The Asia Justice Coalition is a network of organizations whose purpose is to promote justice and accountability for gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law in Asia, and to contribute to the fulfillment of the rights of victims and their families. This submission shall be attributed to the Asia Justice Coalition secretariat; its contents may not necessarily reflect the position of a specific Member and/or all Members of this Coalition.

The Asia Justice Coalition secretariat welcomes the OTP’s call for input towards the revision of its 2014 Policy Paper on Sexual and Gender-based Crimes (2014 Policy Paper).

We thank the OTP for the opportunity to participate in further developing appropriate charging and sentencing practices which acknowledge the complexity and breadth of harm caused by such crimes.

Most importantly, developing and implementing this Policy to greatest effect can only be achieved by also prioritising institutional development and gender equality at the Court as a whole.

To this end, this submissions focuses on three issues: (1) cumulative charging as a way to ensure accountability for the full range of gender-based crimes; (2) clarification of how modes of liability other than direct perpetration may differ in sexual and gender-based crimes; and, (3) the importance of gender equality at the Court and greater institutional development to support the successful implementation of the policy as a whole.

Read the submission:

2023-June-AJC-Submission-ICC-SGB-Policy-Paper