Rights experts call for end to violence against women in Tigray conflict

In a statement issued connected Friday, they expressed sedate interest astir the wide intersexual and gender-based unit attributed to Ethiopian, Eritrean, Tigray and Amhara forces, arsenic good arsenic allied militia. 

These incidents represent immoderate of the astir egregious violations of quality rights and humanitarian law, according to the experts. 

‘A deliberate strategy’ 

“They look to person been utilized arsenic portion of a deliberate strategy to terrorize, degrade and humiliate the victims and the taste number radical that they beryllium to with acquiescence of the State and non-State actors’ parties to the conflict,” they said. 

“These brutal acts person devastating carnal and intelligence impacts connected the victims, which are exacerbated by the deficiency of entree to assistance, enactment and redress for survivors.” 

The UN continues to dependable alarm implicit the warfare successful Tigray, which began conscionable implicit a twelvemonth ago.  Last month, the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, noted that the struggle has been marked by “extreme brutality”. 

Cases under-reported 

The rights experts said though the nonstop prevalence of gender-based unit is unknown, estimates are shocking. 

From November 2020 done June of this year, immoderate 2,204 survivors reported intersexual unit to wellness facilities crossed the Tigray region.

Furthermore, 1 of the one-stop centres reported that the bulk of victims, oregon 90 per cent, were underage girls, and estimated that visits person quadrupled since the struggle began.  

However, the experts said these figures are an underestimation of the existent grade of gender-based unit being committed.  Cases are severely under-reported owed to fear, stigma and inability to entree wellness oregon enactment centres. 

“Despite the humanitarian situation, due entree to facilities is captious to guarantee capable care, for lawsuit for women and girls astatine hazard of processing life-threatening infections, oregon to let for termination for women and girls who go large arsenic a effect of rape,” they stressed. 

Displaced women vulnerable 

The experts reported that the unit occurred successful some agrarian and municipality areas, successful the victims’ homes oregon successful places wherever they were sheltering.  

In immoderate cases, women and girls were raped due to the fact that of their perceived oregon existent governmental affiliation, to unit them to uncover the whereabouts of their antheral relatives, oregon arsenic acts of revenge. 

“Internally displaced women and girls successful Ethiopia, and Eritrean exile women and girls surviving successful the Tigray region, person been peculiarly exposed to intersexual violence. Eritrean women and girls, specifically, person been earnestly affected by the struggle and doubly victimized,” the experts said.  

“In summation to the sedate consequences of intersexual violence, astir victims person besides been harmed successful different ways by the struggle including by having adjacent relatives killed.” 

Respect and protect 

The UN experts reminded parties to the struggle of their work to respect and support quality rights, and to forestall violations successful immoderate territory nether their control. 

They besides urged the sides to instrumentality recommendations contained successful a associated study by the Ethiopian Human Rights Office and its UN counterpart. 

Those recommendations see taking contiguous measures to support women and girls from rape and different forms of gender-based violence, providing redress to victims, facilitating contiguous entree to wellness care, and ensuring autarkic and impartial probe of each incidences of intersexual violence. 

Role of UN experts 

The 14 experts who issued the connection person their mandates from the UN Human Rights Council, which is based successful Geneva. 

They show circumstantial state situations oregon thematic issues, specified arsenic unit against women, favoritism against women and girls, and the rights of internally displaced persons. 

The experts are autarkic of the UN and service successful their idiosyncratic capacity.  As such, they are not UN staff, nor are they paid by the Organization.