[E-rundbrief] Info 1377 - Women of Iraq and Syria stop Flow of Arms

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief - Info 1377 - Julie L. Arostegui, Women’s Action for New 
Directions (WAND/ UK): Women of Iraq and Syria: Continuing the Flow of 
Arms is Not the Way to Stop the Violence.

Bad Ischl, 3.11.2014

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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Women of Iraq and Syria: Continuing the Flow of Arms is Not the Way to 
Stop the Violence.

30 Oct 2014 — Elisa

by Julie L. Arostegui, J.D.

Women, Peace and, Security Policy Director, Women’s Action for New 
Directions (WAND)

@JulieLArostegui

There is no doubt that the group commonly known as the Islamic State 
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) must be stopped. The brutal tactics of this 
violent, extremist, archaic group that aims to establish a seventh 
century style Islamist caliphate have been made clear to the world: 
beheadings of civilians, mass executions, killings, and abductions of 
non-Muslims and ethnic and religious minorities. Especially disturbing 
is the horrifying sexual violence that is being committed against 
women and children as a tactic of war. United Nations officials have 
condemned the “barbaric acts” of sexual violence and “savage rapes” 
that ISIS has perpetrated on minorities in areas under its control.

Within the first week following the ISIS takeover of Mosul in June, 
women’s rights activists were reporting incidents of women being 
kidnapped and raped, and taken for “jihad marriages,” as forced wives 
for ISIS fighters. By August, the UN had estimated that ISIS had 
forced some 1,500 women, girls and boys into sexual slavery. One 
activist recently described a concubine market in Mosul selling women 
and girls to ISIS warriors and the wealthy leaders (sheiks) of tribes 
in the region.

Mass displacement has also led to severe humanitarian crises in both 
countries, with women and children disproportionately affected. In 
Iraq, at least 1.2 million people have been displaced this year alone, 
forced to flee their homes to escape violent attacks. In Syria, more 
than 9 million innocent people are displaced and struggling to survive 
after almost four years of civil war, exacerbated by the rise of ISIS. 
Women and girls are particularly vulnerable in forced displacement 
situations as they struggle to protect and provide for themselves and 
their families. They are at heightened risk of sexual and gender-based 
violence (GBV) in lawless environments that fail to take into account 
their needs. Where facilities are bare and abuse is high, even going 
to the bathroom can be a dangerous prospect for women and girls. Many 
families are marrying off young girls in desperate attempts to provide 
for families and protect them from gender-based violence.

ISIS’ atrocities amount to society-destroying genocide, war crimes and 
crimes against humanity. However, using military force to stop ISIS is 
not the solution.

Women are not merely victims of conflict and sexual violence; they are 
strong agents for peace and security. In both Iraq and Syria, women 
have been at the forefront of advocating for peace, reaching across 
political, ethnic, and religious divides to bring communities 
together, and addressing the root social causes that are causing a 
rise in violent extremism. Women in both countries have made it clear 
that they want peace without more violence and without more arms.

According to the women, three and a half years of civil war in Syria 
has gotten them nowhere, and further arming the opposition will not 
help. What they need is for the weapons to stop flowing from all 
sides, and for extremist foreign fighters to stop entering the country.

In Iraq, they say that previous U.S. military interventions have only 
brought destruction, and 11 years of divisive policies and U.S. 
support for sectarianism - politics based on religious sect - have 
produced a wealthy sectarian class and nurtured the growth of ISIS as 
a second generation of Al-Qaeda and hatred between Sunni and Shia. 
This has also fostered an environment in which many young men want to 
fight what they consider U.S. imperialism and thus are easily 
recruited by extremist groups such as ISIS.

A U.S.-led war will only serve to broaden and deepen the problem. 
Airstrikes and military intervention will surely further inflame and 
energize ISIS and sharpen their extremist and anti-American views. The 
possibility for political solutions will shrink as war expands and the 
hope of building a sustainable peace becomes more remote. Meanwhile 
the United States will become more embroiled in a war with costly 
sacrifices in blood and treasure.

As recently noted by a Syrian women’s rights activist, an armed 
solution only helps those who are arming parties on each side. 
According to a recent article by William Hartung of the Center for 
International Policy and Stephen Miles of Win Without War, the war on 
ISIS is a welcome source of profits for arms makers such as Boeing and 
Lockheed Martin, as well as a major boon for defense contractors such 
as Dyncorps and Triple Canopy. Already the stock prices of the U.S. 
Department of Defense’s top contractors have hit all-time highs since 
U.S. military intervention in Iraq and Syria began two months ago.

In addition, a militarized society puts women more at risk. According 
to Reaching Critical Will, a program of the Women’s International 
League for Peace and Freedom:

Irresponsible transfers of weaponry, munitions, armaments, and related 
equipment across borders have resulted in acts of GBV [gender-based 
violence] perpetrated by both state and non-state actors. Thus in the 
recent negotiations of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), civil society 
organizations and like-minded governments worked together to ensure 
that the treaty included a legally-binding provision on preventing 
armed gender-based violence.

The ATT, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 2 April 2013 
and enters into force 24 December 2014, is the first international 
treaty to recognize the link between weapons and gender-based 
violence. Article 7(4) of the treaty obligates exporting states 
parties to take into account the risk of the conventional arms, 
ammunition, munitions, parts, or components under consideration being 
used to commit or facilitate acts of gender-based violence. States 
shall not be permitted to authorize the transfer where there is a risk 
of gender-based violence that would constitute a violation of 
international humanitarian law or international human rights law, 
undermine peace and security, or form part of transnational organized 
crime.

Supplying more arms to the region would only do more harm.

Instead what are needed are strong international efforts engaging the 
United Nations and international and regional partners focusing on 
unified economic and diplomatic strategies that include:

     Working to cut off funding and weapons flow to ISIS;

     addressing root causes of unrest in society in order to stem 
popular support of ISIS

     preventing foreign citizens from entering these countries to join 
rebel groups;

     increasing humanitarian assistance;

     supporting local peacebuilding efforts;

     allowing women to have a voice in all negotiations and peace 
processes; and

     working within the region to establish political solutions.

####

Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND) is a national nonprofit 
organization dedicated to empowering women to act politically to 
reduce violence and militarism, and redirect excessive military 
resources toward unmet human and environmental needs. WAND was founded 
in 1982, and consists of a 501-C3 WAND Education Fund, a 501-C4 WAND 
Inc. Action Center for members and chapters, WAND Political Action 
Committee, and the Women Legislator's Lobby (WiLL) program. WAND is a 
recognized United Nations NGO. For more information, please visit 
www.wand.org.

Published in War Profiteers' News, November 2014: Special Gender 
Issue, No. 43

http://wri-irg.org/node/23899

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Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
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