Silvana Arbia, International Criminal Court’s former Registrar, has been awarded the Peace Prize of Soroptimist International of Europe for her courageous role in building peace in Rwanda. The Italian Judge received her prize of €20,000 as well as the Peace Statute on the occasion of the Soroptimist European Congress on Sunday, 14 July 2013 in Berlin. The Peace Prize, conferred every two years, honours people or organizations deserving special recognition for their remarkable achievements to promote peace.

Silvana Arbia dedicated nearly a decade of her life to re-establishing justice in Rwanda from 1999-2008 as Senior Trial Attorney and later Chief of Prosecutions for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).  She played a key role in making people’s stories heard and convicting those responsible for atrocities like genocide, crimes against humanity, and using rape as a weapon of war.

The trial team led by Silvana Arbia ensured 12 indictments and finalized and confirmed 22 pre-trial cases. This included major undertakings such as the Butare case, which saw six accused of genocide and rape as a crime against humanity, one of whom was the former Minister of Family and Women’s Affairs, and the Seromba case, which saw the first Catholic priest charged and sentenced for genocide and crimes against humanity. As Martin Luther King Jr. once put it, “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”

“Women in Rwanda have proved to be real agents of change not only in reconstructing their country but also in building peace”, said Ulla Madsen, Soroptimist International of Europe’s President Elect and Chair of the Peace Prize jury. “Silvana Arbia has been a fabulous enabler for that reconstruction. Her courage and tenacity for truth have been the motor, the inspiration for the population’s recovery and engagement in a better future. We are delighted to give this prize to such an inspirational and admirable woman – her passion to justice made the difference”.

“Since 1993, Soroptimist International of Europe, comprising 35,000 members, has been very active in Rwanda, witnessing the hardship that so many Rwandan women had to endure to rebuild their lives following the genocide.  Our clubs in Kigali, supported by the San Marino Soroptimists, worked tirelessly to support widows and provide a better future for their children through education and job training. We even created the famous Rwanda Peace Marathon which takes place in Kigali and brings pride to the country”.

The 2013 Peace Prize jury was composed of:

• Bolette Christensen, CEO of Child Foundation Denmark
• Francoise Ferey,  Council of Europe representative for Soroptimist International of Europe, Strasbourg
• Trine Jensen, Vice Chair of the Board of The Danish United Nations Association
• Mimi Jakobsen, General Secretary of Save the Children Denmark
• Ulla Madsen (Chair), President Elect of Soroptimist International of Europe,

Previous recipients of the award are Silvia Borren, former Executive director of Oxfam, Carla del Ponte, former Chief Prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Court, Vera Bohle, consultant at the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining and Valdete Idrizi, peace activist from Kosovo.

Read SI International Programme Director Hilary Ratcliffe’s blog from SIE Berlin Congress.

SI Europe is one of the four Federations that make up the Soroptimist International movement. Visit the Berlin Congress website.

Photo: Silvana Arbia receives the Peace Prize at Soroptimist International of Europe’s Congress in Berlin (Credit:  SIE / Irene Hell)