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☆ Senior Hamas official says he ‘cannot reassure anyone’ that hostages in Gaza are safe
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Jeremy Diamond | Abeer Salman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

During the interview, Naim rejected defining Hamas’ attacks as terrorism, falsely claiming that his organization does not target civilians. Hamas has denied international organizations any access to those hostages still in captivity to assess their wellbeing. While Naim denied the allegations of sexual violence, he said Hamas was unable to account for the wellbeing of the hostages because of the continued bombardment of Gaza. In recent weeks, many civilians in Gaza have increasingly blamed Hamas for the mounting starvation. This year, it comes against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza, Israeli crackdowns on Palestinian militant groups in the occupied West Bank and Hamas’ calls for more attacks.

Persons: Jerusalem CNN —, “, ”, Basem Naim, Naim, Israel, Pramila Patten, ” Naim, hasn’t, ” Patten’s, Netanyahu’s, West Bank “, Ramadan, CNN’s Alex Marquardt Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, CNN, United, Hamas, Israel, United Nations, UN, Hamas ’, Reuters, “, Gaza, West Bank Locations: Jerusalem, Gaza, United Nations, Istanbul, Turkey, Israel, Hamas, Doha, Qatar, Aqsa

“Continuation of hostilities can, in no way, protect them,” she said. She told the council that the 134 hostages still in captivity and the more than 2 million civilians in Gaza “share a common fate. For their common sake, there must be a humanitarian cease-fire now.” Israel's ongoing offensive against Hamas has killed over 30,000 people, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he came to the council “to protest as loud as I can against the crimes against humanity” committed by Hamas in order to deter and scare Israeli society. Patten told the council that when she visited the West Bank she didn’t receive any reports of rape, but instances of sexual violence during the detention of both Palestinian men and women were raised.

Persons: ”, ” Pramila Patten, ” Patten, Israel Katz, Katz, Ramadan Kareem, ” Katz, ” Riyad Mansour, Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t, Mansour, “, Patten’s, Israel “, Patten Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, . Security, Hamas, Gaza Health Ministry, Israel’s, Security Council, Palestinian, Independent International Commission of, West Bank Locations: Israel, Gaza, United States, United Kingdom, France

☆ Middle East Crisis Israel Says It Struck Area Used by High-Ranking Hamas Leader
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Adam Rasgon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

The session follows a 23-page U.N. report, released on March 4, written by a team led by Pramila Patten, a special envoy on sexual violence and conflict. The report said it was reasonable to believe sexual violence against hostages could be ongoing. Diplomats from the 15-member council uniformly condemned sexual violence against Israeli women. Ms. Patten and her team also visited the West Bank to hear reports of sexual violence against Palestinians by Israeli security forces and settlers. The full report addressed the accusations, but did not focus on them because other U.N. bodies were working on that.

Persons: Pramila Patten, —, France —, Patten, Ms, ”, Timothy A, Clary, Israel Katz, ” Mr, Katz, Riyad Mansour Organizations: Sexual, United Nations Security Council, ., Agence France, Diplomats, West Bank, Palestinian, Council Locations: United States, Britain, France, Israel, Gaza, U.S

☆ UN team finds ‘convincing’ information that hostages in Gaza were raped
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Richard Roth | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

United Nations CNN —A United Nations team has found “clear and convincing” information that hostages in Gaza were sexually abused, Pramila Patten, the UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict told reporters on Monday. There are “reasonable grounds” to believe the sexual violence is ongoing, she added. The UN team, which was led by Patten, visited Israel between January 29 to February 14 for a mission “aimed at gathering, analyzing, and verifying information on conflict-related sexual violence” during October 7 and its aftermath, according to a 24-page report. The mission was not able to meet with any victims of sexual violence on October 7 “despite our efforts,” Patten said. But we received information that a handful of them were receiving very specialized trauma treatment and were not prepared to come forward,” she said.

Persons: Pramila Patten, Patten, “, ” Patten, ” Organizations: United Nations CNN, United Nations, UN, Hamas Locations: Gaza, Israel, Al, Aqsa

A United Nations team has arrived in Israel to examine reports of sexual violence during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 even as Hamas and some critics of Israel continue to reject evidence that such assaults occurred. Israeli officials have said that Hamas terrorists brutalized women throughout their incursion into southern Israel and have complained that U.N. leaders and others have been slow to condemn sexual assaults. The U.N. visit comes after multiple news organizations reported allegations of sexual violence during the Oct. 7 attack. In a Dec. 28 article, The New York Times documented a pattern of gender-based violence in the attack and identified at least seven locations where Israeli women and girls appeared to have been sexually assaulted or mutilated. The U.N. team “aims to give voice to survivors, witnesses, recently released hostages and those affected; to identify avenues for support, including justice and accountability; and to gather, analyze and verify information,” said a statement issued Wednesday by the office of Pramila Patten, the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict, who is leading the visit.

Persons: Israel, U.N, ”, Pramila Patten Organizations: United Nations, New York Times Locations: Israel

☆ Russian troops raped women as old as 83 while their families were forced to listen
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A new UN report found that women in Ukraine experience systematic sexual violence by Russian troops. Women as old as 83 have been raped while their families were forced to listen to the brutal attacks. International criminal law considers rape and sexual violence war crimes and crimes against humanity. AdvertisementAdvertisementInsider previously reported on the case of a woman who recounted being raped by Russian soldiers who killed her husband. "Survivor-centered training and aid is the best way to support victims of sexual violence and to help them cope with the trauma, stigma, and the health consequences stemming from conflict-related sexual violence."

Persons: —, Beata Zawrzel, Pramila Patten Organizations: UN, Service, United Nations, Commission, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, of, Russian Federation, The Times, Getty, AFP, Democratic, Council, Foreign Relations, Court Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Kherson, London, Russia, Krakow, Poland, England, Bucha, France, Rome, Democratic Republic of, Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Yugoslavia

☆ Sudan: Nearly 1.4 million people displaced since civil war erupted, UN report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Sahar Akbarzai | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Even before the fighting intensified, years of political instability meant Sudan had several million people internally displaced. The country also hosted 1.13 million refugees from other conflict-ridden countries, including South Sudan, Eritrea and Syria, according to UNHCR data. Tens of thousands of South Sudanese are flocking home from neighboring Sudan, which erupted in violence last month. Sam Mednick/APAmid the vast displacement, there have been increasing reports of gender-based violence and domestic violence, especially among internally displaced Sudanese populations, the UN Population Fund said. This includes 22 attacks on health facilities, six attacks which impacted warehouses, and nine attacks which affected supplies, among others.

However, the patterns suggest that sexual violence “maybe even more frequent” in territories that were occupied for longer periods, he added, without providing evidence. Widespread or systematic sexual violence could amount to crimes against humanity, which are generally seen as more serious, legal specialists said. Moscow, which has said it is conducting a “special military operation" in Ukraine, has denied committing war crimes or targeting civilians. Evidence that sexual violence was planned could indicate it was part of a systematic attack or that some level of command was aware, said Kim Thuy Seelinger, an advisor to the ICC on sexual violence in conflict and a research associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s office said it has opened dozens of criminal cases involving sexual violence by members of the Russian armed forces against women, children and men.

☆ Russian soldiers are supplied with Viagra to rape Ukrainian women and 'dehumanize' them, claims UN official
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A UN official told AFP Russian soldiers are being supplied with Viagra to rape Ukrainian women. Pramila Patten, the UN special representative on sexual violence, says it's "clearly a military strategy." She said the UN had verified more than 100 rape or sexual assault cases since Russia invaded Ukraine. She added that the number of reported cases is "only the tip of the iceberg" because sexual violence largely goes underreported in conflicts. Last week, a Ukrainian woman told The Washington Post that she was raped and tortured by Russian soldiers in Izium.

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