Iran urges end to Israeli ‘impunity’ as UN blacklists regime over sexual violence

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi has sharply slammed Israel over its response to the inclusion in a United Nations list concerning conflict-related sexual violence, saying the Tel Aviv regime is evading accountability by targeting international institutions.

In a post on his X account on Friday, Gharibabadi said instead of accepting responsibility, Israel has chosen to punish the secretary general of the United Nations.

“Instead of accountability for the inclusion of its entities in the UN list on conflict-related sexual violence, the Israeli regime has subjected the UN Secretary-General to punishment - a sign of the same dangerous pattern: evading accountability by attacking international institutions,” he wrote.

He added that Israel continues to violate the existing ceasefire agreements in Gaza and Lebanon, which have failed so far to halt the regime’s acts of violence, including killings, bombings, violations of sovereignty, and forced displacement.

The Iranian official emphasized that conflict-related sexual violence, attacks on civilians, and repeated ceasefire violations should be investigated and prosecuted under international law as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Gharibabadi urges the international community to end the “occupying regime's impunity”.

His post comes after the United Nations has reportedly added Israeli entities to its blacklist of offenders responsible for sexual violence in conflict zones after years of reports regarding torture, degrading treatment, and sexual violence inside Israeli prisons and military detention centers.

UN blacklists Israel for sexual violence in conflict zones: Envoy

The United Nations has reportedly added Israeli entities to its blacklist of offenders responsible for sexual violence in conflict zones.

In a post on social media, Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon responded to the UN’s move, saying, “This is a political decision! Disconnected from the facts and reality!”

He added that Israel has submitted evidence to refute the UN reports.

Human rights organizations, investigative reports, and testimonies from detainees have for months documented a sharp rise in reports of sexual abuse and humiliation by Israeli soldiers, settlers, and prison personnel since the start of Israel’s devastating war on Gaza in October 2023.

Back in March, Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, reported that “brutal beatings, sexual violence, rape, lethal mistreatment, starvation, and the systematic deprivation of the most basic human conditions have inflicted profound and lasting scars on the bodies and minds of tens of thousands of Palestinians and their loved ones.”

Since October 2023, abduction of Palestinians in the occupied territory had “escalated dramatically,” with more than 18,500 people arrested, including at least 1,500 children, the report added.

The results of an investigation by The New York Times, published on May 11, also detailed allegations that Israeli soldiers, settlers, and prison guards subjected Palestinian detainees to rape, sexual abuse of children, physical torture, degrading treatment, and other forms of mistreatment.

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