INTERNATIONAL
COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS
DELEGATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS
801 Second
Avenue • 18th Floor • New York, N.Y. 10017‑ 4706
• Tel. (212)
599‑6021 ‑ Fax (212) 599‑6009
mail
a@icrc.delnyc.org ‑ Website : www.icrc.org
23rd Special Session of the
United Nations General Assembly:
"Women 2000: Gender
Equality, Development and Peace
for the Twenty‑first
Century"
New York, - 5 ‑ 9 June 2000
WOMEN
AND ARMED CONFLICT
Statement by Mr. Jacques Forster,
Vice‑President of the
International Conunittee of the Red
Cross (ICRC)
New York, 9 June 2000
Mr. President,
To open this statement the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) would like to give a voice to a woman victim of armed
conflict, (quote) "war is destruction... our children are lost... our
husbands gone... we have nothing... our houses destroyed... what more can I
describe?" (end quote). What more need she describe'? It is not even
necessary to tell you where this woman is from ‑ it could be any of a multitude
of countries at war around the world. In fact it was one of a host of war‑affected
countries surveyed by the ICRC in 1999 as part of a world‑wide People on War project where men and women,
civilian and combatant, were given a chance to speak for themselves about the
limits in war.
The impact of armed conflict oil women takes many forms,
some more apparent than others. One of the most torturous consequences of armed
conflict for many women is the issue of missing relatives. Thousands of women
are searching for news on the fate of their relatives ‑ generally male ‑ who
are missing. The inability to mourn and bury loved ones has an enormous impact
on the survivors of war and the coping mechanisms they are able to adopt. This
search for missing relatives often drags on long after the end of an armed
conflict and can be a lasting impediment to the process of reconciliation.
Humanitarian law recognises the need and the right of families to obtain
information regarding the fate of their missing relatives. The ICRC urges all
parties to armed conflict to clarify the fate of missing people and to inform
their families accordingly.
Women are less often combatants than men and are less often
detained for reasons related to armed conflict. However, when they are
detained, their conditions may be worse than those of men. Therefore,
throughout its visits to places of detention, the ICRC pays special attention
to the needs of women and children.
Furthermore, women more often flee into displacement due to
the fighting and are more often the victims of sexual violence. Sexual violence
is a particularly heinous violation of international humanitarian law. In the
ICRC survey previously mentioned, one in nine of all respondents reported that
they knew someone who was raped, and nearly as many said the same for sexual
assault. This is intolerable. Parties to an armed conflict have a duty to
ensure protection and respect for all civilians and persons no longer taking
part in the hostilities. This duty must become the reality.
Women are frequently widowed and find themselves forced to
take on new and unaccustomed roles ‑ for example, as heads of household.
Throughout the world women are continuing to respond to war with remarkable
courage, resourcefulness and resilience, confronting the effects of war and the
obstacles it imposes on their ability to sustain and protect themselves and
their families.
In order to assist in the best possible way, the
international community needs to understand the realities confronting all
persons not taking part in hostilities, including of course women.
Two years ago the ICRC initiated a study to examine how
women are affected by armed conflict around the world and how ICRC's activities
are responding to the needs engendered by armed conflict. Some of the findings
of this research have already led to a renewal of ICRC activities. This study,
which will conclude this year, will form the background for the formulation of
guidelines for the protection and assistance of women and girl children in
armed conflict. This ICRC initiative was introduced to States and the members
of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement at the International
Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent held in November 1999.
Furthermore, during this Conference, the ICRC President
renewed the Institution's conlnutinent to the effective protection of women
through a 4‑year pledge. This pledge specifically focuses on dissemination, to
parties to an armed conflict, of the protection accorded by humanitarian law to
women and girls and the issue of sexual violence.
From its inception, international humanitarian law has
accorded women general protection equal to that of men. At the same time the
humanitarian law treaties accord women special protection according to their
specific needs. Both the general and special protection are enshrined in the
four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their two Additional Protocols of 1977. The
ICRC acknowledges as a positive development the fact that the ad hoc Tribunals
for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, and the Rome Statute for the
International Criminal Court (]CC) consider sexual violence a war crime. The
ICRC welcomed the opportunity to present a working paper on the elements of
crimes, including that of sexual violence, to the Preparatory Commission for the
ICC.
Mr. President,
The ICRC hopes that its recent initiatives will lead to a
better understanding of the impact of war on women and a more effective
implementation of the protection conferred upon women by humanitarian law. This
ICRC statement started with the voice of a woman victim ‑ a woman survivor ‑ of
war, asking what more could she describe. To speak on her behalf ‑ one thing is
clear which would have helped her and tens of thousands of others: If
international humanitarian law was respected much of the suffering, loss and
destruction that civilians and those hors de combat experience every day could
be reduced. The prime responsibility for observing the rules of war rests upon
the parties to an armed conflict. The ICRC appeals today for genuine measures
of implementation of humanitarian law by States so as to guarantee the
protection of women.
Thank you, Mr. President.