Open Letter to All Permanent Representatives to the United Nations
of Member States of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

 Re: The Requirement is a Minimum; Not a Maximum!

Excellencies,

The elections beginning on 4 February 2003 for the position of judge for the International Criminal Court will be another historic landmark moment in the process of establishing the court.

We are writing now to insist that governments vote to ensure that there is parity on the 18-member Court by voting in good faith and in accordance with the Rules of Procedure for the Election of Judges. As you know, ten highly qualified women have been nominated. Some of them are proven leaders in the field of international criminal justice and others have a wealth of judicial and legal expertise and commitment to principles of gender justice which should be fully reflected in the final composition of the Court. Importantly, this field of women candidates is regionally diverse.

While we know that States Parties must vote for at least six women, we insist that States Parties not treat this as the maximum number of women you must vote for but as a minimum. We insist that States Parties vote beyond the minimum in light of the number of highly qualified women candidates. We urge government delegates to vote for all 10 female candidates.

You have an opportunity to make a real difference in these moments and continue the historic level of gender mainstreaming begun in the Rome Statute and its supplemental texts. Now the challenge is to put the words into action.

This is especially important in light of the fact that there has traditionally been a drastic gender disparity in international tribunals of the past. Currently, there is only one woman serving as a permanent judge at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Three women are serving on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and no women are serving on the 21-member International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Further, no women were nominated for the last elections of judges to the ICJ. The ICC is a brand new institution - the world's first permanent international criminal tribunal - and must finally break from the discriminatory tendencies of the past.

We and many other women's groups and members of civil society all over the world will be watching these elections closely and will hold our governments to account in the future if the principle of "fair representation" enshined in the Rome Statute is not fully honored and adhered to in next week's elections.

We thank you for your attention to these matters and look forward to a diverse and representative panel of judges on the world’s first permanent international criminal court.
 

New York, NY
29 January 2003