The United Nations Security Council has accused Syrian army, intelligence agency and a pro-government militia of being sexual war criminals for raping and assaulting women and children.
The UNSC has also accused the al Qaeda movement in Mali and various African rebel movements for sexual crimes.
The ‘name and shame’ tally of alleged sexual predators and outlaws was in a report adopted unanimously by the U.N. Security Council as part of a debate on ‘Women in Peace and Security’, CBS News reports.
It was drafted by Zainab Hawa Bangura, the U.N. chief”s Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict.
The report by Bangura contains a ‘list of parties that are credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape and other forms of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict’.
It cited Syria”s army, intelligence services and the government-controlled Shabbiha militia, relying on an independent international commission of Inquiry that investigated Syria in 2012 and 2013.
The report revealed that a total of 211 cases of sexual violence, including rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage, torture and sexual violence in places of detention, gang rape, abduction and sexual violence during house-to-house operations or at checkpoints, have been reported since January 2012.
The majority of women and girls refused to report for fear of retribution and banishment by their spouses and the community, the U.N. report said. (ANI)