Women are raped and sexually tortured during war because they are viewed as ?the reproductive machinery of the enemy? and the embodiment of a community?s honour, the head of Amnesty International said. They are bearing the brunt of dozens of conflicts around the world from Iraq, Afghanistan and Nepal to Colombia, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Irene Khan, secretary general of the world?s largest human rights group, told Reuters.

?Women are seen as the reproductive machinery of the enemy,? Khan said in an interview to mark the release of an Amnesty report on crimes against women. ?It becomes a military strategy ? if you attack women you attack the morale of the enemy and humiliate not only the women themselves but also their men, who feel they have failed to uphold their honour.?

The Amnesty report highlights hundreds of cases of horrific violence against women in times of conflict. In Colombia, a 14-year-old girl was stripped naked and forced to wear a sign around her neck saying ?I am a lesbian? before she was raped by three men and murdered.

When her body was found some days later, her breasts had been cut off, Amnesty said. In the Indian state of Gujarat, where hundreds have died in clashes between Muslims and Hindus, pregnant women have had their unborn babies cut from their wombs, Amnesty said.

In Congo, tens of thousands of women have been abducted, raped or forced into sexual slavery. ?Some women have had a rifle, a knife, a sharpened piece of wood, glass or rusty nails, stones, sand or peppers inserted into their vaginas,? Amnesty said. ?Others have been shot during or after rape, sometimes in their genitals.?

From Helen of Troy onwards, women have been hailed as the embodiment of a warring nation or people, a phenomenon Khan describes as «a compliment which becomes a burden».

?That is why one sees honour crimes, particularly as so many modern conflicts are ethnically rooted,? she said. ?Women have become tools of war because of this social concept of honour.? Khan, the first Muslim women to head the London-based human rights body, urged authorities in Afghanistan and Iraq to do more to safeguard the rights of women.

?Women?s rights were used as major justifications for military intervention in both countries and yet in the strategy thereafter very little attention has been paid to protecting women,? she said.

Monitoring the extent of crimes against women is notoriously difficult because the issues are shrouded in shame and secrecy, Khan said. But she added that ?the problem is undoubtedly one of epic proportions?.

She urged the newly-established International Criminal Court in the Hague to ensure that when it indicts its first suspects ? probably next year ? it includes suspected perpetrators of crimes against women.

?If they were to pick a few high profile cases it would send a strong message that these crimes are intolerable,? she said.

Hundreds of virgins gathered in the Ugandan capital this week to meet the country?s first lady and renew their pledges to abstain from premarital sex. ?If you don?t have a girlfriend or a boyfriend, they say you are crazy, don?t they?? 23-year-old Alex Mumale asked the youngsters as they banged drums and blew trumpets. ?Well, we say we are crazy. We are crazy about Jesus, because he is our redeemer and our shield,? he said to loud applause from the crowd and from First Lady Janet Museveni. Many of the group, most of them in their late teens, waved colorful banners carrying messages like ?Abstinence is safe and healthy? and ?Condoms are completely not effective.? Most had rejected sex before marriage for religious reasons, and to avoid HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. ?I chose abstinence because it is a smart way to protect my life,? said third-year science student Diana Nambatya. Organized by several church and youth groups, including the US-based True Love Waits program, the meeting drew more than 500 committed virgins from across the East African country once seen as the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. An energetic government information campaign helped bring down infection rates to about six percent from more than 30 percent in the early 1990s, and the government says promoting abstinence will be key to reducing the future prevalence of the disease. ?You are all created in the image of God, and God has endowed you with the ability of self-control. We are here to guide you to a safer way of life,? Mrs. Museveni told the crowd. After praying together, the youths released bunches of balloons into the deep blue sky, saying they wanted to send their message of patience to the rest of the country. Pastor Martin Sempa, a vocal advocate of abstinence, said events like Friday?s were crucial because the mainstream media was biased in their presentation of the issue.?You can sense the cynicism and animosity,? he told Reuters. ?We are promoting abstinence because Uganda is under attack from an agenda driven by homosexuals and Western experts who are out of touch with how the AIDS epidemic is driven in Africa.? As he spoke, a group of teenage boys walked past carrying a homemade sign saying: ?Please open your eyes and ears homos.? Jimmy Bosco, a Ugandan activist for True Love Waits, said premarital sex was forbidden in traditional African cultures. ?Some girls who messed around would even be thrown to wild animals, or their parents fined many goats,? he told Reuters. On stage, Uganda Youth Forum Chairman Sam Ruboga worked the crowd into a frenzy with shouts of ?Abstinence, oh-yeah!? He said they should abstain from sex now, keeping their ?valuables? until later, when they would enjoy it more. ?You know what it is like when you eat a young, unripe mango?? he asked. ?That?s right. It is very, very bitter.?