[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 23 (Monday, March 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1659-S1661]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, yesterday, Sunday, March 8th, was 
commemorated by women around the globe as International Women's Day. I 
rise today to recognize the importance of this day, and to discuss five 
issues--the use of rape as an instrument of war; the human rights of 
women in Afghanistan; international trafficking in women and girls; 
international family planning; and the Convention on the Elimination of 
All Forms of Discrimination Against Women--where I believe the United 
States can and must play a key role in leading the international 
community's efforts to improve the status of women around the world.
  Every day, women around the globe are subject to abuse, violence and 
discrimination simply because they are women. Whether it is the rape of 
women in Bosnia and Rwanda as part of a policy of ethnic cleansing, the 
human rights abuses faced by the women of Afghanistan, or the more 
subtle forms of discrimination faced daily by women everywhere, the 
majority of the world's women and girls remain excluded from the 
prevailing vision of human rights and continue to lack basic legal and 
fundamental rights.
  As we look around the globe, it seems safe to say that U.S. foreign 
policy does not lack for challenges. Yet, even as we face these other 
challenges--be it the threat of Saddam Hussein or the threat of an 
Asian financial crisis--we must also recognize that advancing the 
status of women is not only the right thing to do, it must be a central 
part of the foreign policy of the United States.
  As I mentioned earlier, as we work to advance this broader agenda 
there are five areas in particular which I would like to address today: 
The use of rape as an instrument of war, the situation in Afghanistan, 
international trafficking in women and girls, international family 
planning, and the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination 
Against Women (CEDAW).


                      RAPE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF WAR

  The first issue I would like to address today is one which, in recent 
years, has been of increasing concern to me: The use of rape as an 
instrument of war.
  In all too many places around the world--Bosnia, Rwanda, Afghanistan, 
to name just three--the last few years have witnessed the regular and 
systematic use of rape and other forms of violent gender discrimination 
as tactics of war and of ``ethnic cleansing.'' Indeed, in looking at 
many of the world's ongoing conflicts it sometimes seems as if the use 
of rape as an instrument of war has become almost commonplace.
  While rape by soldiers has long been a brutal reality in time of war, 
in all too many cases in the past few years it has frequently operated 
as a weapon of war itself. Soldiers, paramilitaries and militiamen rape 
and sexually assault women as part of systematic campaigns of ethnic 
cleansing. In some cases, women have been interned in camps and houses 
and subjected to repeated rape and sexual assault.
  Well, as far as I am concerned rape as a tool of war must never be 
accepted, and the international community must act--now--to put an end, 
once and for all, to the use of rape as an instrument of war.
  I was pleased when the international war crimes tribunals for both 
Rwanda and Bosnia issued indictments which, for the first time in 
history, charged individuals with ``grave breaches'' of the Geneva 
Convention and for crimes against humanity for the use of rape as an 
instrument of war.
  I have been sorely disappointed, however, by the repeated failure of 
the international community--especially in the former Yugoslavia--to 
see that those who were indicted for perpetrating these crimes are 
bought to justice.
  Estimates are that up to 20,000 women in Yugoslavia were 
systematically raped as part of a policy of ethnic cleansing and 
genocide. In Srebrenica, an alleged ``safe area,'' one women told of 
Serb soldiers, dressed as UN peacekeepers, who came in a factory where 
refugees were gathered and dragged away two girls aged 12 and 14 and a 
23 year-old women. After several hours, the three returned. They were 
crying, naked, and bleeding. One said, ``We are not girls anymore.''
  According to the United Nations Commission of Experts, the victims of 
rape in Bosnia included girls as young as six and women as old as 
eighty-one. Many women and girls were subjected to gang rapes while 
being held in detention camps. And, tragically, for many of the women 
of ex-Yugoslavia, rape was merely a prelude to further torture and then 
death.
  I am deeply concerned about NATO's failure to arrest all persons 
indicted for rape and other war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  By issuing indictments for rape, the international community sent a 
strong message that there can be no impunity for violence against women 
in time of war. Yet few of those indicted have so far faced justice. Of 
the seventy-nine persons indicted for war crimes by the International 
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), 50 remain at large, 
including twenty-two indicted for rape and sexual assault. Only four 
indicted suspects charged with rape are in custody.
  Successful arrest actions in Prijedor, Vitez and Bijeljina 
demonstrate that the NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) has both the 
means and the mandate to apprehend indicted war crimes suspects. While 
the recent voluntary surrenders by three suspects at the urging of 
Bosnian Serb Premier Milorad Dodik are encouraging, most indicted 
suspects in Bosnia reside in areas under the control of Radovan 
Karadzic and other hardliners, who persist in their refusal to 
cooperate with the ICTY. Unless NATO arrests those indicted in these 
areas, it is extremely unlikely that they will ever stand trial.
  Ultimately, it is a hollow and cynical gesture to claim outrage over 
rape as a war crime, issue indictments, but then to act as if the 
indictments do not merit the commitment or resources to see that those 
who committed these crimes are, in fact, apprehended and prosecuted.
  What kind of nation are we if we can not see to it that the people 
who practiced rape as an instrument of war are not brought to justice?
  I believe the use of rape as an instrument of genocide and ethnic 
cleansing is a war crime of the highest order. And the failure to 
assure that those who have been indicted for rape as a war crime are 
apprehended, extradited, and made to stand trial, does a grave 
injustice to women around the world.
  Indeed, if war criminals indicted for rape are not brought to 
justice, the international community will have betrayed the legacy of 
Nuremberg, the victims of the wars that tore Rwanda and Yugoslavia 
apart, and women world-wide. And we will have set a dangerous precedent 
that will give encouragement to others elsewhere in the world who may 
consider the use of rape and genocide as tools of war.
  I have repeatedly written the President and Secretary of State 
calling for stronger international action to see to it that those 
indicted of war crimes are brought to justice. And last year, along 
with Senator Lautenberg and several of my colleagues, I was proud to 
cosponsor the War Crimes Prosecution Facilitation Act of 1997. Today, 
in commemoration of international women's day, I once again call on the 
administration and the international community to take strong, 
forceful, and unmistakable action on this issue.


                              AFGHANISTAN

  Perhaps nowhere in the world today is there a clearer test of our 
commitment to the cause of women's rights than Afghanistan.
  For close to twenty years, Afghanistan has been torn apart by war and 
bloodshed. More than a million people have died, and much of the 
capital of Kabul lies in ruins. For women and their families, these 
events have been a disaster, made worse in recent years by the 
ascendency of the Taliban, an extremist militia group which captured 
Kabul in September 1996 and declared an end to many of the basic human 
rights of Afghan women.

[[Page S1660]]

  What some call true Islam, others, including the United Nations 
General Assembly, say is an abuse of human rights. In Afghanistan today 
it appears that another tragic chapter in the story of the suppression 
of women's rights is being written.
  The U.S. State Department's 1997 human rights report states:

       Women were beaten for violating increasingly restrictive 
     Taliban dress codes, which require women to be covered from 
     head to toe. Women were strictly prohibited from working 
     outside the home, and women and girls were denied the right 
     to an education. Women were forbidden from appearing outside 
     the home unless accompanied by a male family member. Beatings 
     and death resulted from a failure to observe these 
     restrictions.

  The women of Afghanistan, who have seen their families destroyed by 
war, are now having their economic life and their fundamental human 
rights stripped away, and the violations of Afghan women's basic human 
rights have pushed an already war-torn and war-weary Afghanistan to the 
brink of disaster.
  When I look at the situation in Afghanistan I am forced to ask: Where 
is the world's outrage? Fully half of Afghanistan's population cannot 
work for a living or be educated. Fully half the population of 
Afghanistan are being systematically denied their basic human rights.
  Yet, all too often, the world has responded by issuing mild 
denunciations and turning away. This is unacceptable. We must act to 
stop these injustices and to bring peace to Afghanistan.
  First, I intend to introduce legislation calling on the 
administration to create an Afghan Women's Initiative along the lines 
of the successful Bosnian and Rwandan Women's Initiatives which the 
administration has created in the past two years. These initiatives 
have assisted the victims of those wars by promoting the reintegration 
of women into the economy with an emphasis on capacity-building, 
training programs, legal assistance, and support for microenterprise 
projects, as well as refugee reintegration and protection.
  The women of Afghanistan could greatly benefit from such an 
initiative, and I believe that the success of the Bosnian and Rwandan 
programs can serve as a model for a similar program for the women of 
Afghanistan, as well as the numerous Afghan women in refugee camps in 
Pakistan.
  Second, I also believe that the international community should 
investigate the need for a war crimes tribunal to investigate charges 
of rape and abuse as instruments of the now almost decade-long civil 
war which has torn Afghanistan apart. Credible charges have been made 
about the systematic use of rape by several of the factions and parties 
involved in this struggle, and I believe that these charges must be 
investigated and, if true, must lead to indictments and trials. I 
intend to address this issue in forthcoming legislation as well.
  Finally, I believe that the United States must be clear and 
unequivocal in stating that we will not recognize any government in 
Afghanistan unless it is broad-based, respective of all Afghans, and 
respects international norms of behavior in human rights, including the 
rights of women and girls.
  The United States, with our history of commitment to women's rights 
and equality, must redouble its efforts to place respect for women's 
rights at the top of the international community's agenda in 
Afghanistan.


                          TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN

  The third area I would like to address today is a growing problem for 
women the world over: The forced or coerced trafficking of girls and 
women for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
  The United Nations estimates that every year millions of women become 
the victims of the fast growing international business of trafficking 
in women and girls. By capitalizing on poverty, rising unemployment, 
and the disintegration of social networks, criminal organizations 
annually make up to $7 billion on the trafficking and prostitution of 
approximately 4 million women and girls.
  These women come primarily from Eastern Europe and East Asia, 
accepting offers of lucrative jobs as waitresses, models or dancers in 
the industrialized world to escape the vice of poverty. Once they 
arrive, their passports are seized, they are beaten, held captive and 
forced into prostitution. Traffickers and pimps hold these women in 
debt bondage, forcing them to work uncompensated as repayment for 
exaggerated room, board, and travel expenses.
  Often times, these victims are given falsified documents or travel on 
tourist visas, so they have little legal protection. When and if these 
women are discovered by the police, they are usually treated as illegal 
aliens and simply deported. Laws against traffickers who engage in 
forced prostitution, rape, kidnaping, and assault and battery are often 
not enforced. The women will not testify against traffickers out of 
fear of retribution, the threat of deportation, and humiliation for 
their actions.
  Without effective enforcement of current laws and the implementation 
of new laws to protect victims and to prosecute traffickers this trend 
will continue to grow. Senator Wellstone and I will be introducing 
legislation to provide both more information on trafficking and tougher 
laws dealing with the illegal trade of women.


                     INTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING

  The fourth issue I would like to touch on today is one which has seen 
much congressional attention in recent years: U.S. support for 
international family planning and reproductive health.
  The world's population is now nearly 6 billion, and the United 
Nations projects that the figure could grow to as high as 12 billion by 
the year 2050. Most of this growth will occur in developing countries, 
where there are few resources to provide basic health or education 
services. If women are to be able to better themselves and their 
families it is crucial that they be provided the resources to control 
their reproductive destinies and health.
  Under the leadership of both Democratic and Republican Presidents, 
and under Congresses controlled by Democrats and Republicans alike, the 
United States has established a long and distinguished record of world 
leadership on international family planning and reproductive health 
issues.
  Unfortunately, in recent years these programs have come under 
increasing partisan attack by the anti-choice wing of the Republican 
party--this despite the fact that no U.S. international family planning 
funds are spent on international abortion.
  Non-governmental organizations which currently receive U.S. 
government assistance for family planning and reproductive health 
programs, such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation, 
spend only a small portion of their own private funds on activities 
which can be construed as supporting abortion. And U.S. support for the 
United Nations Fund for Population Activities is likewise segregated to 
assure that no U.S. funds go to any activities which may support 
abortion.
  Moreover, international family planning programs have experienced 
significant cuts in funding in recent years. The Senate Foreign 
Operations bill for Fiscal Year 1998 would reestablish a separate 
account for population assistance, at a level of $435 million, and 
continue the longstanding prohibition against the use of any funds for 
abortion.
  Today, as we mark International Women's Day, I urge my colleagues to 
recommit themselves to U.S. leadership in international family 
planning.


                                 CEDAW

  Lastly, I would like to turn my attention today to the Convention to 
Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
  The United Nations' adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights in 1948 dramatically focused and increased public awareness of 
the international human rights agenda. The rights of women--more than 
half the world's population--however, were not fully recognized as a 
legitimate problem.
  To address this legacy of neglect, the Convention to Eliminate all 
Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was drafted to organize 
all existing international standards regarding discrimination on the 
basis of gender, and to establish rights for women in areas not 
previously subject to international standards. The United States was an 
active participant in the drafting of the Convention, and President 
Carter signed it on July 17, 1980.
  After fourteen years of intense scrutiny--scrutiny, in my view, more 
befitting the technical aspects of an arms

[[Page S1661]]

control treaty than a document asserting the fundamental rights of over 
half the world's population--the State Department sent the treaty to 
the Senate for ratification in September 1994.
  In 1994, by a bipartisan vote, the Foreign Relations Committee 
recommended with qualifications approval of CEDAW, but acted too late 
in the session for the treaty to be considered by the full Senate.
  Unfortunately, now almost four years later, the Convention continues 
to languish in the Senate, locked up in the Committee on Foreign 
Relations. I, along with some of my Senate colleagues, sent a letter 
last year to Chairman Helms emphasizing the strong support this 
Convention has and urging him to report it favorably out of Committee, 
so that it could be placed before the entire Senate for a vote and 
ratification. Even though CEDAW contains no provisions in conflict with 
American laws, no such action has been taken on CEDAW to date.
  Currently, 161 countries have ratified the Convention. The United 
States remains the last of the world's democracies to ratify this 
fundamental document. Indeed, our failure to ratify CEDAW places us 
amongst a very small group of countries--including Iran, North Korea, 
Sudan, and Afghanistan--none of whom are normally put in the same 
category as the United States on questions of human rights.
  As a leader on human rights and women's rights, U.S. ratification of 
CEDAW will demonstrate U.S. commitment to promoting equality and to 
protecting women's rights throughout the world. Ratification of CEDAW 
will send a strong message to the international community that the U.S. 
understands the challenges faced by discrimination against women, and 
we will not abide by it.
  Today, as we commemorate International Women's Day, I call on my 
colleagues in the Senate to move forward and ratify CEDAW.
  These issues that I have discussed today are not just women's issues. 
As First Lady Hillary Clinton has said, ``Women's rights are human 
rights and human rights are women's rights.'' And they merit attention 
throughout the year, not just on one day.
  It is my hope that in the remainder of this session we will prove 
this commitment to ourselves and the rest of the world. We must ratify 
CEDAW. We must put a stop to the use of rape as an instrument of war. 
We must not ignore the gross violations of the human rights of Afghan 
women. And we must take swift action to curb the trafficking of women 
and girls. And most importantly, we must lead the world in making it 
clear that oppression, rape, forced prostitution, and gender 
discrimination will not be tolerated anywhere.
  For too long, and in too many tragic circumstances, we have remained 
silent, placing women's rights on a second tier of concern in our 
conduct of U.S. foreign policy. As we commemorate International Women's 
Day the U.S., and the international community, must take a strong stand 
and issue a clear warning to those who attempt to rob women of basic 
rights that the world's governments will no longer ignore these abuses, 
or allow them to continue with impunity or without repercussion.

                          ____________________