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Women and war

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2010

Charlotte Lindsey
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Résumé

Si la population civile est trop souvent la cible principale des hostilités, notamment lors des conflits armés non internationaux, les femmes, elles, sont régulièrement les victimes les plus durement affectées. Les traités de droit international humanitaire contiennent des dispositions spéciales destinées à protéger les femmes dans la guerre, en particulier contre les actes de violence sexuelle. L'auteur de cet article élargit le débat pour examiner également la situation de la femme en sa qualité de mère ou de chef de famille, car, lorsque les hommes sont au combat, ce sont les femmes qui assurent la survie de la famille et de la communauté. Les dispositions des Conventions de Genève et de leurs Protocoles additionnels sont passées en revue, tant pour les conflits armés internationaux que non internationaux. Pour conclure, l'auteur donne une information intermédiate sur l'étude y relative, en cours d'élaboration au CICR, à la demande de la XXVIIe Conférence Internationale de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 82 , Issue 839: Humanitaire action and prevention/Action humanitaire et prévention , September 2000 , pp. 561 - 580
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2000

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References

1 See Krill, Françoise, “The protection of women in international humanitarian law”, IRRC, No. 249, November-December 1985, pp. 337–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 Siegle, Greg, “Women critical to success of US all-volunteer force”, Jane's Defence Weekly, Vol. 31, No. 23, 23 June 1999.Google Scholar

3 David Hirst, “Ethiopia: Human waves fall as war aims unfold”, The Guardian, 18 May 1999.

4 Dexter Filkins, “Sri Lanka women at war”, Herald Tribune, 13 March 2000.

5 Dr Rohan Gunaratna, “Suicide terrorism: a global threat”, jane's Intelligence Review, April 2000.

6 The People on War Report: ICRC world-wide consultation on the rules of war, ICRC, Geneva, 1999 (available on request from the ICRC, Geneva, website www.onwar.org). — To mark the 50th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions the ICRC launched a consultation in 17 countries, 12 of which were or had been at war, giving the general public a chance to express their opinions on war.

7 Supra note 6.

8 On rape in war see in general Brownmiller, Susan, Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1975Google Scholar. — Note that “looting and raping”, one aproperty crime and the other a direct and violent attack on a person, are often linked together as violations in war.

9 Supra note 6.

10 See in particular: Statement before the Commission for Rights of Women, European Parliament, Brussels, 18 February 1993: “Le CICR a dénoncé la pratique du viol commis par toutes les parties au conflit, comme les autres exactions commises à l'encontre des civils. Le viol est considéré comme un crime de guerre et il est grand temps de trouver des solutions permettant de mettre un terme ' ces pratiques inacceptables.” — Resolution 2 B of the 26th International Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference (Geneva, 1995): “[The Conference] (a) expresses its outrage at practices of sexual violence in armed conflicts, in particular the use of rape as an instrument of terror, forced prostitution and any other form of indecent assault; … (c) strongly condemns sexual violence, in particular rape, in the conduct of armed conflict as a war crime, and under certain circumstances a crime against humanity, and urges the establishment and strengthening of mechanisms to investigate, bring to justice and punish all those responsible.” — ICRC Update Presion the Aide-Memoire on rape committed during the armed conflict in ex-Yugoslavia, of 3 December 1992: “As never before in its history, the ICRC has spoken out forcefully against systematic and serious abuses committed against the civilian population in Bosnia- Herzegovina, such as… rape, internment, deportation, harassment of minority groups…” The act of rape is an extremely serious violation of international humanitarian law. Article 27, para. 2, of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “Women shall be especially protected against any attack on their honour, in particular rape, enforced prostitution, or any form of indecent assault.”

11 This pledge was announced by the President of the ICRC at the 27th International Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference (Geneva, 1999). See ICRC web site www.icrc.org

12 See the ICRC's submission to the Preparatory Commission for the ICC regarding the determination of the elements of crimes, On file with the ICRC.

13 In addition to these persons reported missing, the Bosnia-Herzegovina authorities believe that there are a further 10,000 per- sons unaccounted for.

14 See ICRC website for report on ICRC workshop on “widowhood and armed conflict” held in November 1999, Geneva,

15 Quoted from “The issue of missing persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia”, ICRC Special Report, 1998.

16 See in general Krill, op. cit. (note l).

17 International humanitarian law is not the only body of law relevant to situations of armed conflict, human rights law is also applicable. These two bodies of law should not be seen as mutually exclusive, and their methods of implementation should be seen as complementary.

18 (Third) Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Art. 25(4).

19 Ibid., Art. 29(2).

20 Ibid., Arts 97 and 108, Additional Protocol I, Art. 75(5).

21 (Fourth) Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Art. 27(2). See also Additional Protocol I, Arts 75 and 76.

22 Fourth Geneva Convention, Art.38.

23 Ibid., Art. 89.

24 Additional Protocol I, Art. 76(2).

25 Fourth Geneva Convention, Art. 91.

26 Additional Protocol I, Art. 48.

27 Additional Protocol II, Art. 4(2)(e).

28 Ibid., Art. 5(2)(a).

29 See in particular Niarchos, Catherine N., “Women, war and rape: challenges facing the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia”, Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 17, 1995, pp. 671–676Google Scholar, and Gardam, Judith, “Women, human rights and international humanitarian law”, IRRC, No. 324, September 1998, pp. 421–432.Google Scholar

30 As at 15 May 2000.

31 The ICRC has committed itself for the next four years to increase its dissemination of knowledge of the protection which should be accorded to women and girl children, especially with regard to sexual violence, among parties to armed conflicts throughout the world. Supra note 11.

32 Supra note 6.

33 Resolution 1: Plan of Action for the years 2000–2003, 27th International Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference (Geneva, 1999).

34 Supra note 11.