Six senators introduced a resolution on Monday calling for the United Nations Security council to open a formal investigation into October 7 sexual violence, according to a statement from Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) office.
Also behind the resolution are Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), Katie Britt (R-Alabama), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).“I appreciate my colleagues for joining in this bipartisan effort,” Graham said. “It is imperative that the UN firmly stand against sexual violence and sexual torture as a tool of war. In order to hold the perpetrators accountable, there must be an effort to preserve the facts and circumstances around Hamas’s brutal and barbaric sexual assault on Israeli women and children. This is a defining moment for the UN. Start the investigation and start it now.”
The resolution also calls for the international community to hold accountable those who perpetrated acts of sexual violence and sexual torture during and after October 7.Several weeks ago, the UNSC held a debate at the request of the United States, France, and the United Kingdom to focus on a report authored by Pramila Patten, the UN special representative of the secretary-general on Sexual Violence in Conflict, which found ‘reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas and affiliated terror groups had committed acts of sexual violence against its victims during its invasion of Israel on October 7. It marked the first time the UNSC debated sexual violence related to October 7.
Patten's report was not categorized as an investigation.
UN report "paved the way," but wasn't sufficient
"While the UN did lead a ‘fact-finding mission’ that corroborated these atrocities, it fell short of a true investigation," Gillbrand said in Monday’s statement.
“The UN’s recent report clearly laid the groundwork for a full investigation in how Hamas fighters used sexual violence during and after the attacks on October 7,” Blumenthal added.