UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-fam) reported today from the United Nations that deliberations on the workings of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have removed explicit protection for families from the ICC statutes.
Proponents of the ICC have dismissed concerns of pro-lifers that the court may be used to hamper pro-life activity claiming that the ICC will address ONLY “the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.” However, when Arab delegates attempted to ensure that ‘acts of war’ under the war crimes provision do not affect family matters such as roles of parents and children, their intervention was attacked and defeated by radical feminists.
C-fam reports that a coalition of eleven Arab states proposed that “the acts (under war crimes) do not effect family matters recognized by different national laws of the State Parties.” Particular concern revolved around the issue of the crime of “enslavement” which many feared could be used to attack traditional roles of parents vis a vis their children.
The proposal under “enslavement” said, “powers attaching to ownership does not include rights, duties and obligations incident to marriage between a man and a woman or between parent and child.”
Reacting to the proposal, the feminist Women’s Caucus accused the Arabs of “excluding a whole category of offender.”
With files from EWTN.