WIZO brings Hamas sexual crimes to UN forum in Abu Dhabi

World WIZO convened an international panel on pursuing justice for Hamas’s sexual crimes in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, bringing Israeli and Ukrainian legal experts to an official side event of the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. 

Held a week before the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023, massacre, the September 30 discussion focused on documenting sexual violence committed during the attack and against hostages in captivity, and preserving evidence for future prosecutions, according to WIZO.

“For three years we have fought for the world to recognize what women and men endured on October 7 and in captivity,” World WIZO President Anat Vidor said in her opening remarks. “But recognition alone is not enough. The question now is who will be held accountable.”

WIZO addressed how to preserve testimonies without compromising survivors' privacy

The discussion addressed how testimony could become evidence admissible in court, the challenges posed by its circulation on social media, and efforts to counter fabrication and denial. Participants also examined whether artificial intelligence could help preserve survivors’ accounts without compromising their consent, privacy or dignity.

Among the participants were former IDF chief military prosecutor Col. (res.) Sharon Zagagi-Pinhas, a co-founder and director of the Dinah Project, and retired Jerusalem District Court judge Nava Ben-Or, who previously served as deputy state attorney for criminal affairs. International law expert Ben Wahlhaus also participated.

Sharon Banyan, CEO of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, moderated the expert panel. Viktoriia Karpa, deputy head of the Ukrainian women lawyers’ association JurFem, contributed Ukraine’s experience investigating wartime sexual violence.

Shiran Mlamdovsky Somech, founder of Generative AI for Good, presented “Hearing Their Voices,” which WIZO described as a project using AI to preserve survivors’ testimonies. The discussion considered both the technology’s potential and the need to protect the people whose experiences it represents.

Turning documentation into accountability

The panel took place against the background of earlier UN findings on sexual violence during the Hamas-led attack and in captivity.

In March 2024, a UN mission led by Pramila Patten, the secretary-general’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict, reported “reasonable grounds to believe” that sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, occurred during the October 7 attacks. The team also found “clear and convincing information” that hostages had been subjected to sexual violence, including rape and sexualized torture. The mission was not a criminal investigation and called for further investigations and accountability.

The United Nations in Palestine

WIZO said the Abu Dhabi event formed part of its effort to use its UN consultative status and international network to bring the crimes before legal and diplomatic forums.

The organization previously partnered with the Czech Republic on an event addressing accountability for wartime sexual violence during the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March. WIZO has held consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council since 1959.

Vidor said the organization’s relationships abroad had helped it secure opportunities for Israeli experts to present their work.

“Our mantra is to build relationships through our representatives around the world and to keep opening doors, and that is exactly what we are doing with this status: bringing the foremost experts to the UN,” she said.

“This is what alternative diplomacy looks like.”

According to WIZO, its delegation included representatives from Austria, Britain, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. During the visit, delegates celebrated Sukkot with Abu Dhabi’s Jewish community and attended a reception jointly hosted by WIZO and the American Jewish Committee’s Abu Dhabi office.