Remembering the legacy of women’s rights pioneer, Rhonda Copelon

MONTREAL – May 10, 2010 – Rights & Rights & Democracy today expressed its condolences to colleagues, friends and family of celebrated human rights lawyer and pioneer for women's rights, Rhonda Copelon, who has died at age 64.

Rhonda, who was a Professor at the City University of New York's School of Law (CUNY) and Vice-President of the Centre for Constitutional Rights, is perhaps best known for her work in the landmark case, Filartiga v. Pena-Irala, which established that victims of gross human rights abuses committed abroad had recourse to courts in the United States. She was also the co-founder and Director of the International Women's Human Rights Law (IWHR) Clinic at CUNY and a founding member of the Rights & Democracy-coordinated Coalition for Women's Human Rights in Conflict Situations, which was established in 1996.

In 1997, on behalf of IWHR, Rhonda co-wrote the amicus brief in the landmark case against Jean-Paul Akayesu at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which was signed by the Coalition, including a number of Rwandan women's rights organisations. Akayesu's prosecution and eventual conviction marked the first time an international court punished sexual violence in a civil war and the first time rape was deemed both acts of genocide and torture.

As the founder and Director of the Women's Caucus for Gender Justice, Rhonda played a crucial role in ensuring the inclusion of gender-based crimes in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

“Rhonda's vision and leadership transformed international justice for women and girl survivors of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. Her tireless commitment to human rights was an inspiration that will live on through the many movement-based initiatives she helped found, including the Coalition for Women's Human Rights in Conflict Situations,” said Rights & Democracy's Isabelle Solon Helal, the coordinator of the Coalition. “She was an exceptionally gifted lawyer, thinker, advisor, teacher, activist and a generous friend: our loss is immeasurable.”

To honour Rhonda's legacy, Rights & Democracy will make a contribution to the Copelon Fund for Gender Justice at the Centre for Constitutional Rights.

Rights & Democracy is a non-partisan, independent Canadian institution created by an Act of Parliament in 1988 to promote democratic development and to advocate for and defend human rights set out in the International Bill of Human Rights. In cooperation with civil society and governments in Canada and abroad, Rights & Democracy initiates and supports programmes to strengthen laws and democratic institutions, principally in developing countries.