UN experts horrified by mass grave of people buried alive
UN human rights experts today expressed their “horror” at the discovery of mass graves containing the bodies of people who showed signs of torture, execution and having been buried alive by the Israeli military.
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Mundo Faixa de Gaza
"We are appalled by the details of the mass graves recently discovered in the Gaza Strip. Over 390 bodies have been found in Al Nasser and Al Shifa hospitals, including women and children, many of whom appear to bear signs of torture and summary executions and possible cases of people being buried alive," they said in a statement.
They stressed that women and children "are among the most exposed to the dangers" in this conflict. Almost half of the over 34,000 Palestinians killed are children and one third are women.
Among the over 78,000 injured, about 75% are women and of the over 8,000 missing more than half are women and children, according to UN experts' estimates.
These figures represent an average of 63 women killed per day, 37 of whom are mothers. A total of 17,000 Palestinian children have been orphaned since the beginning of the Israeli offensive.
In addition, 1.7 million internally displaced persons and another 1.1 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip suffer "catastrophic levels" of food insecurity.
UN experts also highlight the cases of missing Palestinian women and girls and criticized the Israeli government for failing to conduct an "independent, impartial and effective investigation" into the allegations of sexual assault and violence against women and girls.
They also denounced the destruction by Israeli troops of the main fertility clinic in the Palestinian enclave, where about 3,000 embryos were stored.
"The care provided to pregnant or breastfeeding women continues to be deplorable, due to the direct bombing of hospitals and the deliberate denial of access to health facilities by Israeli snipers, compounded by the lack of beds and medical resources, which put 50,000 pregnant Palestinian women and 30,000 newborns at unimaginable risk," they warned.
More than 183 women give birth in the Gaza Strip each day without any type of pain relief and "hundreds of babies have died due to lack of electricity for incubators."
These "dire conditions have led to a 300% increase in miscarriages and have put 95% of pregnant and breastfeeding women in a situation of severe food poverty," they added.
About 700,000 women and girls in the Gaza Strip do not have the means to face the menstrual cycle with privacy and dignity.
In general, the "unprecedented destruction" of homes and the precariousness of daily life "have disproportionately affected women and girls."
UN experts also said they were "dismayed that women are being attacked by Israel with such ferocity, with discriminatory and disproportionate attacks. It seems that no effort is spared to destroy their lives and deny them their fundamental rights."
Accordingly, they demanded that Israel "cease all hostilities" and that States "immediately end all arms exports," since "they can no longer ignore that weapons are being used to kill innocent women and children. There are no more excuses."
The document is signed by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, Reem al Salem; Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 1967, Francesca Albanese; by the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal; by the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri; by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, Pedro Arrojo Agudo; by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Paula Gaviria Betancur; and by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Ben Saul.
These experts are part of the Special Procedures body of the UN Human Rights Council, which is the main body of experts in the UN Human Rights system. They are independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, with whom they collaborate voluntarily, and are not UN staff members.
Read Also: UN advocates investigation into mass graves found in Gaza (Portuguese version)
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