JERUSALEM – A leading United Nations expert criticized the world body for failing to get its top official on sexual violence in conflict to address Security Council members at a meeting to discuss hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza on Thursday.
Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, and president of Human Rights Voices, told Fox News Digital that “it is surprising that the UN cannot find a single official prepared to address even an unofficial Council meeting.” of security”. and bear witness to mass sexual atrocities committed by Palestinians against Jews.
According to a report Tuesday in the Times of Israel, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten withdrew from a scheduled appearance before the informal Security Council meeting on sexual crimes committed against hostages taken by Hamas. on October 7.
UN finally acknowledges that Israeli women were raped and sexually assaulted by Hamas terrorists
Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten (centre) speaks during a Security Council meeting on women and peace and security at UN Headquarters. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The session scheduled for Thursday is titled “Condemn the taking of hostages in Israel on October 7 as a psychological tool of terrorism.”
According to the Times of Israel, one diplomat suggested that the “decision was politically motivated, as his office has faced pressure not to be seen as prioritizing the plight of Israeli hostages over that of Palestinians caught in the middle of the Israeli war.” Israel against Hamas”. in Gaza.”
Fox News Digital has independently confirmed the Times of Israel's account. Hamas killed nearly 1,200 people during its invasion of Israel on October 7 and kidnapped more than 250 people. Hamas committed sustained sexual violence against many people during the massacre.
The meeting organized by the US mission to the UN is the first to be held on the subject. A statement from the Israeli mission to the UN said that “the meeting will focus, among other things, on actions that UN agencies and the Security Council can take to accelerate the release of the hostages and how pressure can be put on Hamas for this purpose.”
Israel's ambassador, Gilad Erdan, said that “after relentless diplomatic efforts, we managed to have the Security Council meeting for the first time focus exclusively on the situation of our hostages and to discuss ways to apply pressure to free them.”
Geraldine Boezio, Patten's spokesperson, told Fox News Digital: “Although unfortunately he cannot participate in the Arria formula meeting [informal meeting of members of UNSC]The Special Representative supports any process that leads to the release of the hostages. Crucially, the public should be aware that the Office of the United Nations Special Representative and the Government of Israel continue to have productive bilateral discussions on how to address sexual violence in conflict, given the importance of this issue. These discussions are currently ongoing.”
HAMAS TERRORISTS COMMITTED 'SYSTEMATICALLY AND INTENTIONALLY' SEXUAL VIOLENCE ON OCTOBER 1. 7 ATTACK: REPORT
The United Nations Security Council will meet informally on Thursday to discuss the issue of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Hamas and ways to free them. (Getty Images/Hamas-Telegram)
The spokesperson added: “Special Representative Patten has repeatedly called for the release of all hostages held captive in Gaza in multiple public statements since December 2023. Her Office's report on its mission to Israel and the occupied West Bank published in March 2024 had clear and unambiguous conclusions and recommendations regarding the hostages, and these were a key aspect of his statement at the UN Security Council special session on the report held on March 11, 2024. Once again, the Special Representative Patten reiterated these findings and recommendations in his public comments to the UN Security Council in its open debate on the UN Secretary-General's annual report on conflict-related sexual violence on April 23, 2024. “
Bayefsky said: “Starting with the UN Secretary-General himself, who in April refused to include Hamas, or any other Palestinian rapist or sexually violent degenerate, on his annual list of parties credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict on the agenda of the Security Council.”
A festival goer captured by Hamas terrorists. (FOX Digital News)
“Other UN officials, such as UN Special Rapporteurs Francesca Albanese and Reem Alsalem, have been actively promoting the obscene lie that the Israelis did to the Palestinians what the Palestinians were 'alleged' or 'reported' to have done.” done to the Israelis. “Evidently the truth in UN circles is out of fashion and is not a message.”
Fox News Digital reported in December that the Jordanian newspaper Alsalem issued a statement on November 20 on the UN website, but did not explicitly condemn Hamas for carrying out rape and sexual assault against Israeli women and girls. Most of Alsalem's press release was dedicated to blaming Israel for alleged violence against Palestinian women. Alsalem declined to comment at the time.
UNITED NATIONS UNITED CLEARLY BY SILENCE ON RAPE, MUTILATION AND KILLING OF ISRAELI WOMEN BY HAMAS, CRITICS SAY
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres speaks during a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East and the war between Israel and Hamas at the United Nations headquarters on November 29, 2023 in the New York City. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
Israel's government has repeatedly called for the resignation of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres over his alleged inability to confront Hamas terrorism and the organization's sexual crimes. Last month, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Guterres of standing “shoulder to shoulder with Hamas rapists and murderers” for omitting mention of Hamas sexual violence crimes in a report “Sexual Violence Related with the conflict.”
Farhan Aziz Haq, Guterres' spokesman, flatly rejected the criticism directed at Guterres. He told Fox News Digital about the allegations, stating: “That is completely false. The Secretary-General made clear his horror at all the murders, rapes and kidnappings that took place on October 7 from the first hours of the attack, and repeatedly “On occasions he has called for all reports of sexual violence to be investigated.”
Aziz Haq added: “Pramila Patten, as you know, has visited Israel and briefed the Security Council and the media on her findings. We continue to place a high priority on ensuring that rape victims are heard and supported.”
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When approached by Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, declined to comment on Patten's attendance.
