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CATHOLIC FAMILY & HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTE
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 4038
New York, New York 10017
Phone: (212) 754-5948 Fax: (212) 754-9291
Website: http://www.cafhri.org
Volume 1, Number 36
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT DEBATE BEGINS IN ROME:
FEMINISTS FACE FIRST SETBACK
* Libya moved aggressively Wednesday afternoon in Rome to check the
controversial notion of "enforced pregnancy" which is being debated as
part of the proposed International Criminal Court (ICC). The five-week
conference began this Monday and is expected to draw representatives of
185 countries to participate in what many view as one of the most
significant international discussions in decades.
* ICC negotiators hope to create a permanent legal entity that, some
say, could better investigate and prosecute war criminals than ad hoc
courts, like the tribunals currently investigating the atrocities
committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. But pro-life and
pro-family lobbyists warn that feminist activists intend also to use the
court as a tool for imposing their anti-life and anti-family agendas on
traditional-minded societies.
* International pro-life advocates are most concerned with the
inclusion of the term "enforced pregnancy" in two separate contexts in
the ICC articles dealing with "war crimes." Insisted upon by the
feminist Women's Caucus lobbyists, "enforced pregnancy" and its synonym
"forced pregnancy" are code words for a denial of access to abortion on
demand. If the language survives into a final ICC statute, it could be
utilized by a feminist-dominated court to strike down the national
prohibitions against abortion that currently exist in many predominantly
Catholic and Muslim nations.
* On Wednesday, several countries registered objections to "enforced
pregnancy" when it came up for debate before the Committee of the Whole,
the body charged with negotiating the final text of the ICC treaty. As a
result, delegations agreed to refer the matter to an "informal working
group" for debate later in the conference. Such an "informal working
group" joins a much smaller number of participants than the Committee of
the Whole.
* The objections raised by Libya's delegate before the Committee of the
Whole highlight the legal hazards that would inevitably ensue following
the inclusion of an "enforced pregnancy" reference. The Libyan noted
that rape is already a recognized war crime, so the addition of
"enforced pregnancy" can only serve to make the resulting condition of
pregnancy a crime as well. However, she continued, that would
immediately place many countries in an impossible legal position, since
any termination of the criminalized condition of "enforced pregnancy"
will necessitate an abortion--an action which is itself a grave criminal
act under the laws of many religiously-based societies.
* The referral of the enforced-pregnancy issue to an informal working
group signified a major setback for the UN feminists, who argued that it
was agreed-upon language and not open for reconsideration. But pro-life
lobbyists stress that the battle is far from over, because the feminist
contingent in Rome is powerful and well-placed, with Women's Caucus
members installed on a number of key delegations, including the US and
Canada.