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| Angelina Jolie tells parliament: Isis atrocities show need to tackle sexual violence in conflict | |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| The atrocities and rapes perpetrated by Islamic State clearly demonstrate the need to tackle sexual violence in conflicts around the world, the actor and UN special envoy Angelina Jolie Pitt has warned. | The atrocities and rapes perpetrated by Islamic State clearly demonstrate the need to tackle sexual violence in conflicts around the world, the actor and UN special envoy Angelina Jolie Pitt has warned. |
| “The most important thing is to understand what it’s not: it’s not sexual, it’s a violent, brutal, terrorising weapon and it is used unfortunately, everywhere,” she told a British parliamentary committee on Tuesday. | “The most important thing is to understand what it’s not: it’s not sexual, it’s a violent, brutal, terrorising weapon and it is used unfortunately, everywhere,” she told a British parliamentary committee on Tuesday. |
| “The most aggressive terrorist group in the world today knows what we know; knows that it is a very effective weapon and [is] using it as a centrepoint of their terror and their way of destroying communities and families and attacking, destroying and dehumanising.” | |
| Jolie Pitt and the former British foreign secretary William Hague launched the UK’s preventing sexual violence initiative (PSVI) three years ago in a bid to tackle the culture of impunity surrounding the issue. | |
| Last year, they co-chaired a global summit on sexual violence in conflict that was intended to bring lasting change to global peacekeeping and war crimes prosecutions and to deter the use of mass rape as a weapon. | Last year, they co-chaired a global summit on sexual violence in conflict that was intended to bring lasting change to global peacekeeping and war crimes prosecutions and to deter the use of mass rape as a weapon. |
| The pair were appearing before the Lords sexual violence in conflict committee to update it on the progress made since 2012. | The pair were appearing before the Lords sexual violence in conflict committee to update it on the progress made since 2012. |
| Jolie Pitt admitted that she had felt very limited “as an artist” and was acutely aware of the need for more political commitment. | Jolie Pitt admitted that she had felt very limited “as an artist” and was acutely aware of the need for more political commitment. |
| Related: How do we end sexual violence in conflict? – interactive | |
| “For all of that goodwill, it’s wonderful, but laws need to change; policies need to change; governments and leaderships need to come together and that will make the real change,” she said. | “For all of that goodwill, it’s wonderful, but laws need to change; policies need to change; governments and leaderships need to come together and that will make the real change,” she said. |
| The actor spoke of how she had recently met a 13-year-old Iraqi girl who had been repeatedly raped along with her friends. | The actor spoke of how she had recently met a 13-year-old Iraqi girl who had been repeatedly raped along with her friends. |
| “They told me that what was even worse than the physical violence was that they then had to stand in rooms and watch their friends be sold and to hear about what they were worth,” she said. “Were they worth $40? $50? What was their value?… It made her question what she was worth.” | |
| Questions have been raised over the success of Hague and Jolie Pitt’s initiative after it emerged that the money Britain spent hosting the summit was five times higher than the entire confirmed budget the UK has dedicated to tackling rape in war zones this year. | |
| But Hague told the committee that “a great deal of progress” had been made in recent years, adding that combating sexual violence had to be seen as a central part of 21st-century foreign policy. | |
| “Tackling this is part of foreign policy because if it is true that these crimes are committed to make peace more difficult to achieve – and it is true in most cases – and if it is true that these crimes are designed to make reconciliation between communities more difficult, and it often is true, and if it’s true that these crimes are designed to create greater flows of refugees out of conflict areas – and that is also generally true… If all those things are true, then tackling sexual violence in conflict is an essential part of a foreign policy that seeks peace and security in the world,” he said. “And that is why I say it is not an add-on subject.” | |
| He said that the international protocol launched at last year’s summit was already paying dividends, with 155 countries – or three-quarters of the UN – signing the declaration of commitment. | |
| He added: “[There has also been] military training around the world – so far the training of 8,000 African peacekeeping personnel; thousands of members of the new army in Mali. It includes the training of the Kurdish Peshmerga in Iraq. There have been 60 deployments of the UK team of experts supported by the foreign office to 13 countries to give training on the investigation and prosecution of crimes. There are 40 practical projects around the world supporting human rights defenders and NGOs in their work on this subject and we have begun to see change in the actions of some of the governments of the world.” | He added: “[There has also been] military training around the world – so far the training of 8,000 African peacekeeping personnel; thousands of members of the new army in Mali. It includes the training of the Kurdish Peshmerga in Iraq. There have been 60 deployments of the UK team of experts supported by the foreign office to 13 countries to give training on the investigation and prosecution of crimes. There are 40 practical projects around the world supporting human rights defenders and NGOs in their work on this subject and we have begun to see change in the actions of some of the governments of the world.” |
| Hague said that government of the Democratic Republic of Congo had launched an action plan for the Congolese army on sexual violence and appointed a special representative of the president on child recruitment and sexual violence. He also said laws on compensating victims of sexual violence had been changed in Kosovo and Croatia and that the EU had decided to build prevention of sexual violence into common security and defence policy missions. | Hague said that government of the Democratic Republic of Congo had launched an action plan for the Congolese army on sexual violence and appointed a special representative of the president on child recruitment and sexual violence. He also said laws on compensating victims of sexual violence had been changed in Kosovo and Croatia and that the EU had decided to build prevention of sexual violence into common security and defence policy missions. |
| “And of course, sometimes you get people who say, ‘It hasn’t worked’,” said Hague. “Where does one begin answering that? Of course it isn’t going to work in all its objectives in two or three years.” | “And of course, sometimes you get people who say, ‘It hasn’t worked’,” said Hague. “Where does one begin answering that? Of course it isn’t going to work in all its objectives in two or three years.” |
| “We have made a great deal of progress and I think the missing part now is to get more of the missing parts of the government to implement the protocol, to use those tools that we have created – the policy statements, the protocol – to set about the right training of military, of judges and prosecutors. But the framework is all there. Now we need several governments and countries to do sufficiently well at this that they become inspiring examples to other countries.” | “We have made a great deal of progress and I think the missing part now is to get more of the missing parts of the government to implement the protocol, to use those tools that we have created – the policy statements, the protocol – to set about the right training of military, of judges and prosecutors. But the framework is all there. Now we need several governments and countries to do sufficiently well at this that they become inspiring examples to other countries.” |
| Also giving evidence to the committee was Arminka Helic, the foreign policy expert who was Hague’s special adviser during his time at the Foreign Office. Baroness Helic, who was born and grew up in Bosnia, said she knew full well the impact that sexual violence had on people. | Also giving evidence to the committee was Arminka Helic, the foreign policy expert who was Hague’s special adviser during his time at the Foreign Office. Baroness Helic, who was born and grew up in Bosnia, said she knew full well the impact that sexual violence had on people. |
| “This is not a leftover in conflict; this is not incidental,” she said. “There are wars around the world, as we witness today, where women become battlefields, where ethnic cleansing, where genocide are the daily routine and so is sexual violence.” | “This is not a leftover in conflict; this is not incidental,” she said. “There are wars around the world, as we witness today, where women become battlefields, where ethnic cleansing, where genocide are the daily routine and so is sexual violence.” |