ADDIS ABABA, 12 Jan. (DPA/EP) –
The German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, condemned this Thursday the use of rape as another weapon in conflicts and wars during her official visit to Ethiopia together with her French counterpart, Catherine Colonna.
Baerbock has assured in a joint press conference with Colonna that “the protection of civilians is the highest priority in armed conflicts.” “Rape is a war crime”, he has sentenced her in the presence of the Ethiopian Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Justice, Demeke Mekonnen and Gedion Timotheos.
“As in any conflict, the most vulnerable have paid the most terrible price: innocent people, many children, as well as humanitarian workers who have become targets when they try to care for women, children and the sick,” he added.
In this sense, he explained that the women and girls who become victims of “systematic sexual violence” suffer the most. “It is not normal that rape is part of wars”, she has assured her with indignation.
On the other hand, Baerbock, who has traveled to Ethiopia to show his support for the agreement signed last year to end the civil war in the country, has called on the Ethiopian government to “continue the path of peace.”
