Elizabeth Odio Benito

Elizabeth Odio Benito (born 15 September 1939) is a Vice-President of the
International Criminal Court. She previously served as a judge on the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and in her home country of Costa Rica was twice appointed Justice Minister, later becoming Vice-Presidentof the Republic. Her background is as an academic lawyer, specialising in theadministration of justice and human rights, in particular the rights of women.

Although born in Puntarenas, the first child of Emiliano Odio Madrigal and Esperanza Benito Ibañez, most of her early life was spent in
San José, where she attended the Colegio Superiorde Señoritas. The law was something of a tradition on her father's side of the family; Odio Benito was particularly encouraged by her lawyer uncle, Ulises Odio Santos,to study that subject. She graduated with a master's degree from the
University of Costa Rica in 1964, where she remained for much of her academiccareer, rising to a full professorship in 1986 and Vice-Presidentfor Academic Affairs in 1988. During this period, she began to work in the fieldof gender studies, with an emphasis on crimes committed against women.

Meanwhile, Odio Benito was becoming increasingly involved in the administration ofjustice. From 1976 to 1978 she served as Secretary to the Colegio de Abogados,the bar association of Costa Rica, and in 1978 was appointed to the jointoffices of Minister of Justice and Attorney General, which she held until 1982when the National Liberation Party took the presidency. In 1990 she returned foranother four-year term as Minister of Justice, under President Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier. The peak of her domestic political career came in 1998, withher election as Second Vice-President alongside President Miguel Ángel Rodríguezand First Vice-President Astrid Fischel Volio; during this time she was also Minister for the Environment and Energy.

Elizabeth Odio Benito's involvement in international justice began during her secondministerial term, with her 1993 appointment as a judge on the Former Yugoslavia criminaltribunal. This was the first time she had sat as a judge, a fact for which she hasbeen criticised by some of the tribunal participants. A major contribution during these proceedings was Odio Benito's successful effort to have rape and other sexual assaults considered as torture. Her interpretation, based on a case of two Serbianwomen raped in the Čelebići detention camp, is now an accepted principleof international law. In 1998 Odio Benito left ICTY as a consequence of becomingVice-President, but she continued to play an active role in related areas of the law.Most notably, she was president of the United Nations working group that drew up the
Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. [http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/cat-one.htm] This additional treaty, open to any State that is party to the main UN Convention Against Torture anti-torture Convention, allows for international and independent national experts to visit any prison, detention camp, or similar facility, speak in private with people held there, and make recommendations to authorities aimed at preventing torture or other abuse from being practiced there. The Optional Protocol entered into force on 22 June 2006. As of 31 January 2007 it had 32 State Parties with a further 31 States have signed but not yet ratified the Protocol.

Her election to the International Criminal Court was not without controversy. Hercandidacy had initially been sponsored by Costa Rica, but President Abel Pachecowithdrew support without explanation. Since they are members of the same politicalparty, there may be any number of reasons why the President would seek to undermineher. It has been suggested by the pro-life movement that Odio Benito's permissivestance on abortion motivated Pacheco to move against her [http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/mar/03031201.html] .In any case, various women's groups mobilised to campaign for her readmittance. [http://www.women.ucla.edu/csw/ICC.html] Shewas eventually renominated by Panama, whose then president, Mireya Moscoso, isanother noted activist for women's rights. Odio Benito was thus the only candidatenot to be sponsored by her own nation. Nevertheless, she was elected in the firstout of thirty-three rounds of voting, indicating strong support from the States Parties.

The ICC officially opened on 11 March 2003, with Elizabeth Odio Benito asSecond Vice-President.

External links

* http://www.icc-cpi.int/presidency/secondvice.html - ICC biography
* http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/organs/presidency/curriculumvitae_odio_benito.pdf - Curriculum vitae supporting ICC candidacy
* http://www.abogados.or.cr/revista_elforo/foro3 - Issue of the Colegio de Abogados magazine with several articles on Odio Benito (Spanish)
* http://www.un.org/law/icc/elections/results/judges_results.htm - ICC election results