The UN special envoy confirms cases of sexual violence in conflicts
The UN special envoy for sexual violence in conflict has provided ‘clear and convincing information’ that some women and children held by Hamas had been subjected to sexualized rape and torture and that there were ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe that the abuses had taken place The special envoy, Pramila Patten, also reported on Monday that there were ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe that sexual assaults, including rape, took place during the Hamas attacks on October 7 in a group, in several places
Research limitations
Patten led a team of nine experts that traveled to Israel and the West Bank in the first half of February, but warned there were limitations on what he could achieve in a limited time given the constraints. The main limitation is that the team was unable to meet with any survivors of sexual violence during the October 7 attacks, ‘despite concerted efforts to encourage them to report’
Lack of trust from survivors
In this sense, the special envoy has noted that many are still receiving therapy and others had been relocated or transferred abroad, and some first aid witnesses had been deployed in the army. And he added: ‘The lack of trust of the survivors of the October 7 attacks and the families of the hostages in national institutions and international organizations, such as the United Nations, as well as the scrutiny of the national and international media on those who made their accounts public, hindered access to survivors of the attacks, including potential survivors/victims of sexual violence’
Conclusions of the informant
However, the UN team was able to speak to multiple witnesses, review a large amount of footage and video, and interview the freed hostages. ‘Based on the first-hand accounts of the released hostages, the mission team received clear and convincing information that sexual violence, including rape, sexualized torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, occurred against some women and children during their time in captivity and ‘there are reasonable grounds to believe that this violence may be ongoing’, the report highlights. In this regard, he added that there were reasonable grounds ‘to believe that the female hostages were also subjected to other forms of sexual violence’
Pau outlook
As part of a proposed new ceasefire deal being negotiated in Cairo, 40 vulnerable hostages, including the elderly, sick and women, will be released in an initial phase of a six-week truce. But progress in Cairo has stalled, at least in part because Hamas has yet to provide a list of the 40 hostages
Conditions for the ceasefire
Israel has not sent a delegation to Cairo because Hamas has allegedly not sent a list of hostages and has not confirmed the proportion of Palestinian prisoners that would be released. However, Hamas, which has indeed moved to Cairo, also has a series of demands. There are three points of conflict that should be respected: a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupying forces from Gaza and the return of the displaced
