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In the August issue of the NPWJ e-newsletter, the main highlights are dedicated to the UNICEF report on female genital mutilation (FGM), which represents the most comprehensive study of the practice to date, with research data from 29 African countries where the practice is most prevalent. As highlighted by Alvilda Jablonko, FGM Program Coordinator of No Peace Without Justice, this report also allows for an evaluation of the impact of actions taken to foster the elimination of the practice, and specifically of community-based sensitization strategies, which have been supported since 2008 by the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme. The picture that unfortunately emerges is a lack of a marked change of attitudes and prevalence of FGM in a number of countries, including Senegal, despite the longstanding work there supported by UNICEF.
The August issue also focuses on the ruling issued by the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 18 July 2013, requesting that Saif al-Islam Gaddhafi be transferred to The Hague, pending a decision on the admissibility of his case. Alison Smith, Legal Counsel and Director of the International Criminal Justice Program for No Peace Without Justice, explains how this decision might increase the ongoing misperceptions about the ICC and its work, which could damage the Court’s credibility and future contributions to this country. While the ICC arrest warrants against senior Gaddafi officials were welcomed by the people of Libya, a trial outside Libya is never something that victims they wanted; they wanted – and they still want – Mr Gaddafi and his ilk to face victims on their territory, to answer the charges that have been brought against them for the terrible crimes that were committed against the people of Libya.
Special attention is also dedicated to two recent publications released by NPWJ: a Handbook aiming at assisting the efforts of the developing network for trial monitoring in Libya in establishing an effective project that will have the ability to follow high-profile cases as they arise and to contribute to justice sector reforms in the national justice system; a report dedicated to “Transitional Justice in Syria”, produced in partnership with the Syrian human rights organisation Dawlaty.
For more information, contact Nicola Giovannini, Public Affairs Coordinator on ngiovannini@npwj.org, phone: 
+32 2 548 39 15.
