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UN specialists on Monday demanded accountability for sexual violence in opposition to Israeli civilians in the course of the Oct. 7 Hamas assaults, saying that mounting proof of rapes and genital mutilation level to doable crimes in opposition to humanity.
Israeli authorities have opened an investigation into doable sexual crimes throughout probably the most lethal assault on Israel in its historical past. Hamas denies the abuses.
“The rising physique of proof about reported sexual violence is especially harrowing,” two UN-appointed unbiased specialists mentioned in an announcement on Monday. The assertion referred to allegations of sexual torture together with rape and gang rape in addition to mutilations and gunshots to genital areas.
“These acts represent gross violations of worldwide regulation, amounting to warfare crimes which, given the variety of victims and the intensive premeditation and planning of the assaults, may additionally qualify as crimes in opposition to humanity,” the specialists mentioned.
“Each sufferer deserves to be acknowledged, no matter their ethnicity, faith or intercourse, and our function is to be their voice,” they added.
Israel has beforehand criticized the worldwide physique for not doing sufficient to deal with the problem as a part of a bid to get higher recognition for the alleged crimes.
The 2 specialists on torture and on executions — Alice Jill Edwards and Morris Tidball-Binz — have raised the problem with Hamas authorities, they mentioned.
Edwards is the UN’s particular rapporteur on torture and different merciless, inhuman or degrading therapy or punishment. Tidball-Binz is a particular rapporteur on extra-judicial or arbitrary executions.
Each specialists have additionally written to Israel’s authorities and referred to as for co-operation with their investigators.
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