Following an international campaign and pressure led by Israel, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC), Pramila Patten, will visit Israel next week.
During her week-long visit, Patten and her team will watch the raw footage from October 7, meet with women who have been released from captivity in Gaza, and hear their testimonies, N12 reported.
Preparations for Patten's visit
Preparations have been made in Israel to allow Patten, who will arrive on January 29, full access to all the parties involved in the investigation of the acts of rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas terrorists.
The Special Representative is scheduled to visit the site of the Nova festival in Re'im, the Gaza border communities, the military base in Nahal Oz, and route 232, where she will be given an overview of the sexual crimes committed by Hamas, according to N12.
Crucially, Patten will also meet with the investigators of the Lahav 433 National Crime Unit of the Israel Police who are examining the cases, the team at Shura Camp who examined the bodies of the rape and murder victims, and representatives of the Ministries of Justice, Welfare and Foreign Affairs.
In addition to watching the raw footage of Hamas's crimes, Patten is expected to hear and converse with eyewitnesses. This includes one of the Nova producers, hostages who were released from Hamas captivity, and representatives of families whose relatives are still being held in the Gaza Strip, as per N12.
Patten's visit was defined as a "fact-finding mission" to analyze and authenticate information regarding cases of sexual violence, at the end of which her findings will be submitted to the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council.
“The mission of the Special Representative aims to give voice to survivors, witnesses, recently released hostages and those affected, to identify avenues for support, including justice and accountability, and to gather, analyze and verify information to inform reporting to the Security Council in the exercise of her mandate,” Patten's office stated ahead of her visit.
It is “neither intended nor mandated to be investigative in nature, a mandate which is vested in other entities of the United Nations system, which have expressed their willingness and availability to investigate,” it concluded.
In the past months, the UN has been heavily criticized for its resounding silence on the matter.
The UN Women came out in condemnation of the acts of rape by Hamas terrorists only in early December, two months after the events.