate International Women’s Day. The meeting, which took place in the parish of Awal Wal, brought together women from the nearby Soroti district villages of Amoru, Takaramiam, Damasiko and Arubela in the Teso sub-region of north-eastern Uganda.

Among the issues discussed during the meeting were the mandate of the Court and the role of the ICC in relation to sexual and gender-based crimes. ICC Outreach Officials explained that the Rome Statute is the first international treaty to recognise a range of sexual and gender crimes among the most serious crimes under international law. The crimes discussed included rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced pregnancy, forcible prostitution and gender-based persecution.

The chairman of local, 111 council, Mr Julius Tom Ekudo, noted in his opening address that grassroots women, who often suffer the most during conflicts and other related violence, are sometimes forgotten during international celebrations. “The focus is on urban women, and little or no attention is given to the voiceless women in the villages whose rights are violated every day’’. He urged the ICC Outreach Unit to continue targeting women in remote settings and provide them with relevant information about the work of the Court.

The women recognised the challenge of executing arrest warrants issued by the ICC judges. They called for greater co-operation from States Parties to the Rome Statute in order to ensure that the suspects were arrested and surrendered to the Court.

At the end of the meeting, the women counsellor for the area, Ms Salome Amongin, thanked the ICC for joining the women of her constituency to celebrate women’s day. ‘We feel valued by your coming here, which also indicates that our sufferings are recognised by the ICC. I am particularly pleased to learn that ICC law addresses serious crimes against women’’.

For more information, please contact Maria Mabinty Kamara, Field Outreach Co-ordinator for Uganda on Tel: +256-772-700655 or email: [email protected]