CNN Anchor Grills UN Official On Refusal to Condemn Hamas for Rapes on Oct. 7 – Gets Brutal Word Salad Response

Sarah Hendriks, Deputy Executive Director for UN Women, spoke with CNN anchor Bianna Golodryga this week and received a tough line of questioning regarding the UN’s refusal to condemn Hamas for using systematic rape and sexual violence as a weapon during its devastating attack on Israel.

“UN Women is deeply, deeply alarmed at the disturbing reports of gender-based and sexual violence on October 7th,” Hendriks said during the interview, adding:

And as we’ve said in the Security Council and through various platforms, we absolutely, unequivocally condemn all forms of violence against women and girls, especially in the context of conflict. As you just heard Ruth say, this is never acceptable. And gender-based violence as a weapon of war is totally reprehensible.

Certainly, we have called from the beginning for the need to protect civilians, including and especially women and girls, in the context of this conflict. And we’ve called for the need for any allegations of gender-based atrocities to be fully investigated with the utmost priority.

“Is there a reason, though, Sarah, that you can’t specifically call out Hamas and the mounting evidence now over seven weeks that Israeli investigators have collected, that we’ve shown our viewers about the atrocities they committed, specifically on October 7th?” Golodryga followed up.

“Because I think that’s the crux of the issue here. It’s not just condemning sexual violence against women and in any war in general. It’s specifically what occurred on October 7th perpetrated by Hamas,” Golodryga added.

“Indeed. UN Women always supports impartial, independent investigations into any serious allegations of gender-based or sexual violence and within the UN family these investigations are led by the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights,” Hendriks replied, adding what can best described as a word salad of bureaucratic jargon:

And just to provide a little bit of context in terms of UN women’s role, UN women specifically provides and has extensive knowledge on gender-based violence and provides and supports investigations, as we do with all UN investigations.

And so consequently, in this context and within the UN system, it is the Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which for us has the mandate to investigate all alleged violations. It is absolutely important for the rights, for the needs, for the protection, for the dignity, for the survivors of violence to be supported throughout a process. And that’s why we work through these globally mandated mechanisms. That notwithstanding, we understand and certainly we encourage and support national-level efforts. The ones that you’ve heard about today, the civil commission in Israel, which has brought together women’s organizations to document gender-based atrocities impartially. Our work will be on the backside of the Independent International Commission.

The UN and other major human rights groups have come under increasing scrutiny over their lack of condemnation regarding Hamas’s brutality and use of sexual violence on Oct. 7th. Sheryl Sandberg recorded an emotional plea last week calling for greater awareness and more action on the issue.

Watch the full clip above via CNN.