FCO and International Criminal Court gives evidence to committee

• Parliament TV: Sexual Violence in Conflict
• Sexual Violence in Conflict Committee

Witnesses

Tuesday 1 December in Committee Room 3, Palace of Westminster

At 3.45pm:

• Mr Paul Williams, Director, Multilateral Policy Directorate, FCO
• Mr Tom Woodroffe, Head, Office of the Prime Minister's Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, FCO

At 4.30pm:

• Mrs Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor, International Criminal Court (ICC)

At 5.00pm:

• Dr Kirsten Campbell, Principal Investigator, Gender of Justice: Prosecution of Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict research project, Goldsmiths, University of London
• Professor Patricia Sellers, Special Adviser, ICC & Visiting Fellow, University of Oxford
• Ms Elizabeth Wilmshurst, Distinguished Fellow, International Law, Chatham House

Background

In the first session the Committee focused on:

• the role of British embassies in implementing the Government's policies on preventing sexual violence in conflict,
• the participation of women in peace negotiations and peacebuilding,
• how the FCO will ensure perpetrators of sexual violence in Iraq and Syria are held accountable.

The second session focused on:

• the challenges associated with investigating and prosecuting sexual violence in conflict,
• why there have been so few prosecutions for sexual violence at the ICC,
• whether the UK's Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) has had an impact on the work of the ICC.

The final session looked at:

• the obstacles to prosecutions of sexual violence in conflict under international criminal law,
• whether further treaty change is required, including a convention on universal jurisdiction is required.

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees

Image: FCO