A special thank
you to Dr. Ellen Kennedy, the Founder and Executive Director of World Without
Genocide at the Hamline-Mitchell School of Law for inviting me to attend the
annual award ceremony for the Justice for Women in War award. It was held last night and honored Federal
Magistrate Peggy Kuo, who was lead prosecutor in the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, prosecuting individuals charged with war
crimes for the systematic rape of hundreds of girls during the conflict there
in the 1990’s.[1] Here work in that tribunal was featured in
the PBS documentary, “I Came to Testify.”[2]
The evening
featured not only remarks from Judge Kuo, but from members of the Board and the
Executive Director of A World Without Genocide.
World Without
Genocide educates about past and current conflicts and advocates at city,
state, and national levels for policies and legislation to protect innocent
people, prevent genocide, prosecute perpetrators, and remember those whose
lives have been affected by genocide.[3]
Since the
Holocaust of Nazi Germany, there have been no less than nine instances of
genocide in the world, claiming almost 10 million lives. Genocide continues today in DR Congo and
Darfur.
The word
“genocide” was coined by Raphael Lemkin in 1943. Mr. Lemkin had lost dozens of extended family
members in the gas chambers of the Nazi regime.
Through his efforts, the United Nations passed a resolution in 1948.[4] The resolution was not ratified by the United
States Senate until 1988, after Wisconsin Senator William Proximire had given
3211 separate speeches on the floor of the Senate over a span of 19 years.[5]
A similar
resolution languishes before the Senate today.
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted
in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Described as an international
bill of rights for women, it was instituted on 3 September 1981 and has been
ratified by 189 states.[6] Of the 194 U.N. member nations, 187 countries
have ratified CEDAW. The United States is among seven countries that
have not -- along with the Pacific island nations of Tonga and Palua; Iran,
Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.
Surely, we can do better than that…..
[1][1]
See the award announcement at http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/events-and-programs/a-world-of-upstanders/peggy-kuo-2017
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.