Sexual violence in Gaza | The silence of several international organizations denounced

(Ottawa) An Israeli expert wants Canada to show concern for all victims of sexual violence in the conflict in Gaza, both Israeli and Palestinian, by taking “leadership in denouncing the lack of moral clarity in international institutions.”

“Canada must take leadership in denouncing the lack of moral clarity in international institutions,” she said in an interview during a visit to Ottawa last month.

Cochav Elkayam-Levy, a professor of international law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, formed the Civilian Commission on Hamas Crimes Against Women and Children, an independent organization created in the wake of the bloody October 7 attack 2023.

The aim was not to tell the story of the entire attack, but to document the systemic rape, torture and mutilation to which the women were subjected. The P^re Elkayam-Levy hoped it would allow victims and their children to deal with intergenerational trauma. She believed her investigation would help researchers and prosecutors.

His team reviewed several videos showing “extreme forms of violence” filmed by closed-circuit cameras and by Hamas fighters.

In a report published last week, she calls for international bodies to recognize violence targeting families as a new crime against humanity.

His team documented similar patterns in sexual violence by Hamas and its allies during the 2023 attack. These included the distribution of torture videos on victims' accounts before terrorizing their friends and relatives. relatives and the murders of parents in front of their children or vice versa.

“We must begin to understand that there is a unique form of violence there,” argues the P^re Elkayam-Levy. The aggression of a family unit aims to intensify the pain, to intensify the suffering. »

The professor says she found the word “kinocide” with the help of experts, such as former Canadian Attorney General Irwin Cotler. The rules of the International Criminal Court only mention families in a procedural context.

“It’s a crime without a name,” she says, suggesting that it harms the victims’ healing.

She mentions that gender-based violence existed for several centuries before the UN recognized the term in 1992.

At P^re Elkayam-Levy denounces “the silence of several international organizations and the lack of moral clarity” in the sexual violence committed by Hamas. She particularly deplores that UN Women waited almost two months before condemning them. According to her, this set a bad example for future conflicts.

“These organizations have fueled the denial of sexual atrocities. » The constant demand for physical evidence perverts social media “in a very anti-Semitic way.”

At P^re Elkayam-Levy believes Hamas should face justice for organizing sexual assaults. She adds, however, that the Israeli soldiers who attacked Palestinian women in Gaza should also be tried.

In March, the Canadian government was criticized for pledging as much money to groups supporting Hamas victims as to those supporting Palestinian victims of sexual violence, a decision that drew a rebuke from an Israeli official.

“Western leaders are trying to make the right political decisions, not the right moral decisions. This creates confusion and vagueness. We do not create a space so that we can listen to all the victims tell what they suffered,” says the P^re Elkayam Plate.

Human rights groups accuse Israeli authorities of being responsible for sexual assaults against Palestinian detainees in the occupied territories. In July, soldiers were accused of the mass rape of a prisoner in the Gaza Strip. Far-right Israeli ministers supported the crowds trying to free these soldiers.

At P^re Elkayam-Levy has often criticized the Israeli government. She denounces the absence of women from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet. She also points out that several reports have said that female soldiers discovered Hamas's intentions before the October 7 attack, only to be rebuffed by male colleagues.

According to her, those responsible for this violence against families must be prosecuted. If not done, she fears combatants in other conflicts will follow the same brutal tactics.

“And the international system will not last long. »