US President Joe Biden on Monday signed a memorandum that increases the penalties for responsibility for cases of sexual violence in conflict zones and insists that such aggression justifies the imposition of sanctions against its authors, writes Agerpres.

The document calls for the application of sanctions and other types of restrictions and tools also in cases of proven responsibility for sexual violence in conflict zones, as well as for other human rights violations.

An official source in the US administration said in a telephone press conference that this is the first time that the State Department, the Treasury Department and some federal agencies have called for such acts of sexual violence to be considered as grounds for sanctions.

Although various bodies can currently punish perpetrators of serious human rights violations, these provisions are used very little, a gap considered “particularly worrying” at a time when sexual violence against women and girls is “spreading around the world” in conflict zones.

“It is enough to look at what is happening in Ukraine to understand how important this presidential memorandum can be,” the American administration claims.

According to UN estimates, for every report of rape in the conflict zone, another 10-20 cases remain unreported.

The US rejects the argument that such aggression is the “inevitable cost” of armed conflict and emphasizes that to prevent it, it wants to help the victims “by all available measures, whether legal, diplomatic or financial.” , according to the memorandum.

Washington’s decision was announced on the sidelines of the International Conference on the Prevention of Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones, which is being held on Monday and Tuesday in London, at a time when this type of violence remains unpunished in various parts of the world.

The US is also ready to create a coalition of states and organizations that share the same principles of “promoting the health, well-being and recovery of victims, expanding access to justice, and improving the provision of psychosocial support and other vital services.”

The Biden administration recalled that at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in September, the United States added $400,000 to its annual contribution of $1.75 million to the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Combating Sexual Violence in Conflict.

The US Department of State’s Office for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor has already mobilized more than $4.5 million in projects to support civil society efforts to investigate and document this violence, and is investing approximately $5.5 million more over the next two years.

In 2023, additional funding of €6 million is earmarked for the Voices Against Violence initiative to ensure that victims of gender-based violence, including those affected by conflict, have access to justice and protection.

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