Closing the Accountability Gap and Redrawing the Boundaries of International Law: an “All Tools” Approach to Addressing Systemic Discrimination on the Basis of Sex

This symposium centered on CJTL’s forthcoming article of the same title, co-authored by Professor Rangita de Silva de Alwis, Catherine Amirfar, and Baroness Helena Kennedy. The article critically analyzes Afghanistan’s commitments under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and as a party to a number of human rights treaties, particularly the application of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) against the backdrop of the Taliban’s continued systemic gender discrimination and oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan. As historic efforts led by state parties unfold before international tribunals, this article has special significance to the academic, advocacy, and diplomatic communities.

Authors

  • Professor Rangita de Silva de Alwis; Professor, University of Pennsylvania Law School and Wharton School; Visiting Faculty Harvard Kennedy School of Government; Expert on the treaty body to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); Co-Chair of the High Level Expert Group on Gender Justice 

  • Ms. Catherine Amirfar; Partner and Co-Chair, International Disputes Resolution and Public International Groups, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP; Co-Chair, High-Level Expert Group on Gender Justice

  • Baroness Helena Kennedy KC; Co-Chair of the High Level Expert Group on Gender Justice  

COMMENTATORS

  • Professor Jose Alvarez; Professor of International Law, New York University Law School; Member, High-Level Expert Group on Gender Justice

  • Ms. Sima Samar; Visiting Scholar, Fletcher School at Tufts University; former Vice President of Afghanistan; Member, High-Level Expert Group on Gender Justice

  • Ms. Fawzia Koofi; First Female Deputy Speaker, Parliament of Afghanistan; President, Women for Afghanistan Organization

  • Ms. Shukria Barakzai; former Afghan Ambassador to Norway; Founder of the Afghan Women’s Coalition for Justice; Member, High-Level Expert Group on Gender Justice

  • Ms. Naheed Farid; former Afghan Member of Parliament; Member, High-Level Expert Group on Gender Justice

  • Mr. Richard Bennett; UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan

  • Ms. Hanifa Girowal; Member, High-Level Expert Group on Gender Justice

  • Professor Rebecca Cook; Professor Emerita Faculty of Law, University of Toronto

Moderator

  • Lara Manbeck; Editor-in-Chief, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law