Statement by Sergio Stanzani and Niccoló Figa-Talamanca, President and Secretary General of No Peace Without Justice:
No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) and the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty (NRPTT) welcome the adoption, on 10 December 2009, by the National Assembly of the Republic of Uganda, of a law banning the practice of female genital mutilation, as a landmark in the long-standing fight undertaken by Uganda against this harmful practice which violates the human rights of women and girls.
We are pleased that Uganda now has, for the first time, a self-standing law that provides for criminalising the practice, prosecution of offenders and protection of victims. According to the Bill, a person found guilty of aggravated female genital mutilation will be liable to life imprisonment. The Bill further provides that people who participate in or aid the process shall be jailed for up to five years.
Once the law comes into force, the Government and local authorities should launch a campaign to sensitise the communities in the areas affected that female circumcision is not only degrading but also criminal and use its provisions to stamp out the practice once and for all.
No Peace Without Justice has conducted campaigns aimed at the eradication of FGM for several years, largely in Africa. NPWJ considers that a vital component of efforts to accelerate the elimination of FGM is the enactment and implementation of effective national legislation, which is essential in the consolidation of an explicit commitment of public authorities against FGM. NPWJ urges all African governments to enact, review and implement laws and policies to protect the sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls, in accordance with the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, which in article 5 explicitly calls for the legal prohibition of FGM.
For more information, contact Alvilda Jablonko, Coordinator of the FGM Program, on ajablonko@npwj.org or Nicola Giovannini on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32 (0)2 548-3914. Check also our website: www.npwj.org
