Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 10. April 2012 / Time Line April 10, 2012
Version 3.004/10/2012
Senior UN official condemns ‘alarming’ reports of
sexual violence in Mali
Malian refugee women wait with their children to receive relief
items from UNHCR in Gaoudel, Ayorou district, northern Niger.
10 April 2012 – A senior United Nations official today
strongly condemned the reported acts of sexual violence committed
against Malian women and girls amid the renewed fighting in the
north, and called on all parties to respect their obligations under
human rights law.
“As unrest continues in northern Mali, an alarming number of
acts of sexual violence have been reported,” said the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in
Conflict, Margot Wallström. “Allegations include
abductions, public rapes and subjecting women and girls to acts of
sexual violence in front of family members.”
Ms. Wallström stressed that any party to the conflict credibly
suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape
and other forms of sexual violence can be publicly named and shamed
by the Secretary-General as a basis for Security Council
action.
“Acts of conflict-related sexual violence can constitute war
crimes or crimes against humanity for which combatants and their
commanders will be held to account,” she said.
Last month, rebel Malian soldiers took control of the country and
announced the dissolution of the Government led by President Amadou
Toumani Toure. In addition, renewed fighting in northern Mali,
between Government forces and Tuareg rebels, has uprooted more than
200,000 people since January, with the majority seeking safety in
neighbouring countries and some 93,000 believed to be internally
displaced.
Ms. Wallström emphasized that any peaceful solution to the
conflict must include women and must address the crime of rape, as
sexual violence contributes to the destabilization of the region
and the denial of women’s rights.
Meanwhile, the Security Council has urged the military rebels who
seized control of the government to immediately implement the
agreement they signed last week with the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS), which provides a series of steps to
restore constitutional order in the country.
In a statement issued to the press last night, Council members
reaffirmed “the need to uphold and respect the sovereignty,
unity and territorial integrity of Mali and reject categorically
any declarations to the contrary,” and demanded “an
immediate cessation of hostilities in the north of Mali by rebel
groups”, writes UN News Centre.
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