Brussels, 07/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - The public hearing, jointly organised by the EP's development and women's rights committees on 6 May in Brussels aimed to focus attention on the very painful situation of women in armed conflicts. A question was raised regarding how best to improve the EU's response towards these conflicts, where 90% of the victims are civilians, mainly women and children. Rape and sexual violence towards women is used as a tactic in warfare, and in some conflicts, such as the one in Kivu, women are considered as, “trophies, war booty and the warrior's prize”, as underlined by Lula Hamba from the League of Women for the Development and Education in Democracy (LIFED). "Women in armed conflicts must be seen both as victims but also as actors in conflict prevention", was the view of Anja Ebnöther Deputy Director and head of the special programmes at the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF, Geneva), who criticised the low number of women in the police and army.
The representative of the Slovenian presidency of the EU, Dubravka Sekoranja, said that the EU had to have a global strategy to respond to this situation. She affirmed that to improve the EU response, the Slovenian presidency had requested a study document as the basis of a debate at the Council in May. Anna Záborska (EPP-ED, SK), chair of the Women's Rights Committee, supported this proposal and urged the next EU presidencies follow up the study commissioned by Slovenia. She also called for concrete, targeted EU aid for women who are victims of sexual violence to ensure that "zero tolerance is not just a slogan". This zero tolerance was also strongly supported by Kasereka Lusi, director of the organisation HEAL Africa in the DRC. Mr Lusi explained that although the law exists to punish such crimes, "an effective judicial system is often lacking".
Silvia Escobar, the Spanish foreign ministry's ambassador on human rights indicated that her government had implemented a national action plan based on UN Resolution 1325 on “women, peace and security”, a resolution that was presently being applied by only six of the 27 EU member states. Ana Gomes (PES, PT) wanted to grab the bull by the horns and urged the Slovene presidency "to call on the Member States to apply this resolution". Marie-Arlette Carlotti (PES, FR) said that women are in the front line because conflicts are often civil wars. She also affirmed that, “We must move from words to deeds" and stressed that “international humanitarian law is often a dead letter”. Florence Tercier a councillor on the issue of women and war at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) explained that international humanitarian law is intended to "reduce suffering in armed conflicts by distinguishing between civilians and combatants”. Luisa Morgantini (GUE/NGL, IT) emphasised that "accumulated violence in armed conflicts often leads to domestic violence in the post-conflict period when women have an important role to play”. (G.B.)