Gender Report Card on the International Criminal ... - YWCA Canada

OTP Situations and Cases
of negotiations more than a year earlier, which
they had seen for the first time during this five
day conference. IDP women said that their real
leaders were either in detention or left camps,
due to serious threats to their life.
South Sudan Independence
On 7 February 2011, electoral officials confirmed
that 99% of voters in the referendum on South
Sudan were in favour of independence. The
new state of South Sudan officially came into
existence on 9 July 2011. Key states, including
Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany and India,
as well as the permanent members of the UN
Security Council, quickly recognised the new
state. 699 At least 15 states have recognised South
Sudan as of 10 July 2011. 700 On 31 August 2011,
the Parliament of South Sudan, in accordance
with the transitional constitution of the
Republic of South Sudan, approved its first
cabinet although some of the states of South
Sudan claimed to be under-represented and
some members of Parliament had reservations.
Women activists also raised concerns that
women were underrepresented in the cabinet,
with five female national ministers of a total of
29, and with ten female deputies out of a total of
27. The interim constitution of South Sudan, in
force from 2005 to 2011 when it was amended
by the transitional constitution of the Republic
of South Sudan, had provided that women
hold a share of at least 25% in any structural
699 ‘Fact Box, South Sudan receives international
recognition’, Sudan Tribune, 9 July 2011, available at
,
last visited on 26 October 2011.
700 ‘Nations Move to Recognize South Sudan’, Voice of
America, 10 July 2010, available at , last visited
on 26 October 2011.
arrangement including the cabinet positions. 701
At the end of September 2011, President Salva
Kiir attended a UN General Assembly meeting on
behalf of South Sudan for the first time. 702
The Prosecutor v.
Ahmad Muhammad Harun and
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman
Ahmad Muhammad Harun (Harun) and Ali
Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (Kushayb) have been
wanted by the ICC since May 2007. Both suspects are
charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes
committed during the period of August 2003 to March
2004; Harun with a total of 42 counts, and Kushayb
with a total of 50. Harun is charged with seven counts
and Kushayb is charged with eight counts of sexual
and gender-based crimes. 703 Both are charged with
persecution by means of acts of rape as a crime
against humanity, rape as a crime against humanity,
rape as a war crime, and outrages upon personal
dignity as a war crime.
701 ‘South Sudan parliament approves new cabinet amid
reservations’, Sudan Tribune, 31 August 2011, available
at ,
last visited on 26 October
2011. Article 20(4)(a) of the interim constitution of
South Sudan provides: ‘All levels of government in
Southern Sudan shall (a) promote women participation
in public life and their representation in the legislative
and executive organs by at least twenty-five per cent as
an affirmative action to redress imbalances created by
history, customs and traditions’. Similarly, Article 58(1)
(b) provides that women shall constitute at least 25%
of the total membership of the Legislative Assembly;
Article 112(3) provides that at least 25% of the members
of the Council of Ministers shall be women; Article
146(3) sets out that ‘the Government of Southern Sudan
shall ensure that at least twenty-five percent of the
aggregate membership of all [independent] institutions
and commissions shall be women’. Article 168(6) also
provides that ‘women shall be allocated at least twentyfive
per cent of the seats and positions in each legislative
and each executive organ of each state, without
prejudice to their right to compete for the remaining
seats and positions in such organs’.
702 ‘Salva Kiir to attend UN General Assembly meeting
for the first time’, Sudan Tribune, 18 September 2011,
available at ,
last visited on 26 October
2011.
703 For a more detailed overview of the gender-based crimes
charges against Harun and Kushayb, see the section on
OTP – Charges and prosecution of gender-based crimes,
above.
161