From by The United Nations
Mesia www.rajawaalisiber.com – The United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, today (13 Apr) told the Security Council that over the past year, “sexual violence continued to be committed as a tactic of war, torture, terrorism and political repression,” with a reported increase of “some 800 cases compared with 2020.”
Briefing the Council on the Secretary-General’s latest annual report on conflict-related sexual violence, issued on 29 March, Patten said, “we see the emboldening effects of impunity. Indeed, the gap between commitments and compliance, resolutions and reality, is evident on every page of the annual report.”
The report, she said, covers 18 countries situations and documents 3,293 UN verified cases of conflict related sexual violence committed in 2021, “representing a significant increase of some 800 cases compared with 2020.”
This year’s report lists 49 parties credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of sexual violence in situations on the agenda of the Council. Over 70 percent are persistent perpetrators, having appeared in the list for five or more years without taking remedial or corrective action.
In her briefing to the Council, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad said the world is at” a moment of global instability, a moment shaped by pandemic, war, and a climate crisis.”
In times like this, Murad said, “issues that affect women and girls, issues like conflict related sexual violence, tend to be pushed aside as though they are somehow secondary to the real issues.”
She said, “the truth is, these are precisely the moment when protecting, supporting, and investing in women and girls should be urgent priorities.”
Murad, who is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said, “history shows that whenever armed conflict erupts anywhere in the world, rape and brutality follow. We’re seeing this in Ukraine as we speak with reports of sexual violence that should alarm us all. Sexual violence is not a side effect of conflict. It is a tactic of war as old as time.”
Also addressing the Council, Syrian human rights advocate and Co-Founder of Huquqyat, Mariana Karkoutly, said, “parties to the conflict have violated international human rights and humanitarian law, used chemical weapons, and committed acts that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Government forces and armed groups continue to murder, torture, and use sexual and gender-based violence against civilians as a matter of policy. Yet, despite discussing Syria for more than a decade, this Council has failed to take actions to hold perpetrators accountable.”
The meeting was chaired by Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, UK Minister of State for South Asia, North Africa, the UN and the Commonwealth, and the UK Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict.
Ahmad said, “It is clear that impunity continues to be the norm for perpetrators. It should be an exception, and we’ve must strive for that. And frankly put, the fact here we are, that this is happening – and let us reflect on that, in the year 2022 – is not just unacceptable, it is utterly shocking.”
This year’s meeting is titled “Accountability as Prevention: Ending Cycles of Sexual Violence in Conflict.”