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Accountability for gender crimes: Where we're heading - October 2024
Dear friends and colleagues,
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This month, we focused on a theme that really is at the centre of our work but often deserves some closer investigation: gender crimes. With Leila Sadat and Priya Pillai, we looked at the efforts to create the first international treaty for crimes against humanity. We asked them how that could also fill some of the gaps in the prosecution of gender crimes. We also looked at the specifics of sexual torture together with Alice Edwards, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture who compiled a report on the topic.
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Molly came back to our regular feed in October and brought us some of the voices she spoke to first-hand when she travelled to Ukraine last June. We hear from civilians who gather evidence of war crimes and what challenges they encounter. And remaining in that part of Europe, Janet and Stephanie caught us with some of the people who collected evidence and advocated for the International Criminal Court to launch a preliminary inquiry into Belarus.
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We thought a lot about what we could contribute to the United States election coming up next week, which will likely play somewhat of a role in all the conflicts we cover regularly. Finally, we decided to look at justice - past, present and future - in the country. We do so by chatting with a US academic on the frontline of peace and justice, Milena Sterio.
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For our Patreon bonus, the War Criminals Book Club, we read and reviewed The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien. We agree she did a great job at showing how Radovan Karadžić could hide in plain sight (here fictionally in an Irish village) but we also ponder whether adding up Balkans and Irish realities is a recipe for too much sadness. We had the nowadays rare chance to record together in person at the Hague Humanity Hub and as always it was a celebration (the next photo says it all).
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You can check out all of our September episodes, reading suggestions and other lines of work down below. Thank you for your support!
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If you have any questions, please reach out to editors@asymmetricalhaircuts.com.
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Have a listen
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This month we read and reviewed The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien, one of the last books she wrote in 2015 before she died in July. The book takes real Balkans war criminal Radovan Karadžić and places him into a fictional tale. As a fugitive, he arrives in a credulous Irish village and conquers the villagers and in particular a woman, Fidelma McBride, who begs him for a child.
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It's US presidential election time and we consider the american relationship to some of the big justice issues like Israel-Palestine and Ukraine, with Milena Sterio
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Sexual Torture is being used during conflict more and more says Alice Edwards the UN's special rapporteur on torture.
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In the middle of the war in Ukraine, how are the evidence-gatherers operating? Molly Quell investigates.
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Lithuania has sparked an ICC a preliminary inquiry by submitting a referral to investigate Belarus for crimes against humanity.
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Leila Sadat and Priya Pillai explain why a new treaty for Crimes against Humanity matters for conflicts happening today.
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What else have we been up to?
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Other suggestions:
- Molly recommends Instructions for Traveling West, a collection of poems by Joy Sullivan.
- Another tip by Molly, who has suggested Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Polish writer and activist Olga Tokarczuk, a novel about the faint line between sanity and madness, and justice and tradition.
- Another poem for you this month: Janet recommends Words Whispered to a Child Under Siege by Joseph Fasano.
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Looking Ahead
In November, we are planning another take on US justice system as the election results will trickle through. We well also look at the 30 year anniversary of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, share a joint podcast that we are working on with the Geneva Academy and come back to our gender crime series.
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Over at Patreon, we will read A Problem from Hell by Samantha Power, so do get in touch if you have comments or thoughts to share.
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As always, thanks a lot for all your support and tune in next month!
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